1993: October 9-15

Cover: Melissa Tkautz (Paradise Beach)

Gary Sweet injured in Rescue stunt
Gary Sweet has suffered a back injury while filming a scene for Police Rescue: The Movie. Sweet, who takes pride in performing all his own stunts, was abseiling down a rock face when he was not given enough rope to land properly. He landed on his back on rocks. “Gary had to be taken to hospital for an X-ray,” a production spokesperson told TV Week. “Luckily, he only had bruising around his back.”

Breaking up with laughter!
The real-life divorce of comedian Maryanne Fahey from husband Ian McFadyen will provide inspiration for the upcoming second series of ABC comedy Kittson Fahey. Fahey’s popular character Kylie Mole, made famous in The Comedy Company, will talk about the divorce of her parents and her mother having an affair with the father of her friend Amanda. The storyline sees Kylie Mole take on a more grown-up persona. “She was just a schoolgirl last time she appeared,” Fahey told TV Week. “But going through a marriage break-up is devastating. The adults have some say in it at least. It’s hardest on the kids.”

Summer Bay mum is a different woman
In Home And Away, abusive mother Irene Roberts is back in Summer Bay — but now she’s a different woman. Previously played by Jacqui Phillips, the character is now played by stage performer Lynne McGranger. “Initially, when Jacqui played her, she was a drunk, very cruel to her children and very violent,” McGranger (pictured with on-screen daughter Tina Thomsen) told TV Week. “But by the time I started to play her she had given up the grog and was on the mend. Irene is such a wonderful woman to play because I really do get to let loose on her. I occasionally get hauled back into line when they say, ‘Oooh, a little bit too over-the-top’, but I think that’s just my cabaret roots.”

Briefly…

• Former swimming champion Johanna Griggs has knocked back one of the lead roles in Network Ten‘s proposed new series, Heartbreak High. The 19-year-old cadet journalist wants to get on-camera experience as a reporter, not an actress.
• Hey Hey It’s Saturday‘s Daryl Somers (pictured) will be a guest on Nine‘s Getaway when he takes reporter Jeff Watson on a tour of Darwin. Somers has recently been taping a series of commercials for Northern Territory tourism and takes Watson on a two-day tour of the city’s main attractions — including the Northern Territory Wildlife Park, Diamond Beach Casino and the Mindil Beach markets
• Quentin Dempster, Sydney host of The 7.30 Report, has denied industry rumours that he is being posted to Washington as a foreign correspondent. “I’m not going to Washington, I’m staying here,” he told TV Week. “I’m excited by the revamp of The 7.30 Report and the prospect of taking it into a new era.”

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here

“Ghostwriter, a new series from America’s Children’s Television Workshop, the makers of Sesame Street, was conceived for the best reason — need. Its aim is to teach and enhance literacy in seven-to-ten-year-olds, especially nine and ten-year-olds who are economically disadvantaged, or from minority groups. Its sincerity can’t be questioned, but whether it does talk down to its audience is another matter. My feeling is that it does, but, then again, it’s a fair while since I was nine (or even 10!), so I’m happy if my judgement here is way off.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, October 9-15):
Saturday: Seven’s summer season of tennis begins with the Australian Indoor Championships Semi-Final (1.30pm and 8.55pm), live from the Sydney Entertainment Centre. Nine has live coverage of cricket, with the Mercantile Mutual Cup (12pm) live from the WACA, Perth. Dame Kiri In Concert (9.30pm, Ten) features Dame Kiri Te Kanawa in a 90-minute concert at Melbourne’s State Theatre.

Sunday: Tim Bailey (pictured) presents live coverage of the Uncle Toby’s Ironman Super Series from the Gold Coast (3pm, Ten). Sunday night movies are Mr Destiny (Seven), Final Analysis (Nine) and Predator 2 (Ten).

Monday: In A Country Practice (7.30pm, Seven), Hugo (Gavin Harrison) arranges for Christina (Rebekah Elmaloglou) to attend a camp for young people with cancer. It becomes an emotional time for Kate (Michelle Pettigrove) as the camp brings back memories of the time she had leukaemia.

Tuesday: Bert Newton hosts the John Farnham 25th Anniversary Celebration (8.30pm, Ten), a tribute to the career of John Farnham — featuring appearances by Richard Marx, Glenn Wheatley, Debbie Byrne and Tommy Emmanuel.

Wednesday: In Neighbours (6.30pm, Ten), Brad (Scott Michaelson) takes on the coaching of the school basketball team and discovers the truth about his new girlfriend. In Hey Dad! (7.30pm, Seven), Jenny (Angela Keep) gets caught shoplifting and Arthur (Matthew Krok) loses Ben’s (Ben Oxenbould) favourite fishing hat. Mary Kostakidis hosts the Ethnic Business Awards (8.30pm, SBS). The new series Blues Moon Over Byron (11.05pm, ABC) covers the 1993 Blues and Jazz Festival held in Byron Bay over Easter.

Thursday: In Neighbours (6.30pm, Ten), Pam (Sue Jones) discovers that Doug (Terence Donovan) doesn’t have a job. In Secrets (8.30pm, ABC), Gary (Marshall Napier) is assigned to babysit an IRA agent and is shocked when his new friend reveals a horrific secret.

Friday: In Home And Away (7pm, Seven), Irene’s (Lynne McGranger) prodigal son arrives in Summer Bay fresh from jail. In The Great Outdoors (7.30pm, Seven), Frankie J Holden visits Queensland’s Glasshouse Mountains; Sofie Formica experiences the butterfly house at Melbourne Zoo; Bridget Adams tries cross-country skiing in Kosciusko National Park; and Penny Cook discovers some of Melbourne’s great colonial buildings.

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 9 October 1993. Southdown Press.