Summer Bay shock!
Despite recent turbulent times in their relationship, Home And Away‘s Shane (Dieter Brummer) and Angel (Melissa George) are to become engaged in episodes to air this week. Shane takes Angel to a jewellery store and he asks her whether she likes a specific ring, then pops the question. Angel doesn’t say yes immediately and fans will need to wait a few episodes to find out why. But despite the smiles of the happy couple, not everyone in Summer Bay is happy about the engagement. “The adults don’t like the idea, and Alf (Ray Meagher) tries to turn her off it,” George told TV Week. For fans it will still be a while before they see their favourite couple tie the knot. “She agrees to marry him only after they finish their HSC,” George said. “Angel’s a sensible girl!”
Law’s appealing new cast
A major shake-up is coming to Nine‘s Law Of The Land with a raft of new cast members. Joining original cast member Lisa Hensley are Peter O’Brien (Neighbours, The Flying Doctors), Michael O’Neill (GP), Ally Fowler (Sons And Daughters, Neighbours) and Tessa Humphries (Sons And Daughters). O’Brien, who has returned from working in the UK, was initially reluctant to commit to another series. “I’ve got to say that it can be really s***house doing a long-running job,” he told TV Week. “I get bored very easily. It can also be difficult if you’re forced to work with someone who is hard to get along with. As far as Law Of The Land is concerned, there hasn’t been the slightest problem. The cast is great and the storylines have certainly kept me interested.” O’Brien comes into Law Of The Land as hot shot lawyer Andy Cochrane and it is revealed that Andy and Kate (Lisa Hensley) had a fling when they were younger, leading to an underlying sexual tension between them. Law Of The Land returns with a two-hour episode before settling into a regular one-hour timeslot.
Terry and Moya talk (cop) shop!
It will be a brief reunion for former Cop Shop stars Terence Donovan and Moya O’Sullivan as they cross paths on the set of Neighbours. Just as O’Sullivan joins the series as Marlene Kratz, Donovan’s four-year stint as Doug Willis is coming to a close, but he is unsure how the writers will determine Doug’s exit. “If they like you, they blow you up and kill you,” he told TV Week. “If they really like you, they send you away to Darwin or Tasmania — just in case they want to resurrect you as a long-long brother.” O’Sullivan fondly remembers their time on Cop Shop. “It was enjoyable working together all those years ago on Cop Shop,” she said. Donovan added, “Cop Shop was a very bright team of people, an older team who were fun-loving and close knit.”
Briefly…
- The Nine Network‘s drama slate for 1995 continues to grow. Latest title to join the list is a two-hour telemovie, Emergency, from the Grundy Organisation. Emergency is set in the casualty ward of a large hospital and is the story of a young doctor facing the stress of dealing with a string of emergencies that not only dominate his working hours, but his private life as well. Other projects on the go for Nine include six The Feds telemovies, two Singapore Sling telemovies plus The Violent Earth, The Fatal Shore, Drover’s Girls, Halifax fp, a third series of Law Of The Land and children’s series Spellbinder.
- Two major storylines are planned for Home And Away that will hopefully boost ratings before the end of the year. Roxy Miller (Lisa Lackey) is believed to be involved in a storyline relating to breast cancer, while Summer Bay’s popular couple Pippa (Debra Lawrance) and Michael (Dennis Coard) are expected to separate.
- Neighbours star Julie Mullins is leaving the series after two years playing busybody Julie Martin. Martin will film her last scenes later this month but will be seen on screen until September. Her character exits the series in dramatic episode to be filmed on location in country Victoria.
Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here
“‘Slow’ and ‘predictable’ usually don’t go with ‘thoroughly enjoyable’, but that’s the way it panned out for me with The Battlers (starring Marcus Graham and Gary Sweet, pictured). Even without the benefit of having read the late Kylie Tennant‘s novel about itinerant life during the Great Depression, on which this South Australian Film Corporation production is based, the outcome of the mini-series becomes inevitable almost the minute you see the first few frames, and there’s not a lot of surprise in between.”
Program Highlights (Melbourne, July 9-15):
FIFA World Cup: SBS’ coverage this week includes First (1.30am Sunday) and Second (5am Sunday) Quarter-Finals, Quarter Final B (1.30am Monday), Quarter Final A (5am Monday), First Semi-Final (5.30am Thursday) and Semi-Final (9am Thursday). SBS also screens official FIFA World Cup films from 1966 (7.30pm Saturday), 1970 (7pm Tuesday), 1974 (7pm Wednesday) and 1982 (7pm Friday).
Saturday: The 1953 film Jedda (12pm, ABC) and 1980 film Manganinnie (12.30pm, SBS) are screened as NAIDOC Week comes to a close. In A Country Practice (7.30pm, Ten), Matron Sloan (Joan Sydney) has concerns for a young intellectually disabled girl when she arrives for a regular check up.
Sunday: Sunday afternoon AFL includes Sydney Swans versus Brisbane (1pm, Seven), live from Sydney, and West Coast Eagles versus Essendon (4pm, Seven), live from Perth. Sunday night movies are Adrift (Seven), Folks (Nine) and K9 (repeat, Ten).
Monday: Ronnie Burns‘ (pictured) new game show Strike It Lucky (5pm, Nine) makes its debut. In Talk To The Animals (7.30pm, Seven), Kelly Pummeroy meets the handler responsible for training a dog featured in the mini-series The Battlers, Dr Harry Cooper takes one of his horses to a special clinic, and Jane Holmes visits the Sydney Aquarium to see an exhibition designed to highlight the potential effect of pollution on the Great Barrier Reef. In the two-hour series return of Law Of The Land (8.30pm, Nine), the townsfolk of Merringanee are rocked by a death and are divided by businessman Michael Delaney’s (Michael O’Neill) plans for the town.
Tuesday: Former Paradise Beach star Raelee Hill guest stars in Blue Heelers (7.30pm, Seven). In GP (8.30pm, ABC), a hyperactive five-year-old has William (Michael Craig) confused.
Wednesday: In a special one-hour episode of Money (8pm, Nine), Paul Clitheroe looks at the vital decisions we all need to make whether we are 16 or 60, and covers superannuation, mortgages and other investments. World Series Debating (8.30pm, ABC) covers the topic That Beauty Is Better Than Brains, featuring Wendy Harmer, Tim Ferguson, Margaret Scott, Jean Kittson, Ita Buttrose and Lex Marinos. Two-part mini-series The Battlers (8.30pm, Seven) makes its debut, starring Gary Sweet, Jacqueline McKenzie, Marcus Graham and Peter Stonham.
Thursday: In Home And Away (7pm, Seven), Sarah (Laura Vasquez) has some bad news about her father. Beyond 2000 (7.30pm, Ten) reports that chicken manure may be the fuel of the future. In Getaway (7.30pm, Nine), Jeff Watson cycles through a Cairns rainforest, and Rebecca Harris gives an Aussie guide to surviving Paris.
Friday: In Home And Away (7pm, Seven), Shane (Dieter Brummer) prepares to ask Angel (Melissa George) the big question. In Rex Hunt’s The Great Outdoors (7.30pm, Seven), guest presenter Ann-Marie Biggar visits Lanyon Homestead, Frankie J Holden explores the Great Barrier Reef without getting sea-sick, and Andrew Dwyer shows Bridget Adams how to cook Singapore chilli yabbies using a wok on a campfire.
Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 9 July 1994. Southdown Press.
