All at sea…
Will Chances‘ Alex Taylor’s (Jeremy Sims) surprise marriage at sea mean the end of his infamous bedroom liaisons? Â According to Sims, definitely not. Â And in true Chances style, the wedding between Alex and mute Imogen Lander (Ciri Thompson) is far from ordinary. Â Alex, with the help of Cal Lawrence (Gerry Sont), kidnaps his bride from the clutches of her nasty businessman father Crowley Lander (Barry Hill). Â Imogen, who is carrying Alex’s baby, is taken aboard a ship where the nuptials take place. Â But for Sims, the over-the-top storylines are all in a day’s work. Â “The more bizarre the better, as far as I’m concerned,” he told TV Week. Â “If you believe any of it, you’re a fool. Â The best day we have is when we get to read the scripts and do a read-through. Â It’s just hysterical!”
… and the wedding you’ll never see!
The wedding of dizzy Marilyn (Emily Symons) to wealthy Phil Bryant (Vince Martin) in Home And Away catches most of Summer Bay by surprise, particularly as the wedding takes place unbeknownst to them at an outback church. Â Viewers will not see the wedding, which marks Symons’ departure from the series after three years, apart from a few photos brought back by Bobby (Nicolle Dickson) who was in attendance.
A dear diary
An expensive legal battle has soured the current career success of husband-and-wife team Ian McFadyen and Maryanne Fahey (pictured). Â While McFadyen is busy with Cluedo (Nine) as well as producing sitcoms Newlyweds (for the Seven Network), Bingles (for Ten) and Let The Blood Run Free, and Fahey is launching a new ABC series (Kittson Fahey) with Jean Kittson and has just completed her portrayal of comedian Mary Hardy in the stage production Mary Lives, the pair are facing massive debts in the wake of failed legal action against the publishers of a diary featuring Fahey’s popular schoolgirl character Kylie Mole. Â The Federal Court awarded damages of $270,000 against Fahey and Media Arts (McFadyen’s production company) after they tried to block the publication of the diary. Â With court costs added, the pair now face a bill of almost $500,000 and have had to abandon plans to appeal the decision. Â “(An appeal) would have been throwing more money down the drain,” McFadyen told TV Week.
Briefly…
- All Together Now star Rebecca Gibney has wed boyfriend, singer Jack Jones at Melbourne’s Collins Street Baptist Church. Â Around 50 guests were at the wedding, but all involved with the day were sworn to secrecy and no cameras were permitted. Â Gibney is believed to have signed an exclusive contract with a women’s magazine although it is not known if any money has changed hands.
- A Country Practice (Seven) star Brian Wenzel has stressed that even though his character Frank Gilroy has just lost his wife Shirley (Lorrae Desmond) in a plane crash, and that he has retired from the police force, that he is not planning to leave the show. “So many people have written to me asking when I’m leaving. They presume, because Lorrae has gone, that I’m about to trot off into the sunset,” Wenzel told TV Week. “But I’m not leaving the show.”
- The Nine Network has rewarded its new travel show Getaway for its ratings success by extending production through until the end of the year. Â With Getaway raising the network’s ratings in the 7.30pm Thursday timeslot, it also raises the question of where will the backlog of The Flying Doctors episodes end up.
Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here
“As a title for a television soap opera, Sylvania Waters doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as Dallas, Santa Barbara or even Knots Landing. But Sylvania Waters has the potential to be far more interesting and entertaining — not to mention credible — than them all. Â Strictly speaking, Sylvania Waters is not a soap. The ABC describes it as a “documentary serial” and it uses what someone has coined the “living camera” technique. For about six months last year, Noeline and Laurie Baker and their extended, somewhat fractured, family allowed a ABC-BBC camera crew amazingly free access to their lives. At times watching the show, one feels almost voyeuristic. Â Noeline, in particular, pulls few punches in voicing opinions on other family members and — while she is out playing the pokies with a girlfriend — topics such as immigration. I’m not sure whether we’re supposed to like the Bakers or whether they are meant to be typical, particularly for British consumption. But whatever reasons were behind their decision to participate in the production of Sylvania Waters, I admire their candour.”
Program Highlights (Melbourne, July 19-25):
Sunday: Â New Faces With Bert Newton (Ten) presents its series three final. Sunday night movies are The Big Steal (Seven), Tightrope (Nine) and Marked For Death (Ten).
Monday: Â ABC debuts children’s series, Bananas In Pyjamas (pictured), featuring the characters from Play School. Â The series of 40 five-minute episodes is narrated by Karina Kelly. In A Country Practice (Seven), Hugo (Gavin Harrison) is blamed for the near drowning of Ivan Mann’s (Joe Bugner) daughter (played by former E Street star Brooke Mikey Anderson), while a snake terrorises Bernice (Judith McGrath) and Tom (Jon Concannon).
Tuesday: Â In All Together Now (Nine), twins Thomas (Steven Jacobs) and Anna (Jane Hall) race to see who gets their learner’s permit first. Â In GP (ABC), Julie (Denise Roberts) heads off to the country after Michael (Brian Rooney) calls to say he has had an accident. When she arrives she is surprised to see he has made friends with an Aboriginal health worker (played by Ernie Dingo). ABC debuts ‘documentary series’ Sylvania Waters, a 12-part series focusing on the life of an Australian family who have been followed by a camera crew for five months.
Wednesday: Â Mic Conway presents a one-hour special, Vaudeville (ABC), featuring theatrical anecdotes with rare archival films of vaudeville and variety acts dating back to the turn of the century.
Thursday: Â Nicholas Eadie guest stars in Embassy (ABC), playing the part of Edward Logan, an Australian politician who captivates the embassy staff in Ragaan with his charm and intelligence — but he is not as he seems as he harbours some dark secrets and forces Mr Singh (Mark Silveira)Â to take him to a brothel by threatening to block Singh’s Australian visa application.
Friday: Â On the eve of the opening ceremony of the Games Of The XXV Olympiad, Steve Vizard presents the special Waiting For Samaranch, featuring IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch as he reveals a city in final preparations for the Olympic Games.
Saturday: Â Afternoon sport includes Ten’s live coverage of the Rugby Union Third Test — Australia versus New Zealand — from the Sydney Football Stadium. Ten’s evening is dominated by a Star Wars movie double — Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back — while Seven crosses to Football Park, Adelaide, for the AFL match between Adelaide Crows and Fitzroy. Â At 10.45pm, Seven’s Olympic Games coverage starts with a two-hour preview, followed by specials The Torch Of Champions: The History Of The Summer Games (12.45am) and Seoul ’88: 16 Days Of Glory (2.30am) before crossing to Barcelona for live coverage of the Opening Ceremony of the Games Of The XXV Olympiad from 3.30am.
Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 18 July 1992. Â Southdown Press.