1994: January 29-February 4

Angel’s little devil
In Home And Away, Shane’s (Dieter Brummer) realisation that former street kid Angel (Melissa George) had a baby at the age of 14 has led the couple on a journey to find the three-year-old child that was taken away from her. “Angel has always wanted to go back and see her child, but what stopped her was knowing it would be, ‘Like hey, you’re not my mummy any more’,” George told TV Week. “But Angel knows she gave birth to him. She is his mother and she tries to see him, and is allowed to, but Dylan (Jimmy Lucini) has no idea of who she is.”

Olivia coup for SBS
SBS has scored a coup with Olivia Newton-John agreeing to take part in a documentary on breast cancer. Reporter Helen Vatsikopoulos and SBS production crews were allowed full access to film at Newton-John’s Byron Bay home, and the nearby recording studio where she is working on a new album, for a documentary where she talks at length about how the disease affected her life. The program will screen as part of The Cutting Edge series in February.

Funny girls get the green light
The Seven Network has given the green light to a comedy series featuring the female line-up from Fast Forward — Magda Szubanski, Marg Downey, Jane Turner and Gina Riley. The series of eight half-hour episodes will go into production later in the year and is expected to go to air in 1995. The project currently has the working title Fast Women and will be produced by Artist Services, producers of Fast Forward and Full Frontal.

Briefly…

The Seven Network has thrown a lavish party for cast and media to launch its new drama series Blue Heelers. The big bash, which cost $60,000, included a mock car crash and rescue staged outside the Seven studio.
After months of persuasion, the Nine Network finally received (via fax) an acceptance from Graham Kennedy to take part in a special interview to commemorate his 60th birthday. Nine’s elation was short-lived as two days later, Kennedy had a change of heart and faxed again to advise that he had changed his mind.
Former Neighbours star Beth Buchanan is the latest guest star for Nine‘s Paradise Beach. She will appear in the series for four weeks as a love interest for Roy (John Holding).
The Seven Network is negotiating with the Fox network to have Home And Away screen on Fox’s new cable channel in the US.

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here

“All the messages we’ve heard coming out of America about Steve Bochco‘s new series NYPD Blue have concerned only three things — sex, sex and more sex. Its arrival prompted America’s TV Guide to cover on ‘The Furore Over R-Rated Network TV’ and get all misty-eyed over recollections over Mary Tyler Moore and the time she played a single woman who admitted she was on the Pill. (But) relative to what we are used to seeing on Australian television in terms of explicitness, NYPD Blue is not blue at all. In fact, it’s fairly tame. Apart from one or two scenes that are a little raunchy, it also contains some violence and a few expletives, but nothing you’re not going to hear on Blue Heelers.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, January 29-February 4):
Saturday: Steffi Graf and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario compete in the Women’s Singles Final of the Ford Australian Open (1pm, Seven).

Sunday: Pete Sampras and Todd Martin compete in the Men’s Singles Final of the Ford Australian Open (12pm, Seven). Sunday night movies are The Cops Are Robbers (Seven), Flatliners (repeat, Nine) and Missing Persons (Ten).

Monday: With the Australian Open completed, Seven’s regular daytime programs At Home, Eleven AM, Family Feud and Wheel Of Fortune are back for the new year. In Neighbours (6.30pm, Ten), Philip (Ian Rawlings) and Helen (Anne Haddy) attempt to save Lassiters. Sydney radio host Alan Jones (pictured) presents the first edition of Alan Jones Live (7pm, Ten). The new program also gets a late-night repeat screening.

Tuesday: In Blue Heelers (7.30pm, Seven), Maggie (Lisa McCune) and PJ (Martin Sacks) lock horns when a local activist is found shot dead — is he a victim of irresponsible duck shooters or is the killer a lot closer to home?

Wednesday: In the series return of Hey Dad (7.30pm, Seven), Martin (Robert Hughes) says his goodbyes and leaves for Saudi Arabia, but not without his share of panic. Karen Tighe, Gordon Bray, Steve Robilliard, Peter Gee and Anne Sargent are presenters for the ABC Sport Australia Awards (8.30pm, ABC), from the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Melbourne. The presentation also includes appearances by Elle McFeast (Libbi Gorr), Jean Kittson and Lex Marinos. Former Queensland Premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen is interviewed by George Negus on A Life (10pm, ABC).

Thursday: In Beyond 2000 (7.30pm, Ten), Amanda Keller visits the US to report on the technology involved in staging a rock concert, and Simon Reeve is in Canada where environmental scientists have discovered a reliable method of detecting pinhole-sized leaks in pipelines.

Friday: In Home And Away (7pm, Seven), Sarah (Laura Vasquez) and Damian (Matt Doran) realise that Nathan (David Dixon) has fooled them, and Alf (Ray Meagher) offers to loan Roy (Russell Kiefel) the money to purchase a test bore. In the series return of The Great Outdoors (7.30pm, Seven), Sofie Formica finds a flying, inflatable boat; Frankie J Holden visits a cattle station in central Queensland; Penny Cook visits Gellibrand National Park; and Ernie Dingo begins a two-part walking safari through central Australia’s MacDonnell Ranges.