1994: August 13-19 – Television.AU

Cover: Nicole Kidman

Heelers heals Richard’s blues
After a year of unemployment, former E Street and Neighbours star Richard Huggett was so keen to work he even accepted a six-week role on the ill-fated soap Paradise Beach. “I hadn’t done anything for a year,” he told TV Week. “I suppose I took it because it just meant work. In the end, I had a great time doing it.” Viewers will soon see him in a guest role in Blue Heelers, playing the part of detective Sean Neale, who arrives in Mount Thomas to assist in a rape investigation. “This character I’m playing is very methodical and logical,” he said. “I like this show because it forces you to think a bit. After working for so long on soaps, these scripts are amazing.”

Hanna is jail bait!
Law Of The Land star Tessa Humphries, who plays femme fatale Hanna Scott, is remarkably calm about her steamy sex scene in the series. She credits co-star Angelo D’Angelo, who plays prosecutor Marc Rosetti, for making the potentially difficult scene bearable. “Love and sex scenes are so much easier if they can be carefully orchestrated and you can talk them through with the other person before shooting,” she told TV Week. “The other thing that’s very critical is the crew, and I felt very comfortable in the environment they created for us.” The scene is the culmination of Hanna’s flirting with the prosecutor. Hanna has broken a few laws and Marc is forced to deal with her — and then Hanna manages to lock him in the police cell. That’s when they go further.

Britain goes bananas!
B1 and B2 — the Bananas In Pyjamas — have now become Australian television’s biggest export. With a third series now screening on ABC and their books and video on the best-seller list, Bananas In Pyjamas is now screening on the ITV network in the United Kingdom and pre-school audiences there are just as keen on the pair as their Australian fans are. But despite their international fame B1 and B2 are still happy to live in Cuddles Avenue, although B2 says that they did stay at Noddy’s house and made use of his car when taking in the sights of London recently. Their connection to Noddy is closer than many may suspect. Noddy was created by children’s author Enid Blyton, and it was her nephew, Carey Blyton, who devised the original Bananas In Pyjamas song which has featured in Play School since the early Seventies and inspired the Bananas In Pyjamas series.

Briefly

The new host of Nine‘s Saturday morning What’s Up Doc? is Wonder World reporter Catriona Rowntree (pictured). Rowntree is juggling her commitments to both shows, commuting to Melbourne for weekly tapings of What’s Up Doc?, as well as working on weekends on radio Triple J. Former What’s Up Doc? host Danielle Fairclough has left the show to pursue an acting career. “I don’t know what I’ll do next, but I’d like it to be something a bit more challenging,” Fairclough told TV Week. “What’s Up Doc? was great, but it didn’t require me to learn scripts or work 14-hour days like I used to.”
The Seven Network is working on a potential new lifestyle show. Actress Noni Hazlehurst has hosted a pilot which is now with Seven executives for consideration. “If it goes ahead, it probably won’t be on before the end of the year,” a Seven spokesperson said.
Garry McDonald is set to play the part of a self-absorbed radio announcer in an upcoming episode of GP. He will play Gazza Weller, a character who uses humour to hide his feelings. Melissa Bell will play his daughter, who suffers from depression. Also coming soon to GP is Deborra-Lee Furness who plays the role of the sister of a woman dying of breast cancer.
Seven Network game show Man O Man is returning soon with more contestants ready to risk being dumped in the pool!

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here

“A quick chat on the telephone with Alison Nisselle, co-creator and writer of the TV Week Logie Award-winning series Phoenix, confirmed my fears. She was, she agreed, doomed to spend more time explaining the title of her new series, Janus, than the plotlines… and, believe me, they can be just a tad complex. It appears that, even before the series has made its debut on the ABC, Nisselle and others behind the scenes of Janus are being queried frequently about the title. Janus is (was?) the Roman god from whose name the word January derives. He is regarded as presiding over beginnings and endings, which explains why the first month of the year takes its name from him. Janus is to be unveiled on 1 September.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, August 13-19):
Saturday: In A Country Practice (5.30pm, Ten), Maggie Sloan’s (Joan Sydney) world is sent spinning when her husband returns to Wandin Valley with intentions to settle down. Steve Vizard and Jimeoin guest star in the series return of Attitude (7.30pm, ABC). No sooner has Frontline finished its run but it is now beginning a repeat run (8pm, ABC).

Sunday: Sunday afternoon AFL includes Sydney Swans versus Carlton (1pm, Seven), live from Sydney, followed by Adelaide Crows versus Brisbane Bears (3.30pm, Seven), live from Adelaide. Sunday night movies are Captain Ron (Seven), Double Jeopardy (Nine) and Home Alone (repeat, Ten).

Monday: In Neighbours (6.30pm, Ten), Helen (Anne Haddy) is arrested on suspicion of trafficking in illegal substances. In Talk To The Animals (7.30pm, Seven), Richard Fitzgerald and Jane Holmes (pictured) are in Antarctica and introduce a tiny animal which is the main food for larger animals, and Jane speaks to an expert about the penguins in Antarctica, while Richard speaks to an expert on the seals there.

Tuesday: In Blue Heelers (7.30pm, Seven), when a rape occurs in Mount Thomas, PJ (Martin Sachs) thinks he knows who the culprit is. Interview series Ray Martin Presents (8.30pm, Nine) features British comedian and writer Ben Elton.

Wednesday: Gordon Bray hosts coverage of the Bledisloe Cup — Australia versus New Zealand — live from the Sydney Football Stadium (7pm, Ten). The final ever episode of Hey Dad! (8pm, Seven) sees a bank robber (played by Bill Conn, pictured with Ben Oxenbould) on the run taking the household hostage.

Thursday: In Beyond 2000 (7.30pm, Ten), reports on the latest in music video technology from the makers of MTV‘s liquid effects; putting brains on ice to increase the chances of survival for CPR recipients; and saving 2000-year-old archaeological treasures. In the series final of The Damnation Of Harvey McHugh (8.30pm, ABC), an attempted assassination shocks Australia.

Friday: Tim Webster and Anne Fulwood (pictured) host live coverage of the Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games from Victoria, Canada (9am, Ten). Highlights of the opening ceremony and previews of the upcoming sports and commentators are broadcast from 7.30pm. In Rex Hunt’s The Great Outdoors (7.30pm, Seven), footballer Chris Mainwaring visits to tiny ghost town of Cossack on the Pilbara coast, Penny Cook visits Dubbo Zoo, and Frankie J Holden goes bargain hunting at the colourful Camberwell trash and treasure market.