1995: February 4-10

Lisa leads Blue Heelers’ British invasion
Lisa McCune (pictured) is heading to the UK to promote Blue Heelers‘ debut on the ITV network. Her tour is expected to include London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and Liverpool. While she is there, she hopes to meet up with cast members of British cop shows The Bill and Between The Lines, both of which are also shown on ITV. “It’s a weird thing to think that across the other side of the world, people who know who I am,” she told TV Week. “It will be interesting to see how the English react to us. It’s good that they’ll be getting to see a show that’s different from other Australian series there, such as Neighbours and Home And Away.”

antoinettebyronMercy flight leads to Melrose Place
A mercy flight to the US for personal reasons has led actress Antoinette Byron (pictured) to land a role in Melrose Place. Byron had worked in the US before but had returned to Australia with roles in E Street, Paradise Beach and Time Trax (being produced for US cable television). In Melrose Place she plays a nasty nanny. “She’s a modern-day Mary Poppins who appears very charming and understanding, but underneath she’s a very dangerous woman with a secret agenda,” Byron said. Although her appearance in the series is only for a few episodes, Byron is hopeful they might have her back. “She (the nanny) didn’t get killed, so I suppose that’s a good sign,” she said.

kimwatkinsMoney’s good news for Kim
After eight years of reporting serious news, Kim Watkins (pictured) describes her new role as Money reporter as a dream. “Instead of bringing people rotten news all the time, or depressing or sad news, the job I’ve got here is a dream job,” she told TV Week. “It (Money) is top rating, the best job I could have asked for, and you get to help people.” She replaces Alison Peters, who quit the program to relocate to Melbourne. Watkins’ TV career started at a very early age. As a youngster she was a reporter for the Nine Network children’s program You Asked For It (later called Boomerang), which she described as “sort of like the Leyland Brothers, but for kids”. She later moved to various on-air roles at the Seven Network, including newsreading in Brisbane and reporting from the Barcelona Olympic Games..

Briefly…

  • Former Prime Minister Bob Hawke and his companion, novelist Blanche d’Alpuget, will receive $200,000 to be interviewed on 60 Minutes‘ first show for 1995.
  • Bryan Brown is tipped to gain the lead role in ABC‘s two-part series Blue Murder. The mini-series, which dramatises the corruption in the NSW police force in the 1980s, is being produced by the same team behind Police Crop and Joh’s Jury.
  • raquelstevensJournalist Raquel Stevens (pictured) has joined Network Ten as a sports reporter. She will be covering AFL during the season but will cover other sports during the off-season. A former producer with radio station 3AW, Stevens was last seen on TV on Seven‘s I’m Rex Hunt And You’re Not.
  • SBS technology series The Big Byte will not be returning in 1995 but there are rumours that the show is being pitched now to the Seven Network.

TV’s Top 20 (Week Commencing 15 January): 

Rank Program Network Day(s) Viewers
1 National Nine News Nine Sun 2182000
2 Cricket: Final 1, Australia v Australia A (day) Nine Sun 1667000
3 A Current Affair Nine M-F 1640000
4 The Nanny Ten Wed 1629000
5 National Nine News Nine M-F 1603000
6 The Simpsons Ten Wed 1600000
7 The X Files Ten Wed 1498000
8 Seinfeld Ten Tue 1450000
9 Blossom Seven Thu 1445000
10 Taggart Nine Wed 1431000
11 Cricket: Final 2, Australia v Australia A (night) Nine Tue 1399000
12 Mad About You Ten Tue 1329000
13 The Mummies Seven Thu 1327000
14 A Current Affair (Pope special) Nine Wed 1316000
15 The Bill ABC Sat 1264000
16 National Nine News Nine Sat 1259000
17 Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em Ten Fri 1248000
18 Seven Nightly News Seven M-F 1230000
19 Cricket: Final 1. Australia v Australia A (night) Nine Sun 1204000
20 Over The Hill Seven Mon 1193000

Lawrie Masterson: The View From Here:

Dr Kildare it most certainly ain’t, but, if you’ll pardon the very bad medical pun, ER is not a cure for cancer, either. The prognosis, however, is that it will be a success, with high teens to low 20s ratings.”

Program Highlights (Melbourne, February 4-10):
Saturday: The Fifth Test, Australia v England, continues from the WACA, Perth through to Tuesday (1.20pm, Nine).

Sunday: Afternoon sport includes Rugby Union Five Nations, England v France and Scotland v Ireland (3pm, Ten), hosted by Gordon Bray, and Round One of the Shell Australian Touring Car Championships (4pm, Seven). In the series return of Talk To The Animals (6.30pm, Seven), Dr Harry Cooper travels to Brisbane to offer advice on Ann-Maree Biggar‘s dog who has a broken leg; while Jane Holmes meets a world recognised expert on penguins. Sunday night movies are Outrageous Fortune (repeat, Seven) and Murder In Boston (repeat, Nine) up against a delayed (by two weeks!) telecast of The Golden Globe Awards (8.30pm, Ten).

Monday: Good Morning Australia with Bert Newton (9am, Ten) returns for another year of interviews, segments and advertorials. In a two-hour episode of Over The Hill (7.30pm, Seven), Bob and Bob (Bruce Spence and Roy Billing) wake one morning to find two Germans camped in their front yard — naked; while Don (Nicholas Eadie) and Sandy (Georgie Parker) are having trouble making a profit, so Sandy plans a trivia night to attract more of the locals.

Tuesday: In Home And Away (7pm, Seven), Curtis (Shane Ammann) unearths the truth about Jack’s (Daniel Amalm) shady deal with Eric (Daniel Goddard).

Wednesday: In Neighbours (6.30pm, Ten), everyone is overjoyed when Bianca (Annie Gagliardi) decides to return home. In Home And Away (7pm, Seven), Roxy (Lisa Lackey) sadly realises Rob (Matt Lilley) is refusing to accept their relationship is over. The classic ’60s sci-fi series Star Trek starts a rerun from the very first episode (10.30pm, Seven).

Thursday: Andrew Daddo and Alyssa Jane Cook host the new series Funniest People (7.30pm, Seven), featuring contestants performing everything from party tricks to impersonations — with the three best each week winning prizes to the value of $10,000. Comedy special Big Girl’s Blouse (8.30pm, Seven) gets a repeat screening ahead of its spin-off series.

islafisherFriday: Gardening Australia (6.30pm, ABC) returns for another year. In Home And Away (7pm, Seven), Shannon (Isla Fisher, pictured) is humiliated when her secret becomes known.

Source: TV Week (Melbourne edition), incorporating TV Times and TV Guide. 4 February 1995. Southdown Press

 

 

 

 

 

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2015/02/1995-february-4-10.html

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.