March 2016 archive

1996: March 30-April 5

Blue Heeler’s tragic exit Dramatic scenes in this week’s Blue Heelers will see Constable Wayne Patterson tragically killed, but actor Grant Bowler (pictured with Lisa McCune) is glad to be gone. “Part of the reason I left the show is because I thought I no longer had a lot to offer it creatively,” he told …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2016/03/1996-march-30-april-5.html

WIN South Australia turns 50

The launch of SES8 — South Australia’s first regional commercial station and now part of the WIN network — took place 50 years ago today, 25 March 1966. But the station’s debut was meant to happen much earlier. The channel had originally planned to launch in November 1965 but an accident during construction of the transmission tower on …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2016/03/win-south-australia-turns-50.html

Rival stars align for Good Friday

It is not often that competing TV stations will let their guard down and share some goodwill — but it does happen. So was the case in 1966 and the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal in Melbourne. The all-day telethon, the culmination of a year’s events of fund-raising for the renowned hospital, was presented …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2016/03/rival-stars-align-for-good-friday.html

1996: March 23-29

Cover: Aaron Jeffery, Sophie Heathcote (Water Rats) Sigrid set for murder The Seven and Nine networks have been in battle over the latest project to come from producer Hal McElroy. Murder Calling, a 26-part series based on Jennifer Rowe‘s Verity Birdwood mystery series, was initially in development between McElroy’s company, Southern Star Xanadu, and the Seven …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2016/03/1996-march-23-29.html

1996: March 16-22

Gladiators is gone! Hey Hey It’s Saturday‘s Daryl Somers has hosed down predictions from rival Seven Network that the 25-year-old show will struggle to rate in 1996. While he acknowledges that Seven’s Gladiators is having some success in the Saturday night battle, he notes that success come down to demographics. “If you look at the demographic of …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2016/03/1996-march-16-22.html

Obituary: Jon English

Jon English, singer, songwriter and actor on stage and television, has died following complications while undergoing surgery. The 66-year-old was surrounded by his partner and children at the time of his death. Born in the United Kingdom, English emigrated to Australia with his family in the early 1960s. He’d shown an interest in music from an early age, …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2016/03/obituary-jon-english.html

1996: March 9-15

Cover: Nicky Buckley (Sale Of The Century) and Catriona Rowntree (Getaway) Long lost Friends The battle between the Seven and Nine networks over the rights to the top ratings US sitcom Friends has been won by Seven… and Nine. Seven has secured the rights to the first season but Nine will have any subsequent series …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2016/03/1996-march-9-15.html

1996: March 2-8

Cover: Melissa George (Home And Away) ‘I was crying every night’ Joining the cast of Neighbours was meant to be a dream come true for Brisbane actress Emma Harrison. Instead, she became desperately homesick and struggled with the pressure of the high profile publicity that comes with being in the long-running soap. “For six months …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2016/03/1996-march-2-8.html

Obituary: Don Battye

Don Battye, former producer for both Crawford and Grundy production houses, has died at the age of 77. Starting out as an actor from the age of nine through to his 20s — including an appearance in an early TV production, the play The Big Day in 1959 — Battye went on to write for …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2016/03/obituary-don-battye.html