March 2019 archive

Obituary: Geoff Harvey

Geoff Harvey, the composer who wrote the soundtrack to some of Australia’s most popular shows, has died at the age of 83. Born in the United Kingdom he came to Australia after World War II and produced records for EMI. He joined Sydney’s TCN9 in the early 1960s. He worked on variety shows like Bandstand, …

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Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2019/03/obituary-geoff-harvey.html

Seven’s battle for high noon

In the 1980s one of the Nine Network‘s many strengths was its early afternoons. The Mike Walsh Show, which became Midday with Ray Martin, followed by US soaps Days Of Our Lives and The Young And The Restless constantly beat anything thrown at them by rival commercial networks Seven and Ten. When Christopher Skase took …

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Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2019/03/sevens-battle-for-high-noon.html

50th anniversary of Division 4

Division 4 was one of the trifecta of police dramas from Crawford Productions that came to define Australian television drama in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The series was born after Crawfords and the Nine Network were in a conundrum over what to do with its popular spy drama, Hunter. The show’s lead actor …

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Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2019/03/50th-anniversary-of-division-4.html

Prisoner stars before Prisoner

Last week marked the 40th anniversary of the debut of Prisoner. Most of the actors from the series had come from established acting backgrounds, though for many it was Prisoner that made them household (and even international) names even though they were not necessarily strangers to television. So what were some of the Prisoner cast …

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Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2019/03/prisoner-stars-before-prisoner.html

Obituary: Mike Willesee

Veteran journalist and producer Mike Willesee has died at the age of 76. He been diagnosed with throat cancer in 2016. Perth-born Willesee was the son of politician Don Willesee. His TV career started as a reporter and presenter of Four Corners and This Day Tonight for the ABC back in the 1960s (pictured), and …

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Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2019/03/obituary-mike-willesee.html