Tag: Starting Out

Classic TV Guides: Cop Shop

After Crawford Productions suffered the indignity of having its three police dramas — Homicide, Division 4 and Matlock Police — axed within a year of each other in 1975, Cop Shop in 1977 represented a successful return to the genre. Unlike the earlier dramas, Cop Shop also incorporated the increasingly popular soap opera element. Storylines relating to …

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Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2022/11/classic-tv-guides-cop-shop.html

Obituary: John Hamblin

John Hamblin, actor and long-time presenter on Play School, has died at the age of 87. Born in England, Hamblin had made some early acting appearances on British television and was a “ten pound pom” when he came to Australia in the 1960s. His first Australian TV appearance was a guest role in the adventure …

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Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2022/09/obituary-john-hamblin.html

30 years since Chances

In the decade following the end of The Sullivans and The Young Doctors, the Nine Network had little success in establishing a successful serial drama. The TV graveyard of the 1980s and early ’90s is littered with Nine’s drama corpses — Starting Out, Kings, Possession, Prime Time, Taurus Rising, All The Way, Family And Friends. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2021/01/30-years-since-chances.html

Obituary: Anne Phelan

Actress Anne Phelan, best known from Bellbird and Prisoner and more recently in Winners And Losers, has died at the age of 71. With a career starting in 1968, Phelan went on to a successful career in stage, film and television, displaying a range from comedy to drama to musical theatre. Early TV credits included …

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Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2019/10/obituary-anne-phelan.html

Paradise Beach, where sand gets in the soap

The Eighties and Nineties sure brought some soapie clunkers to the otherwise top-rating Nine Network. After the demise of former hit series The Young Doctors and The Sullivans, each year brought the promise of a new arrival that would, inevitably, die a ratings death and play out its remaining episodes in the summer non-ratings period. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2018/06/paradise-beach-where-sand-gets-in-the-soap.html

The Young Doctors turns 40

The Young Doctors was destined to be one of Australia’s shortest lived serial dramas but in an ironic twist became the longest-running of its time.. Created by the Reg Watson for the Reg Grundy Organisation, The Young Doctors began as the story of five medical interns who had started at the fictional Alfred Memorial Hospital. Playing …

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Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2016/11/the-young-doctors-turns-40.html

1995: November 18-24

‘I’m looking forward to leaving!’ After three years as Home And Away‘s Angel, Melissa George (pictured) is preparing to say goodbye to the series that has made her famous. It is an exit that has brought mixed emotions for the young star. “I am looking forward to leaving next June. But it’s going to be …

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Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2015/11/1995-november-18-24.html

Networks, it’s time to go retro

The advent and conversion to digital television has opened the market right up to new opportunities and niche markets as broadcasters can now cram more digital channels in the same space that in the past used to only accommodate one analogue channel. In the United States, the conversion to digital television has opened up a …

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Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2015/01/networks-its-time-to-go-retro.html

Neighbours: 25 today!

When Daphne Lawrence (Elaine Smith, pictured) was doing her striptease at the buck’s night for Des Clarke (Paul Keane) on the eve of his marriage to Lorraine Kingham (Antionette Byron) on the premiere episode of Neighbours, nobody’s wildest predictions would have foreseen that the show would survive to see its 25th anniversary. Even the most …

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Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2010/03/neighbours-25-today.html

YouTube: The Two-Way Mirror

Reg Watson of the Reg Grundy Organisation was responsible for penning the scripts for some of the most popular and successful soaps on Australian TV – The Young Doctors, Prisoner, Sons And Daughters, Neighbours, to name a few – but here is one that he was perhaps less likely to add to his CV and, …

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Permanent link to this article: https://televisionau.com/2009/08/youtube-the-two-way-mirror.html