Australian mini-series & short run tv series (inc. link to poll/vote)
Titles in alphabetical order.
I'll extend this list to include series like "Phoenix" and "Janus" which were some 26 episodes in total screened over two years. My intention is to list programmes that were designed for a short run only, not shows which were axed after a short while due to low ratings etc.
Vote here:
http://www.imdb.com/poll/Td7uxaf4TuU
Since this poll went live before I could tweak it, I'll just now add other titles which I would have included in an extended list if I had had that opportunity...I'll mark them with an asterisk "*".
P.S. I could have done a Brownlow style voting system, personally...i.e. top 3, from 1st:
3 points - Through my eyes
2 points - Vietnam
1 point - Seven little Australians
It's a toss up for the top spot between my top pick and 2nd pick. I also could have given "Return to Eden" a spot too. Some other titles have nostalgia value too but it would be too much of risk to name them without revisiting them sometime.
I'll extend this list to include series like "Phoenix" and "Janus" which were some 26 episodes in total screened over two years. My intention is to list programmes that were designed for a short run only, not shows which were axed after a short while due to low ratings etc.
Vote here:
http://www.imdb.com/poll/Td7uxaf4TuU
Since this poll went live before I could tweak it, I'll just now add other titles which I would have included in an extended list if I had had that opportunity...I'll mark them with an asterisk "*".
P.S. I could have done a Brownlow style voting system, personally...i.e. top 3, from 1st:
3 points - Through my eyes
2 points - Vietnam
1 point - Seven little Australians
It's a toss up for the top spot between my top pick and 2nd pick. I also could have given "Return to Eden" a spot too. Some other titles have nostalgia value too but it would be too much of risk to name them without revisiting them sometime.
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- 79 titles
- StarsScott McGregorScott BurgessSigrid ThorntonTwo young men from the country join the army and leave for World War I.ABC TV, 7x1 hour episodes.
- StarsRobert NewtonConnie GilchristKit TaylorSwashbuckling made for TVs episodes staring 'Legend' Robert newton as Long John Silver and argh 'Jim Larrd' as they face many new adventures......Very surprised to see this was an Australian tv show! Stumbled upon this reference on the website classicaustraliantv.com. Apparently Australia's first ever tv series! The site says, in part:
"The first television series to be produced in Australia was made before we had television. The Adventures Of Long John Silver was a 26 episode, half-hour series made for the English and American markets...It is somewhat ironic that this should be Australia's first television series". - StarsBill KerrDorothy AlisonDale RandallFour part biopic about classic Australian author A.B. Facey (1894-1982). Born in a large impoverished family, uneducated and illiterate, he had to fend for himself since he was eight, and as a recruit in WWI, he was sent to Gallipoli.
- StarsMary LarkinKerry McGuireJon EnglishEighteen-year-old Mary Mulvane gets convicted for trying to get back her father's cow. She has to endure the travel in a prison ship from Ireland and living the life of a convict in Australia.
- StarsJohn WatersSteve JacobsRosey JonesA nurse who has been hired to staff a remote outpost in the Australian outback unwittingly carries a stash of jewels taken in a foiled robbery. The robbers track her to the outback, and are determined to let nothing.* Returning this title to my original list.
- StarsSigrid ThorntonJohn WatersDarius PerkinsOrphaned after a shipwreck, Philadelphia Gordon finds love and adventure aboard a paddle-steamer navigating Australia's Murray River.* Returning this title to my original list.
- StarsGeorgia FloodAntonia PrebbleLaura BrentThe true stories of extraordinary young women who witness the brutality and heroism of war and rise to meet the challenge.Saw promotions for this mini-series on ABC TV. It just looked awful. It seemed written on the same level as a soapie. Was listening to talkback radio today (14/08/2014) and it was revealed that one of the writers had actually written for the successful soapie "Home and away"...which explains it. She also wrote for the more 'serious' "Underbelly" show.
Most of the talkback was negative on this show and only two or three stating that they would give it another episode or two before deciding whether to continue watching it or not. Not exactly a ringing endorsement!
That being said, I probably wouldn't have been inclined to watch this even if I hadn't of been put off by the promotions or the negative talkback calls. - StarsAndrew ClarkePaul HoganJon BlakeThe lives of a dozen Australian soldiers who served in the ANZACs. Fighting first at Gallipoli in 1915, then on the Western Front for the remainder of WWI, it's the story of the hardships, camaraderie and casualties of war.*
- StarsHelen MorseBryan BrownGordon JacksonSet against the brutal chaos of World War II, a love story begins that will take two lovers through a living nightmare of captivity, across three continents and two decades.
- StarsNicole KidmanDenholm ElliottHugo WeavingNicole Kidman and Denholm Elliott star in a 1989 miniseries about a young woman in a Thai prison for carrying her boyfriend's heroin.
- StarsRemy HiiJordan RodriguesHien NguyenVan Nguyen faces execution after attempting to smuggle heroin from Cambodia to Australia via Singapore. His attempt to help his troubled brother led to dire consequences due to strict drug laws.Based on a true story about a convicted drug smuggler who is sentenced to death.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Man_(miniseries) - StarsRichard RoxburghTony MartinSteve BastoniSet in 1980s Sydney, this acclaimed mini-series tells the story of the relationship between corrupt Detective Roger Rogerson and one of Australia's most infamous criminals Neddy Smith.Two part mini-series on ABC TV.
- StarsHugo WeavingGary SweetJim HoltCaptain Jardine's England team employs brutal "bodyline" tactics against Australian batsmen during the 1932-33 Ashes series, sparking outrage and damaging Anglo-Australian cricket relations.
- StarsSimon BakerBryan BrownPhoebe TonkinIn 1980s Brisbane, a precocious boy and his selectively mute brother embark on a suburban odyssey of love, redemption, and retribution after their family is torn apart by a drug lord.
* New addition to this list. - StarsBrenda FrickerSandy GoreJosephine ByrnesThe struggles of nuns and students at a Roman Catholic convent school in 1960s Sydney."The morning after Brides of Christ debuted on ABC, in the spring of 1991, Channel Nine boss Kerry Packer phoned his chief programmer. “Did we pass on that nun s_t?” he demanded to know.".
https://www.theage.com.au/culture/tv-and-radio/brides-of-christ-the-drama-that-continues-to-resonate-30-years-later-20211015-p590gp.html - StarsMatthew Le NevezBrendan CowellElla Scott LynchFollowing Peter Brock's life - from his early racing days in the Austin A30 to his tragic death in Perth - Brock traces the soaring highs and brutal lows of Australia's most famous racing car driver.* About the legendary Australian racing car driver.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brock_(miniseries) - StarsSerge LazareffPenne Hackforth-JonesGus MercurioWanted by the law, likeable bushrangers Sam Cash and cigar smoking accomplice Joe Brady are men with purpose and the know how to stay one sneaky step ahead of the authorities.* 13 x 1 hour episodes. Spawned the follow up series "Tandarra".
- StarsRichard CawthorneGeoff MorrellMalcolm KennardFollows the life of Ivan Milat, the backpack killer.Based on the true case of the notorious serial killer Ivan Milat (the backpacker murders), who everyone thinks of now when the phrase "The Belanglo state forest" is mentioned.
- StarsStephen CurryAnthony HayesLeon FordSix young men experience pain and horror during their stay in the Japanese Prison Camp during World War II.
- CreatorsTony AyresChristian WhiteStarsZoe KazanBetty GabrielPhoenix RaeiWhen family man Nick Brewer is abducted in a crime with a sinister online twist, those closest to him race to uncover who is behind it and why.* An article in The Age newspaper, 25/01/2024 says "technically classed as a foreign production in Australia", so a query as to whether it belongs in this list.
- CreatorKelly LefeverStarsAaron PedersenKelton PellTammy ClarksonA magistrate and a group of court officers and lawyers make a regular five-day, 2,000-kilometer round trip to bring justice to remote communities in northwestern Australia.Hopefully I've linked to the right entry at this site. Wikipedia states that the series I have in mind ran for 2 series with 6 episodes in each, for the years 2007 and 2009-2010, on SBS TV.
- StarsKerry FoxGeoff MorrellStephen CurryThe lives of two working class Australian families who come to live together at One Cloud Street, over a period of twenty years, 1943 - 1963.
- CreatorsCarol LongDenise RobertsStarsDeborra-Lee FurnessHugh JackmanSue JonesKevin Jones arrives at Blackstream prison beaten and suffering from brain damage-a state he wasn't in at sentencing. Something happened to him during his transfer, and though the prison psychologist tries to help him remember...he can't.Putting this here on the assumption that it was intended as a short run series and not axed after one series.
This is apparently the show where Hugh Jackman and Deborah-Lee Furness first met and fell in love...they're now married and have been for a long time. - StarsAlan David LeeDennis MillerTracy MannAugust 1944, Cowra Australian POW camp. 1,104 Japanese prisoners stage a mass breakout, leaving 4 guards dead. 231 prisoners die from wounds or suicide, while 334 are recaptured within 9 days.*
- CreatorJohn MistoStarsAaron BlabeyMonica MaughanPhilip QuastAn earnest public servant inadvertently gets embroiled in his minister's crimes: murder, terrorism, and unethical experiments. Oblivious, he simply wants a permanent job.*
