A Chronological History of Australian Soap

[Carrie Fairchild]

Possession - 1985

​

As @AndyB2008 mentioned previously, in 1984, there were a number of pilots in the running to become Nine's next big drama commission. Crawford's Hospital would star Belinda Giblin, John Sidney and Vikki Hammond. Casting director Bunney Brooke (Number 96's Flo) described the show as being about "real people in a real hospital" rather than "whether they were in love with the doctor around the corner", putting paid to any The Young Doctors comparisons. PBL Productions offered up Skin Deep, a fashion world soap about "beauty, bedrooms and boardrooms". Soap veteran Briony Behets headed up the cast as ex-model Barbara Kennedy, who now ran an 80's-tastic empire that included a modelling agency, health centre, photo studio and VIP nightclub. Carmen Duncan played her rival Vanessa Corey, while other names included Nicole Kidman, Bartholomew John, David Reyne and Antoinette Byron. Finally, Grundy's horse in the race was Possession. Being an in-house production, it was presumed that Skin Deep would be commissioned but seemingly undeterred by the string of Grundy flops in the years prior, Nine opted for Possession (although Skin Deep would get a DVD release years later).

Possession was created by Grundy's stalwart Reg Watson, with then up and coming soap supremo Bevan Lee on the writing team. The series opened with members of ASIS (Australian Secret Intelligence Service) carrying out a raid on a hotel in Melbourne, where heiress Kathleen Dawson (Tracey Callendar) was preparing to marry spoilt rich kid Greg Macarthur (Lloyd Morris). Kathleen's businessman father David (Bruce Barry) and her best friend (who was also David's secret daughter) Jane Andrews (Tamasin Ramsay) got caught up in the raid, with David ending up in hospital with a price on his head. While there, it was discovered that he was dying, prompting him to write Jane into his will and summon his recently facelifted ex-lover Louise Carpenter (Darien Takle) in order to convince her that they should finally acknowledge their secret daughter. On the sidelines as all of this unfolded was David's enraged wife Elizabeth (Anne Charleston) and Louise's business partner Claudia Valenti (Maggie Millar). Just as the truth came out, Jane and David faced off, only for an assassin's bullet to kill off her new father. David's murder prompted the arrival of Detective Vince Bailey (David Reyne) and the fallout and investigation into his death propelled much of the drama from this point on.

The show launched big in January 1985, with promos proclaiming that it was "the moment all of Sydney has been waiting for". Reviews however, were mixed. The Sydney Morning Herald called it a "ripping yarn" and described it as a "calculated cross between A Country Practice and Sons & Daughters". The espionage side of things is what baffled some viewers and critics. Bevan Lee explained that him and producer Don Battye had been inspired by the action based storylines that were popular in US soaps at the time (Luke & Laura being cited as one example) and wanted to see if Australian audiences would buy them in a homegrown soap. They didn't. The onscreen look also came in for criticism with Bevan Lee admitting "the show ultimately suffered from being overly ambitious. Nothing looks cheaper than when your scripts are unshootable, so you settle for what you can get away with". After a strong opening night, the show began struggling in the ratings, not helped that it aired in competitive timeslots up against Sons and Daughters, A Country Practice and Carson's Law.

The high drama rolled on regardless, with various kidnappings, faked deaths and attempts to swindle Elizabeth out of her fortune. Meanwhile, Jane began training as a spy! Viewers still didn't embrace the attempts at high octane action and suspense, so a revamp was ordered, with the remit of making the show "more normal" according to Bevan Lee. Briony Behets, Ally Fowler and Maggie Dence were part of the new wave of actors that were supposed to ground the show but again, ratings continued to plummet. In an attempt to limit the damage being caused by their sinking soapie, Nine asked the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal if they could extend their local drama content quota timeslots to after 10pm. Once this was agreed, Possession was sent off to see out it's days in late night, carving a path that many other failing sudsers would follow in years to come now that the late night local drama loophole had been established. Bevan Lee said "It started out as a gripping and interesting show but in changing it's identity to become more kitchen sink, it became a nothing show" while Darien Takle insisted it had been mislabelled "soap" and was in fact "a high quality drama series". Whatever the case, Possession was dispossessed after just 52 episodes.

 

[AndyB2008]

Possession - 1985

​

As @AndyB2008 mentioned previously, in 1984, there were a number of pilots in the running to become Nine's next big drama commission. Crawford's Hospital would star Belinda Giblin, John Sidney and Vikki Hammond. Casting director Bunney Brooke (Number 96's Flo) described the show as being about "real people in a real hospital" rather than "whether they were in love with the doctor around the corner", putting paid to any The Young Doctors comparisons. PBL Productions offered up Skin Deep, a fashion world soap about "beauty, bedrooms and boardrooms". Soap veteran Briony Behets headed up the cast as ex-model Barbara Kennedy, who now ran an 80's-tastic empire that included a modelling agency, health centre, photo studio and VIP nightclub. Carmen Duncan played her rival Vanessa Corey, while other names included Nicole Kidman, Bartholomew John, David Reyne and Antoinette Byron. Finally, Grundy's horse in the race was Possession. Being an in-house production, it was presumed that Skin Deep would be commissioned but seemingly undeterred by the string of Grundy flops in the years prior, Nine opted for Possession (although Skin Deep would get a DVD release years later).

Possession was created by Grundy's stalwart Reg Watson, with then up and coming soap supremo Bevan Lee on the writing team. The series opened with members of ASIS (Australian Secret Intelligence Service) carrying out a raid on a hotel in Melbourne, where heiress Kathleen Dawson (Tracey Callendar) was preparing to marry spoilt rich kid Greg Macarthur (Lloyd Morris). Kathleen's businessman father David (Bruce Barry) and her best friend (who was also David's secret daughter) Jane Andrews (Tamasin Ramsay) got caught up in the raid, with David ending up in hospital with a price on his head. While there, it was discovered that he was dying, prompting him to write Jane into his will and summon his recently facelifted ex-lover Louise Carpenter (Darien Takle) in order to convince her that they should finally acknowledge their secret daughter. On the sidelines as all of this unfolded was David's enraged wife Elizabeth (Anne Charleston) and Louise's business partner Claudia Valenti (Maggie Millar). Just as the truth came out, Jane and David faced off, only for an assassin's bullet to kill off her new father. David's murder prompted the arrival of Detective Vince Bailey (David Reyne) and the fallout and investigation into his death propelled much of the drama from this point on.

The show launched big in January 1985, with promos proclaiming that it was "the moment all of Sydney has been waiting for". Reviews however, were mixed. The Sydney Morning Herald called it a "ripping yarn" and described it as a "calculated cross between A Country Practice and Sons & Daughters". The espionage side of things is what baffled some viewers and critics. Bevan Lee explained that him and producer Don Battye had been inspired by the action based storylines that were popular in US soaps at the time (Luke & Laura being cited as one example) and wanted to see if Australian audiences would buy them in a homegrown soap. They didn't. The onscreen look also came in for criticism with Bevan Lee admitting "the show ultimately suffered from being overly ambitious. Nothing looks cheaper than when your scripts are unshootable, so you settle for what you can get away with". After a strong opening night, the show began struggling in the ratings, not helped that it aired in competitive timeslots up against Sons and Daughters, A Country Practice and Carson's Law.

The high drama rolled on regardless, with various kidnappings, faked deaths and attempts to swindle Elizabeth out of her fortune. Meanwhile, Jane began training as a spy! Viewers still didn't embrace the attempts at high octane action and suspense, so a revamp was ordered, with the remit of making the show "more normal" according to Bevan Lee. Briony Behets, Ally Fowler and Maggie Dence were part of the new wave of actors that were supposed to ground the show but again, ratings continued to plummet. In an attempt to limit the damage being caused by their sinking soapie, Nine asked the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal if they could extend their local drama content quota timeslots to after 10pm. Once this was agreed, Possession was sent off to see out it's days in late night, carving a path that many other failing sudsers would follow in years to come now that the late night local drama loophole had been established. Bevan Lee said "It started out as a gripping and interesting show but in changing it's identity to become more kitchen sink, it became a nothing show" while Darien Takle insisted it had been mislabelled "soap" and was in fact "a high quality drama series". Whatever the case, Possession was dispossessed after just 52 episodes.

In Sydney and Melbourne, Possession replaced David Hasselhoff's Knight Rider in the 7.30pm slot on Monday nights, a series which had been competing very well against SAD.

As a result, Ten in Syd and Melb programmed V against Possession which took the Knight Rider audience. In Syd or Melb, it was either the original series or the short lived weekly series that you saw.

Either way, it would have damaged Possession's chances in those cities as much as Sons and Daughters, given the Knight Rider audience is watching V while Sons and Daughters fans are sticking with their show.

In Adelaide it was worse as then SAS-10 aired The A-Team alongside Sons and Daughters on then ADS-7.

Sensing The A-Team's massive popularity as well as SAD's, the programme manager at NWS-9 moved Possession to 8.30pm, forcing it against films instead.

One week, Possession in Adelaide faced Conan the Barbarian and another week The Rocky Horror Picture Show, both benefiting from the SAD lead in.

 

[Pamela_E]

Starting Out - 1983

Another month, another Grundy attempt to rehash a successful format, another failure for Nine. With their 6.30pm news bulletin languishing in the ratings, Nine asked Grundy's to come up with a strong lead in to lift their evening schedule. Having enjoyed great success with the soon to be canned The Young Doctors, Reg Watson decided to rework the formula, this time setting it in a medical university.

Starting Out was basically "The Young(er) Doctors". Set in Thornleigh College, it was based around a boarding house on the college grounds, where the sexy young medical students crossed paths with a coterie of older college staff. The show opened with farmhand Craig (Peter O'Brien) leaving country life behind and returning to Thornleigh after being guilted into going to medical college to honour his dead doctor father's wishes (who of course had been driving to the country to talk his son into following family tradition, when he'd been killed in a car crash). "Starting out" alongside Craig was joker Peter (Paul Williams), Peter's unpopular roommate Jason (John Higginson), the college Dean's troublesome niece Aggie (Leander Brett) and former orphan Margot (Nikki Coghill) as well as Will (Yves Stening) and Paul (David Reyne). The older set included Craig's mother Dr Judith Holt (Jill Forster) who ran the local surgery, Russell Dean (Colin Vancao) the college Dean who's mysterious wife was rumoured to have been murdered but was actually locked in the attic and local hairdresser Mrs De Soosa (Anne Phelan).

Production began in 1982 but it was April 1983 before Nine quietly added the show to their schedule. So quietly, The Sun-Herald commented that "stung by the failure of Taurus Rising and Waterloo Station, Nine is launching this one with not so much of a bang as a whimper. Never before has a new Australian soap been launched with less ado". The only preview provided to critics was a confusing compilation of the first five episodes. When they did eventually get to see the full episodes (at the same time as the rest of Australia), it did little to improve their reaction to the show with one TV Week critic describing it as "drivel". After just five weeks, the show was pulled from the schedules on May 20th, replaced by reruns of Diff'rent Strokes. Some episodes popped up sporadically during the summer months of '83 but it wasn't until a late night repeat run some time later that all 85 episodes were seen on Australian TV. In an unusual example of international sales, the show screened in Vietnam in the early 00's.

Didn't that guy in the clip play Danny Ramsey in Neighbours?

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Didn't that guy in the clip play Danny Ramsey in Neighbours?

Yeah - that's David Clencie. His Neighbours brother Peter O'Brien was also named in the credits, along with a number of other familiar names.

And the woman who's been poisoned by her afternoon tea is Cheryl Stark, I think.

 

[Englishboy]

And the woman who's been poisoned by her afternoon tea is Cheryl Stark, I think.

Yes indeed it is Caroline Gillmer who is also well known as Helen Smart in Prisoner - the role for which I know her best.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Neighbours - 1985 to present - Part 1

​

After the onslaught of sex and sin soapies in the 70's, Seven announced that they were going to launch a more family friendly serial in 1980. Two pilots were in the running - A Special Place was about an older woman who took in underprivileged kids and People Like Us was about families living in a suburban street. Neither were picked up in the end but the germ of the People Like Us idea stuck with Grundy's. They'd tried to do soap in suburbia before with the short-lived Until Tomorrow in 1975 and despite it's failure, Reg Watson was convinced the suburban premise could work. In 1984, with cul-de-sac sagas doing well in other parts of the world (namely Knots Landing and Brookside), Grundy's were hoping for third time lucky as they pitched the idea to Seven again.

The show would be a cross generational drama following the lives of three friendly families living in the same Melbourne street. Humour would be emphasised over melodrama and as Reg Watson was keen to draw in international audiences, the BBC were approached to co-produce the show on the understanding that some of the characters would be English migrants. The BBC declined, although they would later buy the UK broadcast rights to great success. Early working titles included Living Together, One Way Street, The People Next Door and No Through Road before they mercifully settled on Neighbours (although one Seven exec wasn't convinced as he believed everybody hates their neighbours).

Scheduled to launch in March 1985, the press began describing Neighbours as the Australian Coronation Street. Meanwhile, Seven began doing not very much in terms of promotion, despite them reportedly investing $8 million on the first year. Producer John Holmes was shocked by their blasé attitude when Seven's head of promotion said "Oh that's right, you go to air in a couple of weeks, we better do something about some promos". The show would air in the 6pm timeslot around most of Australia but in Sydney, where the evening news had been expanded to an hour, it would air at 5.30pm. It's timeslot competitor was dating show Perfect Match, whose best days were behind it, so Neighbours was seen as a shoo-in to take over the early evening.

Opening night saw the rowdy stag party of Des Clarke (Paul Keane) take place. While he was partying it up with neighbours Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis) and Shane Ramsay (Peter O'Brien) in the company of stripper Daphne (Elaine Smith), his bride to be Lorraine (Antoinette Byron) was hanging out with Des' ex fiancé Julie Robinson (Vikki Blanche) whose criticisms of Des were so endless that Lorraine decided to call off the wedding. Across the street, Max Ramsay (Francis Bell) was being talked out of reporting the stag do for making too much noise by wife Maria (Dasha Blahova) while widower and father of four Jim Robinson (Alan Dale) and his mother in law Helen Daniels (Anne Haddy) were tasked with carrying drunken Paul home from the party. As Des despaired at being jilted the next day, Daphne returned in search of a watch she'd lost the night before and ended up becoming his housemate (and later, his love).

The initial response was good, with newspaper ads jumping on the few edgy parts of the show to pronounce "Suddenly 5.30pm isn't kid's TV anymore!". There were certain aspects like jokes about wife beating, the often topless Jim, permanently Speedo clad Shane and hints that Danny Ramsay (David Clencie) might be gay that may have been perceived as "racy" content for it's timeslot but they were later dropped as the show progressed. The Sydney Morning Herald gave a less sensationalised review, describing the show as "charming in it's simplicity" and "destined for a long and popular life and will steal much of the thunder of it's 5.30pm rival Perfect Match". The problem was, that it didn't steal anything from Perfect Match and struggled in Sydney against both it and Nine's Blankety Blanks revival. While it was doing well in Melbourne, John Holmes explained the Sydney situation, stating "It was in all sorts of trouble because it wasn't designed for a 5.30pm timeslot and it had become a huge financial commitment for the network since it wasn't being screened in prime time in one of TV's major markets".

Despite shying away from melodrama at the beginning, Neighbours began laying it on thick to try and boost the ratings. Helen fell victim to a conman (played by Anne Haddy's real life husband James Condon), Julie fell in love with her married boss Phillip Martin (Chris Milne) who was subsequently paralysed when his alcoholic wife crashed their car and Paul married Terri (Maxine Klinbingaitis) after one date, only for her to try and shoot him. The extra drama didn't turn the Sydney tide and rumours started spreading that the show would be canned, despite the fact that it was now rating well in every other city. With A Country Practice and Sons & Daughters both riding high, it was also said that Seven felt that Neighbours was surplus to their soapie requirements. Peter O'Brien actually first heard official word of the impending cancellation when he overheard two Seven execs in a Melbourne pub saying they'd come to town to axe the show. Citing financial concerns rather than ratings issues, Seven officially axed Neighbours on July 12th 1985, after only 170 episodes.

TO BE CONTINUED.............​

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I have a real soft spot for Seven's original version of Neighbours. It felt special to me from that very first episode, and I think of it having a warm earthiness. Ten honed the formula by cutting out a lot of the earnestness (which is good); amping up the humour considerably (arguably not so good) and saturating the cast with pretty young things. And it's the latter version that became the hit. But I was perhaps the only person I knew in the late Eighties who felt nostalgic for Seven's take on the series with its orange font, beige sets and brunette Scott.

The beige-brown cosiness of the Seven shows is an appeal all its own. Sons and Daughters had it at times. As did late-Eighties Home And Away. I wonder if it has to do with the way it's shot, as well. While the general perception of UK audiences was that Aussie shows looked a bit cheap, the original Neighbours Publicity Booklet describes the shooting techniques which does suggest some care went into creating that cosy look:

the BBC were approached to co-produce the show on the understanding that some of the characters would be English migrants. The BBC declined, although they would later buy the UK broadcast rights to great success.

I seem to remember reading at the time that the BBC were initially keen for Neighbours to be a joint production but had to drop out as their daytime schedule wouldn't be ready to run when the series was launched in 1985. They probably did well out of it by the time they were ready to buy: back in the Eighties, one episode of EastEnders cost the Beeb £40k, while they could buy a week's worth of Neighbours episodes for £28k.

Things have come full circle there, really, with UK audiences now being a big factor in Neighbours' ongoing production and episodes seen in Britain close to their Aussie transmission date.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Neighbours - 1985 to present - Part 2

​

Unbeknownst to Seven, while they were in the process of winding down Neighbours, Grundy's were shopping around for another network to take it on. Ten stepped in, announcing "We feels Neighbours fits our needs". It was a shock move, as it was the first time in Australian TV history that an axed drama had been revived by a rival network. It wouldn't be an easy transition though, as Ten found out when they tried to collect the sets, only to be told by Seven that they'd been "accidentally" destroyed in a fire. Producer John Holmes explains "the word injunction was flying around a lot. There was no way Seven was going to co-operate". Tasked with rebuilding the sets, Ten decided to give the show a more colourful look with the Holiday Island resort being revived as new location, the Lassiter Hotel complex. In addition to a new look, the show would also have a new tone, with the writing to be focused 50/50 on comedy and drama. One of the seemingly more minor changes, was the recasting of Scott Robinson, who would now be played by Jason Donovan.

As well as a "Meet Your New Neighbours" ad campaign, Ten decided to pull off a publicity stunt that The Sun described as "one of the most bizarre showbiz gimmicks ever seen". On the morning of it's January 1986 premiere day on Ten, various cast members were loaded on to the back of two toploader trucks with sets designed to resemble the rooms in their Ramsay Street houses. After bribing the security guard, they drove the trucks into Seven's Epping studio complex in Sydney before driving them out again while waving to the news cameras of Ten's breakfast show, which was capturing the whole event from a helicopter overhead. Each truck was emblazoned with a banner reading "We're moving Neighbours to a new home!". Various other promotions included cast meet and greet barbeques in real life suburban "Ramsay Streets" and cast members hand delivering portable TV's to competition winners every weekend. Keen to pull in the youth audience, Grundy's also actively encouraged and accommodated shopping centre appearances by the teen cast into their filming schedules.

Premiering on Ten on 20th January 1986, the revamped Neighbours included a number of new faces including ex-S&D star Ally Fowler as Zoe Davis, Vivean Gray as busybody Mrs Mangel and Possession survivor Anne Charleston as Max's domineering sister Madge. The arrival of Kylie Minogue a short time later, as Madge's daughter Charlene, would set Neighbours on course for soap super success. But not before Ten suffered some ratings woes themselves, which made them wonder if they'd done the right thing by taking on the show. Publicity went into overdrive again, with a newspaper ad campaign and promotion of the packed shopping centre appearances, but it wasn't until they started spinning headlines about "Teen Sex on Ten" that ratings began to rise and the Scott and Charlene phenomenon was born. As the characters paired up onscreen, Kylie and Jason got together offscreen, although they were instructed to never confirm their relationship in order to drive tabloid speculation both in Australia and the UK, where the show had started airing on the BBC in October 1986. Kylie and Jason mania dominated the TV ratings, pop charts and tabloids for much of the late 80's, culminating in Scott and Charlene's blockbuster wedding which became one of the highest rating soap episodes ever on Australian TV while 19.6 million viewers tuned in to watch it when it aired on the UK. Neighbours was now firmly established as a soap superhit both at home and abroad.

By 1989, both Scott and Charlene were gone, with Jason and Kylie leaving to pursue their burgeoning pop careers. Neighbours would never see such fan hysteria again but it had established a fanbase that, through thick and thin, has kept the show on air to this day. Heading into the 90's, the original Robinson clan was mostly still intact while the Willis and Alessi families represented the new wave of residents on Ramsay Street. It's glory days behind it, ratings began to falter, and 1992 saw a revamp to give the series a darker, more adult tone in order to appeal to international audiences. There was also talks of E Street being stripped five days a week and taking over the Neighbours timeslot but the E Street producers refused to relocate the show to Melbourne in order to facilitate this and the plan was nixed, saving Neighbours from the axe. As long running characters including Paul and Jim departed, new characters including the exuberant Cheryl Stark (Caroline Gilmer), her husband Lou Carpenter (Tom Oliver) and the long running Kennedy clan (including future House and Chicago Fire star Jesse Spencer) took centre stage. Ratings were still a concern, with Ten using the show's tenth anniversary in 1995 to launch a "Get Back To Ramsay Street" advertising campaign featuring the show's latest sex symbol Annalise Hartman (played by a pre-Pacific Palisades Kimberley Davies) and the show continued to plod along. As the decade came to a close, the Scully family were the newest big family to arrive on the street.

The Scullys, the Kennedys and the newly arrived Hoylands provided much of the drama in the 00's while 90's teen comedy character Toadie (Ryan Moloney) grew up to study law and remains a pivotal member of the cast today. In 2004, Paul Robinson returned to the street in a literal blaze of glory, as he torched the Lassiter's complex. Much of the drama since then has revolved around his various villainous schemes, affairs and marriages. A major change took place in the late 00's, that would alter the Neighbours broadcast model. In 2008, after failing to come to a contract agreement with the BBC over UK broadcast rights, Neighbours moved over to rival UK network Channel 5 in a lucrative deal, where it aired alongside the other Aussie soap success story Home and Away. Meanwhile in Australia, ratings were on a steady downward slide. With the show's budget mostly covered by the Channel 5 deal, Neighbours was no longer a financial issue for Ten and keeping it on air meant they reached their local drama quota. However, as rating continued to fall, it was announced that as of 2011, the show would be moved to Ten's sister digital channel Eleven (now called Ten Peach), where it continues to air today. Seen as a demotion by some, it became one of the higher rating programmes on digital TV. Neighbours is now in it's 36th year and despite it's best days being a distant memory, it is still considered an Australian TV institution. It is the longest running soap opera in Australian TV history and while it's characters and storylines are too numerous to mention, any Australian soap actor or actress that you can possibly think of has probably appeared in it.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Prime Time - 1986

Nine years after the demise of their 70's hit The Box, Crawford's returned to the backstage dramas of the television industry with Prime Time. Described as "a gripping look at the behind the scenes activities of a television production company", it revolved around Lockhart Productions and their weekly current affairs programme Assignment. David Lockhart (Chris Orchard) literally ran the show, as both boss of the production company and lead on-air anchor, while it was a family affair in the office as executive producer Harry Jones (Tony Hawkins) and teenage son Bart (Ben Mendelsohn) worked alongside each other. In addition to Bart, David's unhappy daughter Sandy (Jane Hall) represented Prime Time's attempt to pull in a teenage audience. Others circling the action included hot shot reporter Jim Donnegan (Peter Kowitz), Channel 5 network executive Charles Garrett (Peter Whitford). his niece and Assignment receptionist Kylie Garrett (Antonia Murphy) and magazine reporter Kate McArthur (Nina Landis).

Where The Box had relied on sex and sin to pull in viewers, Prime Time was, to it's detriment, a bit more earnest in it's portrayal of reporters as responsible, caring and upstanding citizens. As the ratings showed, Australian viewers - who'd watched Nine's real life tabloid news reporters resort to every trick in the book over the years to get a story - didn't buy the sweet and innocent act. Setting the action in both Sydney and Melbourne for the first couple of episodes didn't have the desired ratings effect either while it's Thursday (where it was often up against the other big soap launch of '86, Return To Eden) and Friday timeslots were deemed to be graveyard slots. Nine insisted they were still behind the show and changes were made in an attempt to keep it on air. Peter Kowitz explained "Because the only way you could have a story was to be a reporter, they ended up making all of the characters reporters". So, for reasons unknown, receptionist Kylie was suddenly chasing up stories of her own while new reporter Craig (Gary Sweet) was revealed to be a spy from another network. According to Kowitz, "it became very weird, because the actors playing 'real' reporters began to resent the ring-ins". As well as the onscreen changes, Prime Time was pulled from it's weekday slots and dumped into the 9.30pm Saturday night death slot. Knowing the show was on it's way out, the writers were able to craft a suitable ending and after 60 episodes, Prime Time drew to a close with a wrap party for Assignment, which had also gotten the chop onscreen.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

Return to Eden - 1986

Crocodiles! Plastic surgery! Plane crashes! Return to Eden was one of the most successful Australian miniseries ever made but it's road to the screen was far from smooth. Twin producers Hal and Jim McElroy (of Picnic At Hanging Rock fame) were sure it would be a hit, yet were turned down by twelve different Australian directors that they approached to make it. "They were completely contemptuous about it, as were most of the agents" remembers Hal McElroy. Failing to raise interest Down Under, they shopped it around in the UK but were met with a similar response. In desperation, McElroy flew home via the US to meet director Karen Arthur. She loved the script and finally the ball got rolling on bringing the sordid saga to life.

The story opened with frumpy mining heiress Stephanie Harper (Rebecca Gilling) getting married to the much younger third husband, tennis pro / sleazebag Greg Marsden (James Reyne). They headed off on their honeymoon to the Harper family estate Eden, in the Northern Territory, joined by Stephanie's "best friend" and Greg's secret lover Jilly (Wendy Hughes). When the threesome headed out on a moonlight crocodile safari, Greg took the opportunity to toss his new bride to her supposed death in order to make off with her fortune and her best friend. Little did Greg and Jilly know, Stephanie had actually survived, had her face reconstructed by plastic surgeon / love interest Dan Marshall (James Smillie) and had re-emerged under the guise of supermodel Tara Welles, who went around making statements like "I want you to get me on the cover of Vogue in six months" while plotting revenge against her merry widower and former best friend. The series was shot on location in Sydney, Orpheus Island and Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, under the guidance of future Oscar winning cinematographer Dean Semler (Dances With Wolves).

Critics were mostly dismissive of the upcoming series with Hal McElroy saying "It was so different from everything else Australia was doing in miniseries at the time, being a bold, unabashed melodrama instead of a historical piece or social realism." Ten however were completely behind their new show and threw a flashy launch party with a stuffed crocodile in the foyer. Airing over three nights in September 1983, it's opening night exceeded expectations and by night two and three, it had set record ratings in Australia. Talks of a sequel began almost immediately, with rumours in TV Week suggesting that Greg would return to seek revenge having undergone his own plastic surgery. This didn't come to pass but when it was sold to Worldvision for over $4m for US distribution, solid plans for a follow up began to take shape. As the miniseries enjoyed success worldwide in places as varied as Chile, Jordan, Panama and Monaco, Hal McElroy and Worldvision came together to plot a 22 part follow on series that they pre-sold to the US and the UK. No expense was to be spared on the $8m production, with $2m being spent on sets while luxury cars were bought rather than rented and well known designers would provide the flashy wardrobes.

Airing in 1986, the action picked up seven years after Jilly had been sent off to prison. Stephanie and Dan were still happily married while her kids were now adults, hotheaded Dennis (Peter Cousens) and wannabe fashion designer Sarah (Nicki Paull). Wendy Hughes had turned down the offer to return as Jilly, so Peta Toppano took over. Fresh from prison, a seemingly reformed Jilly re-entered Stephanie's life, only to discover that they were actually sisters. "Two beautiful sisters fighting is much better than two beautiful women" said Hal McElroy. The revelation gave Jilly a foot in the door of Stephanie's new Sydney mansion Eden and it wasn't long before she was out for revenge. With Greg dead, Jilly's new partner in crime would be Jake Sanders, Greg's secret brother who was also seeking retribution for his brother's fiery death. James Reyne wasn't interested in returning, so the role was offered to his brother David Reyne. Possibly scarred by having just starred in both Skin Deep and Possession, he too turned down the role. The part finally went to British actor Daniel Abineri, who after initial enthusiasm, was described by McElroy as "having his own issues". He said "he had a need to subvert and demonstrate his working class credentials to the audience. It diminished his character somewhat." One of example of this was his refusal to wear his tie properly adjusted which McElroy discussed "His character is a high-powered businessman and when his tie was askew, it reduced his credibility".

As the drama unfolded onscreen, much of it seemed very familiar to viewers. At Jilly's bidding, various attempts were made on Stephanie's life including a crocodile being slipped into Stephanie's pool in order to finish the job that the one in the miniseries had failed at. This prompted a mental breakdown, another faked death and another assuming of another identity with Stephanie again masquerading around Sydney in disguise, this time under a veil pretending to be Arab royalty, Princess Talitha. History was also repeating itself for Dan, who reconstructed Jilly's niece Jessica's (Saskia Post) injured face, turning her into a beautiful woman before falling in love with her. While international audiences were lapping up the drama, Australian viewers weren't buying it this time around. In addition to the repetitive plots, comparisons to Dallas and Dynasty also proved to be unhelpful. Hal McElroy was quick to point out at the beginning of the series, that their US counterparts had five times the budget of Return to Eden, however Ten's publicity department persisted in pitching it as "Dynasty Down Under" in order to push it as a much more sophisticated show than Prisoner and Neighbours.

It's Australian ratings flagging, Ten decided not to order any more episodes, with the remainder of the series being aired in two hour blocks up against the football. Hal McElroy was unhappy saying that the worldwide distributor Worldvision "was devastated by Ten's decision to axe it" and that "it could have been a huge franchise". With it's run on Ten ending in a shooting cliffhanger, with Stephanie in the frame for murder, McElroy decided to film an alternative ending in order to provide closure for international audiences. With the show petering out, Peta Toppano, Daniel Abineri and Nicki Paull were all critical in the press about their time on the series while the gracious Rebecca Gilling spoke only positively while getting a dig in at her colleagues, stating "Return to Eden wasn't the most demanding material to work on but we were all on a good wicket and succeeded in entertaining people in a tongue in cheek way. If you've taken on a job, I think it helps if you support the project". The show lives on today in reruns and even had an Indian movie remake, Khoon Bhari Maang, in 1988. In 2012, Nine announced that they were to remake Return to Eden as a six hour miniseries with Wentworth writer Pete McTighe, but it was unfortunately shelved due to financial reasons.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Return to Eden - 1986

I know very little about the making of RTE, so I've found this post really informative. Thanks.

James Reyne wasn't interested in returning, so the role was offered to his brother David Reyne.

Good as it would have been to see James Reyne back, the long lost identical twin brother coming right alongside the revelation of the two lead women being sisters just feels like too much of too much. It makes the long lost non-identical brother idea seem almost sensible.

The part finally went to British actor Daniel Abineri, who after initial enthusiasm, was described by McElroy as "having his own issues". He said "he had a need to subvert and demonstrate his working class credentials to the audience. It diminished his character somewhat." One of example of this was his refusal to wear his tie properly adjusted which McElroy discussed "His character is a high-powered businessman and when his tie was askew, it reduced his credibility".

Oh, this is just fascinating. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall for some of these tensions.

McElroy worrying about Jake's wonky tie while putting out some of the most hackneyed plots week after week. One does have to wonder about his priorities.

While international audiences were lapping up the drama, Australian viewers weren't buying it this time around.

Count me as one of the ones lapping it up overseas. It was huge in the UK, getting the prime-time spot (on a Sunday evening if I'm not mistaken). I'm not sure how it did in the ratings, but other kids at school seemed to be at least aware of it, even if there wasn't a buzz about it every Monday morning.

At the time I loved it, but truthfully I've found it hard-going during rewatches for all the reasons Australian audiences evidently didn't like it: the repetitive plots, cardboard cutout characters and lazy, throw-it-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks writing. It's perhaps a decade or so since I last rewatched it, but I'd say it's dated very poorly.

It's Australian ratings flagging, Ten decided not to order any more episodes, with the remainder of the series being aired in two hour blocks up against the football.

I hadn't realised this. It's always sad to see a network treating its own output with such contempt that they're determined to bury it. Rebecca Gilling's comment about supporting the project would apply here as well.

With the show petering out, Peta Toppano, Daniel Abineri and Nicki Paull were all critical in the press about their time on the series

Ooh. Does anyone know what they said?

Hal McElroy was unhappy saying that the worldwide distributor Worldvision "was devastated by Ten's decision to axe it" and that "it could have been a huge franchise".

He was kind of right. Silly and shallow as it was, RTE was great fun and had some decent actors. There was definite potential there, especially if the signals from the international audiences had been read.

 

[Willie Oleson]

This prompted a mental breakdown, another faked death and another assuming of another identity with Stephanie again masquerading around Sydney in disguise, this time under a veil pretending to be Arab royalty, Princess Talitha.

I think it didn't work because the characters hadn't earned their popularity yet. The mini series was a very plot-driven Sidney Sheldon kind of story but a soap opera is another thing. It's like if DYNASTY had started with its 6th season, they also wouldn't have gotten away with it. The storylines in THE COLBYS were relatively low-key but this allowed them to flesh out the characters (some of them, anyway).

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I think it didn't work because the characters hadn't earned their popularity yet. The mini series was a very plot-driven Sidney Sheldon kind of story but a soap opera is another thing. It's like if DYNASTY had started with its 6th season, they also wouldn't have gotten away with it.

Good point, Willie.

As much as McElroy might have spoken out against the comparisons with Dynasty and Dallas it's pretty obvious that this is the kind of show RTE was intended to be. In which case I don't think it helped that RTE started at a time when American nighttime soaps were mostly past their creative peaks and plots were becoming increasingly outlandish. If that's the frame of reference then it's not a great starting point. And I suspect those involved in the writing would be more inclined to look at what was current in the American counterparts than how they'd begun.

Mind you, as you said, The Colbys had begun just the previous year and that show managed to get the balance more or less right. Same for Howards' Way. Perhaps RTE would have benefitted from some of that series' more grounded and balanced tone.

 

[Willie Oleson]

Perhaps RTE would have benefitted from some of that series' more grounded and balanced tone.

Absolutely. Since it became a different format we had to fall in love with Stephanie Harper all over again, and to be honest, I didn't like her very much.
And it was very unfortunate that Wendy Hughes declined the offer to return, I thought she was the highlight of the mini series cast.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

At the time I loved it, but truthfully I've found it hard-going during rewatches for all the reasons Australian audiences evidently didn't like it: the repetitive plots, cardboard cutout characters and lazy, throw-it-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks writing. It's perhaps a decade or so since I last rewatched it, but I'd say it's dated very poorly.

I loved the miniseries but I only managed a few episodes of the series. I found scenes like Jilly sharing a bottle of champagne in a prison cell with her old cellmate to be just stupid. As Willie said, the characters hadn't earned their popularity yet. When you saw Alexis doing similar in her prison cell in season 5 of Dynasty, you just rolled with it as the show had established itself in the realm of camp. But for RTE to do it straight out the gate, it just felt a bit try-hard.

Ooh. Does anyone know what they said?

Peta Toppano spoke out in TV Week, to complain about the number of sex scenes in the show and said she'd led a group of actresses who'd lodged a formal complaint about it. She said "It would have been more honest for us to have done nude scenes than to run around in a pair of lace knickers. Maybe they thought that sex and naughtiness would sell RTE but I think it's quite tedious". She also complained about the long working hours.

Nicki Paull described it as "the most intense experience I've had. The show underwent such a change from what we were originally told. I'm someone who needs a very clear and definite idea of the role I'm expected to play. I'd be very wary about anything like that happening again".

Last but not least, Daniel Abineri told TV Week that for the last ten weeks of filming, he'd been playing it for laughs, saying "About halfway through, it got really silly" and that scripts were met with "peals of laughter" from the cast. A year after it ended, he was interviewed when promoting another project and he described RTE as "a gross, ill conceived waste of money".

 

[Willie Oleson]

I found scenes like Jilly sharing a bottle of champagne in a prison cell with her old cellmate to be just stupid.

Speaking of champagne, I sampled the first episode of The Young Doctors on youtube and it starts with this

 

[Mel O'Drama]

And it was very unfortunate that Wendy Hughes declined the offer to return, I thought she was the highlight of the mini series cast.

This is refreshing, and I agree. Over the years I've seen a lot of praise for Peta Toppano's Jilly and don't seem to recall much discussion of Wendy's performance in the mini-series. Watching her in Snowy River: The McGregor saga fairly recently I did find myself wondering what she'd have done with the full series version of Jilly.

I found scenes like Jilly sharing a bottle of champagne in a prison cell with her old cellmate to be just stupid. As Willie said, the characters hadn't earned their popularity yet. When you saw Alexis doing similar in her prison cell in season 5 of Dynasty, you just rolled with it as the show had established itself in the realm of camp. But for RTE to do it straight out the gate, it just felt a bit try-hard.

Agreed. The crocodile-in-the-pool was something like Episode Three, and where can it go from there?

Nicki Paull described it as "the most intense experience I've had. The show underwent such a change from what we were originally told. I'm someone who needs a very clear and definite idea of the role I'm expected to play. I'd be very wary about anything like that happening again".

This is intriguing. It sounds like there were significant revisions between pre-planning and production. Was it originally planned to have a different tone, I wonder?

Daniel Abineri told TV Week that for the last ten weeks of filming, he'd been playing it for laughs

Given his Frank-N-Furter pedigree, probably not all that surprising.

 

[Alison Carr]

Nicki Paull also got into trouble with Return to Eden Producers as she had her hair cut really short as soon as principle filming wrapped but before she had clearance and before they knew if she was needed for any reshoots, luckily she was not needed - mainly because they had dramatically reduced her role on the series which left her feeling out in the cold. I get the impression Nicki could be a bit of a nightmare on TV shows as there were issues with her on Prisoner too and she has spoken out to say she also did not enjoy that and blamed conditions and other cast members for her sudden departure - a story was put about at the time that she had glandular fever and had to pull out of filming further episodes of Prisoner but over the years we have learnt that was not the case.

 

[Alison Carr]

you may find these pages interesting for Return to Eden info

 

[Alison Carr]

Talking about Return to Eden in a previous interview here is what Nickki Paul said...


'The show underwent such a dramatic change from what we were originally told. I am someone who really needs a very clear and definite idea of the role I am expected to play and i'd be very wary about anything like that happening again. Initially my character was going to go on a journey similar to that of her mother in the original mini series. I was to be the ugly duckling who throughout the course of the show developed into the beautiful swan. Sadly that angle of the show was dropped at the last minute leaving me with very little to actually do. This all came about when the lead writer was very suddenly sacked just after we went into pre-production. The series could have been a huge success but they opted to go down more of a soap route rather than the planned drama one. I was lucky that on the day my holding contract expired I was offered a very different role in Prisoner. Towards the end of recording Eden I had somehow managed to pick up a stalker, it was a scary time. I desperately wanted to change my appearance as quickly as I could to avoid the attention and I had my curly locks chopped off and opted for a very short, white, spikey hair cut which as it turned out was perfect for the role in Prisoner. When I rocked up at the wrap party sporting my new look the producers jaw hit the floor as they had not yet cleared me for what is known as 'rushes clearance', they were quite angry with me for jumping the gun but it turned out ok as I was not needed for any reshoots.'


Talking about Return to Eden in a previous interview here is what Peta Toppano said...

'If I had one complaint to make about my time on Return to Eden it would be the costumes, particularly the skimpier ones that I was expected to wear and the excess of undressing scenes, I loathed it. Another actress and I felt that we were being exploited and we really did not enjoy that part of the show. In the end it got so ridiculous that I had to complain as it was just titillating and I really objected to it. I t would have been more honest to have me running around nude rather than the skimpy lace knickers. They felt that sex would sell but I found it tedious. The worst of the scenes had me on a boardroom table seducing Daniel Abineri, I simply did not want to do it, it was late at night and I just wanted to go home and had certainly had my fill of these scenes by that point. I check all scripts very carefully for what I call 'knicker scenes' now before I agree to them. Eden was a learning curve but that said Eden was good for my career and it paid for the renovations to my home in Balmain. '

Talking about Return to Eden in a previous interview here is what Daniel Abineri said...

'towards the end of shooting I was inundated with silly little messages and notes from the Producer and the Director who seemed concerned with my characters appearance, they were obsessed with how I wore a tie and were convinced I did not look like a proper business man because it was never straight. So for revenge, there was one particular scene where I was throwing poor Peta Toppano around the bedroom and my tie became loose, I made a point of looking straight down the camera and dramatically straightening my tie, it was left in the final edit too and now when you next watch it you will really notice it and see how pointed it was.