Australian TV Plays: The Patriots (27 May 1962)

The Patriots (27 May 1962)

The Patriots was an Australian television drama mini-series. The third in the series, the first one not written by Rex Rienits.

Colin Dean told Graham Shirley he would get this confused with The Outcasts.

Premise

William Wentworth runs a newspaper which brings him into conflict with Governor Darling.

Cast

* James Condon as William Charles Wentworth
* Allan Trevor as Governor Ralph Darling
* Nigel Lovell as Dr Robert Wardell

Production

It was announced in Sept 1961. In January 1962 the ABC announced it would make a third historical series, an unofficial sequel to Stormy Petrel and The Outcasts.

The first two were written by Rex Rienits but this one was written by Phillip Grenville Mann, an Australian who had worked in London and replaced Rienits as drama editor at the ABC.

It was based on the Sudds and Thompson case. Information on that is here.

Mann said, "We are plunged directly into the fight that posed the question - would the colony remain essentially a military outpost devoted to upstanding the landed few and their assigned convict slaves; or would the new voice of a free democracy, so ably championed by Wentworth, be heard in the land?"

“I hope that any factions in it are not dubbed ‘goodies’ and ‘baddies’,” said Mann. “When men of principle disagree it does not necessarily follow that they become either heroes or scoundrels. Tragedy - and drama - can sometimes be found in men who act which absolute integrity and in direct conflict with the needs and desires of the people.”

Dean says Condon and Trevor were cast in part because of their likeness to their subjects.

Designer Phil Hickie spent four months designing 17 sets, plus the costumes and props. More than 200 gallons of paint were used.

Reception

The Australian Women’s Weekly said:

I thought “The Patriots” was a wonderful story that could have had added excitement if it had been played at a quicker pace. I wish it had been done in five one-hour episodes. Of the cast, I think the outstanding work came from Nigel Lovell as Robert War- dell, Alastair Duncan as Captain Robison, and Richard Davies as Attorney- General Moore. Serials like “The Patriots” are written for televiewers. My independent survey showed they liked it. I have never had so many requests for information about a serial from such a wide cross-section of society. For instance, on the Mon- day morning after Colonel Henry Dumaresq (Ellis Irving) challenged Wardell to a duel, no fewer than three people rang me and another was waiting on the office doorstep to see if I knew the result of the duel — they couldn’t wait till the next Sunday to find out. Such interest has not been shown in the other serials . . . not in my independent TV surveys.

Val Marshall of the SMH did not think it was as good as the first two.

The Age, reviewing the first two episodes criticised its slow start. He felt Trevor made "a splendid" Darling but thought Condon was "inclined to be theatrical" and Lovell too "flippant". "Nevertheless the characters are well contrasted and further viewing could revise early casting impressions. The sets and photography are first class by any standards and the historical snippets artfully introduced give The Patriots as a TV production that fullness that is a badge of maturity. But why the slow start?"

Zoe Caldwell admired the show ("that was very good") in an interview where she generally compared Australian television unfavorably with Canadian TV - mostly because the Canadians made more.

Frank Roberts of The Bulletin said:

The first instalment of The Patriots limped and stumbled, in no way helped by unimaginative lighting which allowed good sets to create very little illusion, and some strange method in the acting of Stewart Ginn and Frank Taylor as Privates Sudds and Thompson (“Not the hand!”), and James Condon as the first W. C. Wentworth, played as a twin brother to Walter Sullivan’s Macarthur. With a wealth of explosive material to come, Phillip Grenville Mann was satisfied to establish his characters and set his stage for future action, in this first episode. That would have been valid enough if the producer, Colin Dean, had called for some vital atmos- phere and sense of movement in the photography. He failed to do so, and the episode suffered.

Malcolm Ellis of The Bulletin, who whinged about the historical accuracy of The Outcasts whinged about this too here. What a whinger. He did allow:

“The Patriots” is good clean fun for those who like goodies-and-baddies his- torical westerns done after the blood-and- thunder in which manner Alfred Dampier would have done them if TV had existed in his time and he had won Tattersall’s. Moreover the series is a kind of drama that is easy on the playwright.

Crew

Technical supervision - David Tapp. Designer - Philip Hickie. Producer - Colin Dean. Floor manager - Tom Jeffrey. Original music - John Antill. Research -Christine Roche. Make up - Doreen Castle. Wardrobe supervision - George Fleischer.

Episodes

Ep 1 - May 27 (Syd), June 10 (Mel) - Wentworth runs a legal practice and newspaper with his friend Dr Wardell. Wentworth writes articles in his newspapers that annoy Governor Darling who wants to sue for libel. Sarah Cox goes to see Wentworth to hire him to sue on behalf of her sister Elizabeth who is pursuing a Captain Payne for breach of promise. Private Sudds and Thompson commit a crime so they can be arrested and imprisoned rather than serve in the army. GS: James Condon (William Charles Wentworth), Stewart Ginn (Pvt Joseph Sudds), Frank Taylor (Pvt Patrick Thompson), Beryl Marshall (Elizabeth Cox), Marion Johns (Mrs Cox), Beverley Phillips (Sara Cox), Allan Trevor (Lt Gen Darling), Ken Goodlet (Captain Dumaresq), John Alden (Alexander Macleay), Nigel Lovell (Dr Robert Wardell), Al Thomas (Napthali), Vaughan Tracey, John Heywood, Dennis Carroll.

Ep 2 - June 3 (Syd), June 17 (Melb) - Wardell escapes the charge from Darling. Wentworth represents the Coxes at a trial. Darling wants to make an example of Sudds and Thompson. Sudds is extremely unwell. GS: James Condon (William Charles Wentworth), Beverley Phillips (Sarah Cox), Beryl Marshall (Elizabeth Cox), Nigel Lovell (Dr Robert Wardell), Allan Trevor (Lt Gen Darling), Richard Meikle (Captain Gillman), Ken Goodlet (Captain Dumaresq), Colin Croft (Lt Col Shadforth), John Faassen (Col Stewart), Stewart Ginn (Pvt Joseph Sudds), Frank Taylor (Pvt Patrick Thompson), John Fegan (John Toole, turnkey), Don Pascoe (Dr James MacIntyre), Marion Johns (Mrs Cox), Dennis Carroll, Vaughan Tracey.

Ep 3 - “The Governor Acts” - June 10 (Syd), June 24 (Melb) Wentworth protests against “rubber stamp” governorship. Sudds and Thompson's punishment leads to Sudds dying. GS: James Condon (William Charles Wentworth), Nigel Lovell (Dr Robert Wardell), John Faassen (Col Stewart), Ruth Cracknell (Mrs Darling), Allan Trevor (Lt Gen Darling), Captain Robert Robison (Alastair Duncan), Richard Meikle (Captain Gillman), Frank Legg (RSM), Colin Croft (Lt Col Shadforth), Frank Taylor (Pt Thompson), Don Pascoe (Dr James MacIntyre), Malcolm Billings (Dr James Bowman), John Fegan (John Toole, turnkey), Stewart Ginn (Pvt Joseph Sudds),Richard Davies (WH Moore), Atholl Fleming (Alexander Macleay), Alan Godden and Vic Donaldson (drummers).

Ep 4 - June 17 (Syd) July 2 (Melb). The colony deal with the shock of Sudds' death. Wentworth decides to go after Darling. Robison gives evidence against Darling. GS: James Condon (William Charles Wentworth), Nigel Lovell (Dr Robert Wardell), Ruth Cracknell (Mrs Darling), Allan Trevor (Lt Gen Darling), Captain Robert Robison (Alastair Duncan), Beverly Phillips (Sara Cox), Ellis Irvin (Lt Col Henry Dumaresq), Kenneth Goodlet (Cap William Dumaresq), John Faassen (Col Stewart), Atholl Fleming (Alexander Macleay), Malcolm Billings (Dr James Bowman), Richard Davies (WH Moore), Don Pascoe (Dr James MacIntyre), Dennis Carroll, Vaughan Tracy.

Ep 5 - June 24 (Syd) July 9 (Melb) . The conflict between Darling and Wentworth increases. Wentworth gets engaged to Sara Cox. Wardell us challenged to a duel. GS: James Condon (William Charles Wentworth), Nigel Lovell (Dr Robert Wardell), Ruth Cracknell (Mrs Darling), Allan Trevor (Lt Gen Darling), Captain Robert Robison (Alastair Duncan), Kenneth Goodlet (Cap William Dumaresq), Richard Meikle (Captain Gillman), Richard Davies (WH Moore), Atholl Fleming (Alexander Macleay), Beverly Phillips (Sara Cox), Ellis Irvin (Lt Col Henry Dumaresq), Dennis Carroll, Vaughan Tracy.

Ep 6 - July 1 (Syd) July 15 (Melb) - a duel is fought between Henry Dumaresq and Robert Wardell which ends with Dumaresq being injured. Robison confronts Stewart about the latter using labour at his farm. GS: James Condon (William Charles Wentworth), Beverly Phillips (Sara Cox), Marion Johns (Mrs Cox), Beryll Marshall (Mrs Cox), Nigel Lovell (Dr Robert Wardell), Captain Robert Robison (Alastair Duncan), Richard Meikle (Captain Gillman), Ellis Irvin (Lt Col Henry Dumaresq), Kenneth Goodlet (Cap William Dumaresq), Malcolm Billings (James Bowman), Leonard Bullen (referee), Tom Farley (George Plumley), John Faasen (Colonel Stewart), Richard Matthaei, Peter Rose.

Ep 7 - July 8 (Syd), July 22 (Melb) - Sarah marries William. Robison gets in trouble. GS: James Condon (William Charles Wentworth), Beverly Phillips (Sara Cox), Allan Trevor (Darling, Ruth Cracknell (Mrs Darling), Kenneth Goodlet (Cap William Dumaresq), Nigel Lovell (Dr Robert Wardell), Captain Robert Robison (Alastair Duncan), John Faasen (Colonel Stewart), Kerry Francis (Lt Christie), Brian Anderson (James Kinghorne).

Ep 8 - July 15 (Syd) July 29 (Melb) Robison is court martialed. GS: James Condon (William Charles Wentworth), Beverly Phillips (Sara Wentworth), Allan Trevor (Darling), Ruth Cracknell (Mrs Darling), Ellis Irvin (Lt Col Henry Dumaresq), Nigel Lovell (Dr Robert Wardell), Captain Robert Robison (Alastair Duncan), Vaughan Tracey.

Ep 9 - July 22 (Syd), Aug 5 (Melb) Darling’s answer to Wentworth’s impeachment is to hold an official inquiry to the death of Private Sudds. Sarah has a baby. Wentworth is impeached. Wardell sells the newspaper. Robison is cashiered. Darling is exonerated through possible false evidence. Darling is replaced. GS: James Condon (William Charles Wentworth), Allan Trevor (Darling), Nigel Lovell (Dr Robert Wardell), Kenneth Goodlet (Cap William Dumaresq), Athol Fleming (Alexander Macleay), Kenneth Goodlet (William Dumaresq), Ellis Irvin (Henry Dumaresq), Tom Farley (George Plumley), Richard Davies (WH Moore), Alastair Duncan (Robert Robison), Max Rowley, Scott Ridoutt.

Ep 10 -July 29 (Syd) Aug 21 (Melb) - final episode. Darling returns to England. Wentworth throws a big party. Not a lot else happens Wardell is seen at the end, alive. GS: James Condon (William Charles Wentworth), Beverly Phillips (Sara Wentworth), Allan Trevor (Darling), Nigel Lovell (Dr Robert Wardell), Ruth Cracknell (Mrs Darling), Kenneth Goodlet (Cap William Dumaresq), Kenneth Goodlet (William Dumaresq), Ellis Irvin (Henry Dumaresq),Athol Fleming (Alexander Macleay), Beryl Marshall (Elizabeth Todhunter), Marion Johns (Mrs Cox), Frank Taylor (Patrick Thompson), Richard Davies (WH Moore), Vaughan Tracey, Ken Hacker.

My thoughts: not very good. Overlong, Bad acting. Good sets. Not a bad story just dragged out. Wentworth is an entitled brat, so is Darling. The real hero is Robison because he's actually got something at stake.

The Bulletin 9 June 1962

AWW 13 June 1962

SMH 3 Sept 1961

The Bulletin 16 June 1962

AWW piece

The new A.B.C-TV Australian historical serial, as yet unnamed, will with the two previous serials, “Stormy Petrel” and “The Outcasts,” complete a trilogy, says producer of all three, Colin Dean. THE new serial, still being planned, re- searched, and written by A.B.C.-TV’s drama editor, Mr. Phillip Mann, will deal largely with the rise of democracy in the colony. The serial will cover the period of Governor Darling, from December, 1825, to Oc- tober, 1831. One of its main characters will be barrister William Charles Wentworth.

Two of Wentworth’s big projects were the institution of trial by jury and the estab- lishment of the Legislative Assembly. “’Stormy Petrel’—the story of the Rum Rebellion — was virtually the colony’s first re- volt against what was thought to be the tyranny of government vested in the person of the Governor himself,” producer Dean said. “’The Outcasts’ told the story of the emancipists begin- ning to feel their strength as a group in the community, as distinct from the convicts, and demanding their rights. “The new serial will complete a trilogy with the story of the beginning of the rise of democracy through the work of Wentworth and others.” Governor Darling’s arrival in December, 1825, almost coincided with the arrival back in the colony of W. C. Wentworth. (Wentworth had gone to England to study law and returned a barrister.)

During the serial Went- worth begins his practice in Sydney, marries local girl Miss Sarah Cox, and settles in Vaucluse House. From what I heard of the proposed outline of the serial, it will carry on the great interest of its two predecessors. No one can say at this stage whether the new serial will develop into a major “single episode” drama like “Stormy Petrel” or into something like the historical pageant that “The Outcasts” was. One thing is certain, though: It will be more richly mounted, show a grander life.

“Conditions in Sydney town as we have grown to know them in the past two serials had begun to improve quickly,” Dean said. “Life in Darling’s day was far more comfortable and, judging by Vaucluse House, it was on a much grander scale.” Talking of the gracious liv- ing of the day, Mr. Dean pointed out that the floor of the dining-room at Vaucluse House was covered with tiles imported from Pompeii. But, although some of the serial is bound to be set in Vaucluse House and outside it on the verandahs and in the gardens, it will be filmed in built sets in the studio, not at Vaucluse House itself.

The interior of the house is now a museum and cannot be disturbed for the vast amount of equipment that would be needed for filming there; and the century and more that has passed shows in the growth in the gardens, so that it is right out of period. This must nearly break the hearts of all concerned, for one of the scenes planned is a garden party at Vaucluse House.

Familiar to televiewers who watched the other serial will be the old Government House. Casting the serial has not yet begun, but a historical serial has its own special problems. When casting, Mr. Dean always tries to get some one who bears some physical resemblance to the original character. With the designer for the serial, Philip Hickie, who has just returned to the A.B.C. after two years with the B.B.C., Mr. Dean has already spent time at Vaucluse House studying furniture, clothes, and portraits. Governor Darling’s picture, Dean says, shows him as a “lean, tall, elegant-looking chap. He has a slightly Napoleonic look and a dimpled chin.”

Miss Sarah Cox’s picture is hanging there, too, and Dean says she is a “fine, handsome woman.” Work has already begun on the soldiers’ uniforms for the production. Regiments in Sydney then were the famous Third Regiment of Foot, known as The Buffs, the 57th, and the Royal Veterans’ Corps. I always find it startling to realise that TV in Aus- tralia already has its tradi- tions. True to them, the new Australian historical serial will start at 7.30 p.m. on the last Sunday in May—May 27.

A.B.C.- TV’s new historical serial is the romantic story of the fight for democracy

A TV tradition which began with A.B.C.-TV’s “Stormy Petrel” three years ago is carried on this year with “The Patriots.” “The Patriots” is a 10-part serial of half-hour episodes, presented live on Sunday nights at 7.30. It covers Australia’s history from 1825 to 1831, when Lieut.-General Ralph Darling was Gov- ernor of the colony. Those six years were a time of bitter conflict between Governor Darling and William Charles Wentworth. Wentworth, an Australian, was a bril- liant lawyer and a flamboyant character. He went to England in 1812, took his law degree, and watched England’s democracy at work, haunting the House of Commons and the courts. He re- turned to Australia and began to practise law almost at the same time as Darling arrived to govern. Wentworth immediately launched a campaign for responsible government, demanding a parliament elected by all the people, including the Emancipists, a free Press, and trial by jury. Darling could not tolerate Wentworth’s views. “It is impossible,” he said, “that the institutions of English democracy shall ever be transplanted to this country. “The people are not ready for them —they never will be. “This is a military outpost full of convicts, Emancipists, and wretched Radicals. They must be treated as such.” Robert Wardell, an Englishman, a Doctor of Laws, and editor of the news- paper “The Australian,” was one of the “wretched Radicals.” He and Wentworth were inseparable. For some years Wentworth was War- dell’s partner in “The Australian.”

Wentworth dissolved the partnership when the feud between him and Darl- ing became so hot politically that he thought he served its ends better by be- ing free to defend Wardell in court against the actions provoked by his fiery editorials. The battle between Wentworth and Darling is waged with brilliance, punctu- ated with death, libel actions, and duels. The script is exciting, full of suspense and romance; all doubly intriguing be- cause it is true. The romance between Wentworth and Miss Sarah Cox is unorthodox and de- lightful. Wentworth meets her for the first time when she calls on him to en- gage his services to sue Captain Payne, the master of a small coastal vessel, for breach of promise to marry her. Sarah, then 18, was the daughter of a blacksmith. She had been keeping company with Payne, who deserted her and married a rich widow. Sydney Town seethed with gossip; Sarah was said to have had an affair with Payne. Later in the serial, Wentworth and Sarah marry and live at Vaucluse House, which Wentworth bought cheaply from financially embarrassed Captain Piper. When Wentworth proposed to Sarah, he told her they were two of a kind. “We’re proud fighters, with un bounded ambition,” he said. “Together, you and I can conquer this colony. And when I falter and betray myself, I shall depend on you.”

When A.B.C.-TV launched “Stormy Petrel” three years ago without fanfare, I am sure they didn’t know they were taking Australian history out of the schoolroom and awakening Australians to the fascination of their own story. “The Outcasts,” which followed “Stormy Petrel,” carried on the job. “The Patriots” continues it. With the script—by Phillip Grenville Mann—and the skilled work of producer Colin Dean, who also produced the two others, “The Patriots” should be entertainment-plus. —NAN MUSGROVE

Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Patriots
by Stephen Vagg
October 23, 2021
Stephen Vagg’s series of forgotten Australian TV plays looks at the third in the unofficial trilogy of ABC historical mini-series: The Patriots (1962).

Australian cinema is notorious for the long-gestating sequel: there were considerable gaps, for instance, between The Man from Snowy River 1 (1982) and 2 (1988), Wolf Creek 1 (2005) and 2 (2013), The Wog Boy 1 (2000) and 2 (2010), and of course, Alvin Rides Again (1974) and Melvin Son of Alvin (1984).

Australian television is generally a lot quicker to cash in on any sequels that it feels are required – maybe because they are worried that the audience might forget (I’m talking sequels not reboots). So, Underbelly (2008) immediately led to a raft of Underbellies, My Name’s McGooley What’s Yours? (1966-68) begat Rita and Wally (1968), The Interpretaris (1966) was followed by Vega 4 (1967) and Phoenix Five (1969), and Stormy Petrel (1960) was followed by The Outcasts (1961) and The Patriots (1962). Today, I am writing about The Patriots, aka Stormy Petrel 3: Democracy’s Revenge!, having recently seen all ten 30-minute episodes.

It was the third in the ABC’s unofficial trilogy of historical mini-series: Stormy Petrel tackled the Rum Rebellion, The Outcasts concerned William Redfern and Lachlan Macquarie fighting for emancipist rights, and The Patriots would involve William Wentworth’s battle for more emancipist rights.

The first two were written by Rex Rienits, who opted out of The Patriots, so he could return to London to focus on his books and radio work. (He would script the fourth in the series, The Hungry Ones (1963), which was a kind of prequel.) Scripting duties instead went to another Australian who had worked in London radio and TV: Phillip Grenville Mann. Among Mann’s Australian TV play credits were The Sergeant from Burralee (1961), a groundbreaking-for-its-time tale about the murder of an Aboriginal in colonial New South Wales, which had been also filmed for British TV as The Attorney General; Funnel Web (1962), an entertaining Dial M for Murder style thriller; and The Ballad for One Gun (1963), a reinterpretation of the Ned Kelly story which starred John Bell as ol’ bucket head. I haven’t seen any of these plays (I am not sure copies exist) but I have read the original scripts and they are all solid work: Mann could clearly write. He also replaced Rienits as the ABC’s drama editor and would adapt stage plays for filming by the ABC like Luther and Six Characters in Search of an Author.

The character of William Wentworth had featured in a minor capacity in The Outcasts, talking to his highwayman-surgeon father Darcy, crossing the Blue Mountains and generally being a young Man of Destiny. He was played in that one by Phillip Ross, but James Condon took over the role for The Patriots which examined Wentworth as a middle-aged Man of Destiny. Condon was handsome with a deep speaking voice and rich head of hair – all three factors ensured he worked steadily as an actor throughout his career although he had a limited range. (Random trivia: in real life he was Mr Anne “Neighbours” Haddy.)

The main thrust of the plot for The Patriots is similar-ish to Stormy Petrel in that it’s about the clash between a wealthy landowner and a strict governor; only here the landowner, Wentworth, is the goodie, wanting rights for the locals, while the governor, Darling (Allan Trevor), is the baddy, trying to maintain New South Wales as a military dictatorship. The thrust of their dispute concerns the case of Sudds (Stewart Ginn) and Thompson (Frank Taylor), two soldiers who deliberately committed a crime so they would be sentenced to prison, which they figured to be a better gig than soldiering. There’s also Wentworth’s romance with Sara Cox (Beverly Phillips), his bromance with James Wardell (Nigel Lovell) who gets challenged to a duel, and his friendship with Colonel Robinson (Alastair Duncan) as a soldier who turns against Darling.

Colin Dean directed the first five ABC mini-series, from Stormy Petrel through to The Purple Jacaranda (1964). He admitted in an oral history for the National Film and Sound Archive that, in looking back at his career, he got The Outcasts and The Patriots mixed up. Both lack the “high concept” nature of Petrel and The Hungry Ones and the disaster factor of Jacaranda. Both had good stuff in them, particularly the costumes and sets.

I feel there was a key difference, however: The Outcasts entailed an epic sweep; it lacked focus but did provide plenty of dramatic juice, covering more than a decade. The Patriots doesn’t really have enough material for 300 minutes. The conflict between Darling and Wentworth is really solid, and focusing on the Sudds case would have made a fantastic 90 minute play. It’s about an important topic, too – the role played by a free press in effecting change, and how democracy can struggle to emerge. But stretched over ten episodes, there’s a lot of padding. Undramatic padding too, with a lot of scenes consisting of characters standing around being indignant about what they are reading in the paper. It even skips some stuff that happened in real life which was cool, such as Wardell meeting a violent death at the hands of escaped convicts.

The ABC had dealt with this subject matter before in radio: Edmund Barclay wrote the play, Spoiled Darlings, back in 1940 which dealt with this story comically adding a fictitious love story. The play was so well received it repeated in 1941 and was included in a 1946 published collection of Australian radio scripts. Maybe, that’s the better way to treat the material.

Still, there are a lot of fun bits to enjoy in The Patriots: John Fegan popping up as a “turnkey” (he has clearly come up in the world from The Outcasts, where he played a “flagellator”), Ruth Cracknell doing wonders with the thankless role of Mrs Darling, a scene where all the colonialists get on the booze in Wentworth’s posh Vaucluse House and it strikes you as something that could have happened at Malcolm Turnbull’s place, the duel between Wardell and Henry Dumaresq (Ellis Irvin) (there was a lot of duelling in Australia back in the day, people had too much time on their hands), Stewart Ginn’s moving performance as poor old Sudds. The sets and photography are superb.

The Patriots isn’t up to Stormy Petrel but it has its pleasures, and the ABC were far better off making things like this than all those British TV scripts they filmed in 1962.

The author would like to thank Graham Shirley and Simon Drake of the NFSA for their assistance with this article. All opinions are my own.

NAA Publicity

Australian TV Plays

The Patriots (27 May 1962)

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Janus of the Age aka Gordon Bett