Australian TV Plays: Flight into Danger (14 Sept 1966)

Based on an Arthur Hailey play later filmed as Zero Hour!

Plot

On a plane flight, passenger George Spencer is forced to take controls when the crew fall ill with food poisoning.

Cast

Ray Taylor as George Spencer, a former wartime pilot
John Godfrey
Raymond Westwell as Dr Frank Baird
Betty Bobbitt as the stewardess
Wyn Roberts
Roly Barker
Liam Cunningham
Les Wintour as a passneger
Frank Rich
Keith Eden

Original play

Arthur Hailey wrote the original script for Canadian TV. It was broadcast in 1956, then the script was bought for US TV and screened there in 1956. Article about the making of it was here.

That performance was so acclaimed it contributed to Sydney Newman being hired to work in Britain for Armchair Theatre.

Here's a copy of the play.

A copy of the stage play is here.

My thoughts on the play: Very exciting. Flying High turned this into a joke but that film worked because the story was solid and it is so here. All the technical details feel spot on. There's two heroe - the pilot and the doctor; and the the guy who talks him down I guess. The stewardess is just called stewardess. But it's a fantastic idea, logically worked out. It's great. Uses the small screen well too with lots of cuts and editing. Hailey "got" TV in a way most Oz writers didn't for a long time.

Other adaptations

Filmed by BBC in 1956. They filmed it again in 1962.

It was filmed for US TV in 1956.

The script was turned into a 1957film Zero Hour! Hailey turned it into a novel.

It was adapted into a novel published in 1959.

The BBC adapted it for radio in 1961.

Production

The production starred TV personality Ray Taylor in his second television drama role; the first had been Ashes to Ashes also for director Patrick Barton. Co star Betty Bobbitt was best known for appearing on Daly at Night.

Barton said "Ray is extremely good in this role and manages to portray the anxiety the average man would feel on when called to land a large passenger plane."

Len Wintour made his drama debut.

David Goddard said "this ie one of the great classic plays written especially for Television and is quoted in course on writing, acting and producing - making production of it a must. It it curious that it has never been done on Australian TV before, but this may have been due to copyright problems."

Reception

The Age called it "another local production that couldn't quite disentangle itself from technical shortcomings to get off the ground."