Australian TV Plays: Point of No Return (15 Jan 1958)

An early production from Royston Morley, bought out here from England. An eccentric chap who bemused them all, apparently, but knew what they were doing.

I don't know if it was ever broadcast in Melbourne.

Premise

An "RAF thriller" set in an RAF control tower. A ghost plane drones overhead. A 30 year old message is dropped on the runaway giving a bearing for a party of survivors from a plane crash.

This is heard by a flight lieutenant decides to adopt a course of action directly opposed to his own and his commanding officer's better judgement. He decides to initiate a search for survivors

He fights a court martial and public disgrace but in the end his "hunch" is vindicated when the mist clears and they can see a dinghy with survivors.

Cast

* James Condon

* Frank Taylor

* Geoffrey King

Original play

The play aired on the BBC in 1957. It was the first play by Kingsland and was an original for television. A review is here.

Another review compared it to the Canadian plays Flight into Danger and Course for Collision both of which had already been filmed. Both would later be filmed by the ABC.

It was recorded as part of a BBC Transcription service called Thirty Minute Theatre. I think it was broadcast on BBC radio in 1958.

The NAA possibly have a script. See here.

Production

Jack Montgomery did the sets. Morley called it "my first half hour play since the war" which was showing off.

He came out here to help set up TV then came back on a more permanent basis. He later wrote a novel of his time in Australia.