Australian TV Plays

1969 article in Britain's The Stage about Australian TV plays

From The Stage 24 Dec 1969 p 10

Drama Down Under From our own Correspondent

ALTHOUGH home-produced weekly drama series in Australia are on the increase, plays are seldon presented. Apart from televised Melbourne Theatre Company productions some years ago, for commercial television one has to eo back to... 1961 when Peter Cotes and Joan Miller went Down Under for HSV-7 in Melbourne and were involved in four super produc tions that still have to be equalled.

With the Australian Broad casting Commission it has been different. In the past they bravely have mounted produc tions of known overseas plays as well as a few specially written ones. They even pre sented an Australian Playhouse half-hour series, which showed up either the poor ability of Australian writers and/or the poor powers of play selection at the ABC. Soap opera For sometime however the ABC's dramatic output has been confined to a nightly soap opera called Bellbird, wh\ch is a kind of Coronation Street-cum- Mrs. Dale's Diary-cum-The Archers. There has been a highly efficiently produced and acted series Contrabandits now sold for re-runs on a commercial channel and replaced by a dullish Delta. In addition there was an excellent, but all too brief, comedy series, I've Married a Bachelor and a zany clever burlesque revue type series entitled The Greater Illustrated History of the Glorious Anti podes Show.

Recently the ABC presented a weekly series of six Australian written plays of varying lengths, some of which had inexplicably been in cold storage more than a year. Since Australian plays are such a rarity, the writer religiously and sometimes tortuously sat through them all, to assess the common merits and demerits and whether any are worthy of overseas screen ing.

The first, Dynasty by Tony Morphett, was taken from his novel of the same name. With far too many characters it became rather confusing and the plot far from exciting or gripping. Its main merits were some excellent performances from leading actors such as Brian James, Alan Hopgood, Kevin Miles and Mark McManus (the latter, now in England, has a leading role in the film "Ned Kelly Many changes in scene and location not always necessary added to the confusion, but direction and photography were good through out. It must have been a costly 50 minute production to mount.

The Voyage Out, written and directed by John Croyston, told of a poet who had problems as a writer, mainly stemming from an insecurity complex developed over his lack of physical stature, terminating in his suicide. It started very well, with crisp dialogue, but gradu ally deteriorated. Dialogue, acting, directon and photo graphy were excellent, but plot interest simply was not sus tained. Exactly right in the leads were Ray Hartley and Pat Bishop as the poet and his wife, the former in fact would be an ideal choice for the lead in any film or play about Wee Georgie Wood.

Tilly Landed on Our Shores unbelievingly winner of a 1968 award for television drama was a feeble attempt on a Peter Sellers-type theme, which in script form probably sug gested much comedy potential. In execution hardly anything could have been more ponde rously unfunny and, despite utilising the talents of a great number of top flight Australian artists, it sagged badly through out. Its authoress, Pat Flower, also provided the script for a very different kind of play.

Fiends of the Family, which proved much better entertainment, although its theme was hackneyed. Three sisters murder their mother, bury her in the garden, mistrust each other and quarrel. The writing was derivative, but the play almost succeeded through the bravado performances of the three sisters Betty Lucas, Ruth Cracknel! and Judith Fisher; but ultimately the in completely conceived characters and the far-fetched story de feated them.

First play Much was expected from The Cheerful Cuckold, the first play written specially for television by Alan Hopgood. He is one of Australia's foremost stage play wrights and the script had won an award as the best for 1968. It started out well about a young unversity lecturer neglecting his duties through an. oversexed wife but drifted off into practically nothing by the end. The author himself took the leading role and gave a powerful performance, but else where acting was not up to standard and the production far too slack.

Final play in the series was Oriel Gray's The Torrents which incredibly was placed apparent ly equal first in a playwriting competition. It had a hackneyed theme of a small town news paper in the last century with a woman doing a man's job on the editorial side and trying to be accepted as an equal. The dialogue was good but unoriginal, whilst the acting ranged from competent to mediocre, doing little to assist. Good camerawork and the use of what seemed to be authentic locations was redeeming. Lack suspense

For overseas only Fiends of the Family and The Voyage Out could, with certain reservations, be recommended.

As always it has. been the scripting that mainly has been below standard; Australian writers seem incapable of writing a good and compelling last 20 minutes, and suspense is nearly always lack ing. Sometimes the acting has achieved really dizzy heights, all the more remarkable when one realises that in Australia actors have far less rehearsal time than overseas.

Considering the lack of home bred drama, it is surprising that ABC productions are never re run although those emanting from overseas frequently are. There was for instance a very good production of Richard Beynon's The Shifting Heart, starring Madge Ryan and made when she was playing on the stage in Melbourne in 1968. It cries out for re-screening, but apparently has already been forgotten.

George F Kerr (1918-1996)

Educated at Merchant Taylors' School. Gt. Crosby, Lanes. Worked as an accountant.

Joined the RASC in the war. Spent five years as a prisoner-of-war in Germany.

On release free lanced as a writer in Paris and Marseilles for Radiodiffusion Franpaise. He wrote feature programmes and short stories there for 18 months

Joined the public relations department of the P and O Line to write their war history, ".Business in Great Waters."

*1950 Wrote a television play, "The Secret Sharer," which was produced by the BBC in 1950. and as a result of which he joined the BBC's drama script department, where he remained for four years, becoming drama script editor.

*1955 At the beginning of 1955, Mr. Kerr joined Towers of London Productions as script editor, and was responsible for many of the scripts in the "TV Playhouse" and Theatre Royal scries. and "Take Your Pick" into one, and added some first-class variety to it.

1956 becomes script editor of ATV.

March 1957 moves to Australia - "on spec" according to memo below. Went to work before David LLoyd James available.

22 April 1957 - starts work at ABC

Feb 1958 David Lloyd James leaves and George F Kerr takes over as script editor (but aways on short contrats0

1958 profile on him here.

Aug 1958 says can't find Oz case for Killer in Close up - see here

Sept 1960 writes an article about Australian artistic life here

13 April 1962 - contract with ABC ends

July 1962 back in England working for Armchair Theatre

Sample Credits

*Business in Great Waters (1951) - book

*A Month of Sundays (Aug 1952)

*Jan at the Blue Fox (Oct 1952) - radio serial

*Almost Glory (Apr 1953) - play

*The Voices (Jan 1955)

*Killer in Close Up (Sept 1957)

*The Heat of the Sun (Oct 1957) - radio play

*The Multi Coloured Umbrella (Jan 1958) - TV play (adaptation)

* Red Jungle (June 1958) - radio play

*A Portrait of Dylan (June 1958) - radio play

*The Unfair Sex (Oct 1958) - radio play

*Man (Mark II) (Nov 1958) - radio serial (article here)

*LBW Smith (Nov 1958) - cricket radio serial

*Symphonie Pastorale (Apr 1958)

*Killer in Close Up - Madeleine Smith (Aug 1958)

*Enemy of the People (Nov 1958) - TV play - adaptation

*Count von Staffenerg (Nov 1958) - radio play

*Man in the Grovesnor Hotel (Jul 1959) - radio play

*His Name isn't Rogers (Sept 1959) - radio play - more info here

*My Friend Chisolm (Sept 1959) - radio play

*Anna Karenina (Sept 1959) - radio play

*Blue Murder (1959)

*Remember Bluey (Oct 1959) - radio play - became She'll be Right

*Heart Attack (Jan 1960)

*Farewell, Farewell Eugene (1960) - TV play

*The Last Minute (Apr 1960) - radio play

*Moment of Indecision (Jul 1960) - radio play

*Hunger of a Girl (Sept 1960) - stage play - became Jenny

*Blue Murder (Sept 1960) - radio play

*Ghost of a Day (1960)

*The Dock Brief (1960)

*The Concert (1961) - TV play

*A little South of Heaven (Apr 1961)

* A Night with Winifred (Apr 1961) - short story

*She'll Be Right (Jun 1961) - radio play

*Once Upon a Time (Sept 1961) - radio play

*Jenny (1962) -TV play

*She'll Be Right (Aug 1962) - TV play

*Heart Attack (Mar 1963) - radio play

*Ghost of a Day (Aug 1964) - radio play

*Quick Before They Catch Us (1966) - TV series

The Stage 7 June 1956 p 12

The Stage 22 Sept 1955 p 19

The Stage 26 July 1962 p 11

Is this country in fact a thriving commercial going-concern — but culturally bankrupt? A.T the present time, Australia’s name in the world is for physical splendour—whether in swimming or sheep-farming, surf, sun or the’ 1,500 metres. Politically. the country is far from being a world power; its leaders cross oceans to bow outside Buckingham Palace or to raise their hats to Ike. Artistically too it is very much the backward child. Not, mind you. through any fault of its artists. Australian painting is making a big noise in London. Every month Australian actors sail from Sydney, headed for the West End—head for it and reach it. Musicians, dancers, sculptors, writefs—once they have learned their craft in their own country, and gone hungry doing so, plunge their small saving on the trip to Europe, there to .sink or swim. And most.of them are now swimming pretty strongly. Think of the names — Pete. Finth, Shirley Abicair, Gilbert Murray, Joy Nichols, Cyril Ritchard, Dick Bentley, Loudon Sainthill, Robert Helpman, Ray Lawler, Judith Anderson — the list goes on till -the crack of doom. No country cân afford such a drain on its cultural life. It isn’t enough to attract to this continent able-bodied labourers. It isn’t enough to dig for oil and conserve water and throw up skyscraping homeunits. Every country must develop its own indigenous culture, must allow for and not despise that small intellectual minority which by means of words on paper, colours, lines, shapes and notes of music will give expression to the ideas and images that are the heart and soul of its people. I feel that until three or four years ago the artistic life of Australia was a bleak enough prospect. But national lifiLmoves in cycles —and slowly. Italian painting, German music, English poetry, French theatre came and went as one century succeeded the next. I am sure that Ray Lavv- Ier’s “Summer Of The Seventeenth Doll” jerked this country out of some of its theatre lethargy. The play pleased its own audiences here, and thenastonishingly—played to enthusiastic houses in England too! People of repute were calling it a “great play”! As indeed it is—or, if not great, then in my opinion the best play written in the English language during the past 10 years. The stimulus of the “Doll” has been extraordinary. It now seems possible that Australians may write Australian plays to hold their own with the works of French, American or English dramatists. There is a chance now that a playwright need not emigrate to England in order to get his work before an appreciative and critical audience. WE need not expect a Brisbane Bach this year or next. It may ,that there will never be Australian music in a big way; England, “a nest of singing birds’’ as far as poetry is Concerned, has been low on music for hundreds of years. America, for years a campfollower of England in theatrical activity, now leads the world with plays of strength and originality and experiment. Can we guess at Australia’s course in the next few years? Or will she stay much where she has always stood, a hanger-on, a buyer of American and English stage imports? Mind you, it is still a slim chance. In this country ‘here are certainly the actors and the writers and the producers. Some of them have not yet booked their passage on the next boat out. But you can be dead sure that they will go—be forced to — if they are convinced that there is no living for thëm here, despite the work of the Elizabethan Trust and the Little Theatres, and the Arts Council and the other striving organisations.


Tharunka 29 Sept 1960

STUDIO PORTRAIT George F. KERR The lean-faced Englishman with the piercing blue eyes leaned forward and said he liked the Australian accent. Always had . especially when spoken by females. A PLAYWRIGHT and a TV and radio script writer, Mr Kerr was tired of England, felt it was used up as far as he was concerned The Australians he had met he liked, and he wanted new surroundings, new stimuli, new people to observe. Since he arrived here 11 months ago, with his voung wife and four-year-old daugh ter Catharine, he has beep writing and adapting TV plays for Channel 2, and working with the A.B.C. drama department. His radio serial “Man (Mark II)” is currently running on the A.B.C. “I was trained as an accountant,” he said, “but the war interrupted 1 didn’t mind, I only started the course to please my parents. “I had always wanted to write, even at the risk of starving.”

During five years as pris oner of war he dramatised Joseph Conrad’s story “The Secret Sharer.” They were going to act it in the camp, but the “D-day” landing in Normandy took their minds off amateur theatricals. Later, when he felt up to tackling the 8.8. C., George Kerr adapted this play for television, and its acceptance led to a staff job. Between his release from the prison camp and this he had been freelancing h France for the American and British departments of Radiodiffusion Francaise He digressed for a moment on “prisoner - of - warshm,” said he had written a comedy about it called “A Month of Sundays.” “I was tired of The Wooden Horse’ attitude.” he said, a bit bored. “I’d rather be a prisoner-of-war than fighting. And it was better for the British Army: I wasn’t a very good soldier. “A PRISON camp is something like a monastery. Or a university college.” He looked around him “l could do five years in this room. 11 wouldn’t upset me.” In the camp he studied for a London University degree in French “organised through the Red Cross”—and only the Normandy invasion prevented him taking his final examinations. “I also learned to play the flute,” he said. “One of my fellow prisoners was a flautist in the London Philharmonic Orchestra. But I don’t play it any more.” Mr Kerr began talking about playwriting. Studying the plays of Noel Coward, Bernard Shaw, Tchekov and Oscar Wilde helped him most, he said. “Dialogue from Coward,” he explained, “thought from Shaw, wit (if any) from Wilde, and humanity from Tchekov.” But, like Alexander Pope, he believes that “the proper study of mankind is man.” “When I observe people it isn’t their surface motives that interest me,” he said, “but their real motives, and when you’ve got at those you have a play.” He is planning a series of TV portraits of Australians. “Not historical characters,’ he hastened to say. “hut types I’ve met: The girl from Toorak’ whom 1 encountered in Melbourne, The Man in on.” the Canberra plane, and so And a stage play on Syd ney’s social life, set in Belle vue Hill. “I’ve been asked to do an Australian version of Ibsen’s Enemy of the People.’ ” he continued. “I think it’s a splendid idea, don’t you? A Queensland Gold Coast set ting, a new town being built, and water pollution. Basically the same story as Ibsen’s.” Mr Kerr 'doesn’t plan to stay much longer in Sydney, but to move on to Queens land. right up to the far north, then to Perth and Tas mania. “

T’VE heard about * the ‘weird convict atmosphere’ there,” he said. “It would make a good set . 4 in?* After Australia it will probably be South America (“but there’s not much scope there for earning a living”). So the United States will be come inevitable. Then, eventually, he hopes, if he ever takes roots, it will be at Aix-en-Provence, in France. “Being so far away from France is the only thing I mind about Australia,” he re marked. He doesn't think this kind of life will interfere with Catharine’s education, but ad mitted that his wife hankers a little for a real home. “She’s many years younger than I am.” he said. “Men who’ve been prisoners of war, they say, always marry their mothers or their daugh ers. I chose my daughter. “She was 17. I had been coaching her for her school certificate,’” he added, “and she failed, so I married her.” At the moment she is help ing in a shop in Rose Bay, while Catharine goes to kindergarten. “We’re living in one room in the Cross,” he explained, “and I treat it as my office from nine to five. A freelance writer must observe a regular routine.”

We asked George F. Kerr Q. Since you re an Englishman , why do you pronounce your name “ Kurr ” and not “Karr “’? A Because my family were originally Scottish. In Scotland it is really “Kair-r-r-r,” and the only other people I know who say it like that are the French 0. Do you go in for sport? A. Golf about once a year. And I used to play cricket, but never the horses. Q. Your favourite food? A. Continental cooking, with wine. But I don’t like espresso coffee; I prefer tea.

ABC Weekly 19 Feb 1959

NAA George F. Kerr

NAA George F Kerr

1956 Australian TV agent in London

Kinematograph Weekly 12 July 1956 p 22

Proportion of ABC plays that were Australian

(according to ABC reports)

1956-57 - by my count 16 plays, 1 written locally

1957-58 - 24 plays, 7 written locally (including 3 Killer in Close Ups and 2 Barbara Vernons)

1958-59 - 21 plays, 2 written locally (inc adaptation of Ibsen)... plus an Iain MacCormick

1959-60 - 22 plays, 12 written locally (I have 23 by my count)

1960-61 - 21 plays, 10 written locally

1961-62 - 24 plays, 8 written locally plus Devil Makes Sunday

1962-63 - 28 plays, 6 written locally (report says 5 written locally)

1963-64 - did not list overall figure, said (defensively) of approximately 212 plays produced live in Australia for television since 1956, 185 came from ABC of which 48 by Australian authors... but my count was 25 plays, 6 written locally (I excluded serials) (2 locally written plays were set outside Australia)

1964-65 - 26 plays, 10 written locally

1965-66 - 57 plays, 46 written locally... due to Wednesday Theatre

1966-67 - 41 plays, 36 written locally...(I count 39 from the list but anyways... Australian Playhouse made it big)

1967-68 - 16 TV plays, 4 Australian (all eps of Australian Playhouse and not all aired) - but had Bellbird and Contrabandits

1968-69 - Australian authors wrote all 221 plays produced on the ABC (this number inflated by including Bellbird and Contrabandits - but Australians wrote all of the eight stand-alone plays)

From 1958 Report by Australian Broadcasting Control Board

p 37 https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.c2772591&view=image&seq=321&q1=drama

There is still some hesitation on the part of stations to attempt live dramatic productions, and this has caused dissatisfaction in some quarters. There are, however, special problems, primarily financial, in the production and presentation of live drama programmes: the cost of producing such a programme is, at present, far in excess of the amount which is likely to be met by an Australian sponsor, and, at this stage, it does not seem reasonable to expect stations to carry any substantial amount of such programmes as a “station feature * or “sustaining programme ‘’. The ard would be disturbed if stations failed to keep the possibility of this type of production in mind, And it was pleased to note that, at the end of the period under review, some stations had plans for the presentation of Australian dramatic productions. It may be expected that the opportunities for the presentation of Australian productions will be greatly improved as additional stations are established.

1969 article in Britain's The Stage about Australian TV plays

George F Kerr (1918-1996)

1956 Australian TV agent in London

Proportion of ABC plays that were Australian

From 1958 Report by Australian Broadcasting Control Board

The Sin Shifter (16 September 1962)