| Barrier Reef | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | "Minus Five" |
| Genre | Adventure |
| Created by | Fauna Productions |
| Developed by | John McCallum and Lee Robinson |
| Directed by | |
| Creative directors |
|
| Starring |
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| Theme music composer | Eric Jupp |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 39 |
| Production | |
| Production locations | North Queensland, Great Barrier Reef |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company | D.L. Taffner |
| Original release | |
| Network | The 0-10 Network |
| Release | 12 February 1971 – 2 May 1972 |
Barrier Reef was an Australian television series that was first screened domestically in 1971. [1] However, 19 episodes had already premiered on British television on BBC1 between 5 October 1970 and 15 February 1971 and four more aired between 5 April and 3 May 1971 in advance of Australian broadcast.
Barrier Reef was about a group of marine biologists on board a sailing ship called the New Endeavour, [2] researching around the Great Barrier Reef, off Queensland, Australia. "It was the first series in the world to feature extensive colour underwater filming on location". [3]
The show was almost entirely filmed in North Queensland and at the time the show was reported to be the most expensive series ever produced in Australia and one of the few Australian series to be produced outside Sydney or Melbourne. Barrier Reef was produced by Fauna Productions who also created the uniquely Australian hit TV series Skippy the Bush Kangaroo , using some of the same crew and cast members. [4]
Like the Skippy series, Barrier Reef showcased iconic Australian locations in colour film and was destined for an international audience. The show was screened in many countries across the world, giving international audiences a glimpse of what the stereotypical Australia was like. [5]
The show was originally called Minus 5. [6]
In contrast to TV shows like Riptide or The Outsiders this series was made in Australia, using Australian scripts, featuring Australian leading actors, and covering scientific topics that were uncommon on TV. It was broadcast by BBC, in the US by NBC, and also by TV stations in Canada, Japan, South America, South Africa and numerous European countries. [3] The series had 39 episodes and was re-run in various markets for many years.
In 1976 Robinson said the series had just recovered its costs. [7]
Skippy the Bush Kangaroo is an Australian television series created by Australian actor John McCallum, Lionel (Bob) Austin and Lee Robinson produced from 1967 to 1969 about the adventures of a young boy and his highly intelligent pet kangaroo, and the various visitors to the fictional Waratah National Park, filmed in today's Waratah Park and adjoining portions of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park near Sydney.
Bellbird is an Australian soap opera serial broadcast by the ABC and written and created by Barbara Vernon, it screened for 10 seasons between 1967 and 1977, with the series centering around the residents of the small fictional Victorian rural township of the series title.
Ken James is an Australian former actor and celebrity chef. He is most widely known for his role in children's TV show Skippy the Bush Kangaroo as Mark Hammond to which be became known locally and to international audiences Since his debut in Skippy, James continued to work in film, television and theatre for another 36 years. In December 2009, James was diagnosed with stage three non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which escalated to stage four by 2011. James started chemotherapy, and as of November 2020 the cancer is in remission. James was also actively involved in the Victorian Police Force as an unsworn member from 1993 to 2013.
Television in Australia began experimentally as early as 1929 in Melbourne with radio stations 3DB and 3UZ, and 2UE in Sydney, using the Radiovision system by Gilbert Miles and Donald McDonald, and later from other locations, such as Brisbane in 1934.
Ruth Winifred Cracknell AM was an Australian character and comic actress, comedienne and author, her career encompassing all genres including radio, theatre, television and film. She appeared in many dramatic as well as comedy roles throughout a career spanning some 56 years. In theatre she was well known for her Shakespeare roles.
Eric Stanley Jupp was a British-born musician, composer, arranger and conductor who gained wide popularity in Australia after settling there in the 1960s, hosting a long-running light music TV show and composing for film and TV. He is best remembered for his theme music to the TV series Skippy the Bush Kangaroo.
John Neil McCallum, was an Australian theatre and film actor, highly successful in the United Kingdom. He was also a television producer.
Certain Women was an Australian television soap opera created by prominent Australian TV dramatist Tony Morphett and produced by the Australian Broadcasting Commission between 1973 and 1976. There were a total of 166 fifty-minute episodes. Episodes 1–59 were produced in black and white and, starting in with the introduction of colour broadcasting in Australia in 1975, episodes 60–166 were produced and broadcast in colour.
Ron Josiah Taylor, AM was a prominent Australian shark expert, as is his widow, Valerie Taylor. They were credited with being pioneers in several areas, including being the first people to film great white sharks without the protection of a cage. Their expertise has been called upon for films such as Jaws, Orca and Sky Pirates.
Edwin Dudley Roberts was an Australian television screenwriter and supervising producer.
Noel Ferrier AM was an Australian television personality, comedian, stage and film actor, raconteur, and theatrical producer. He had an extensive theatre career which spanned over fifty years.
Lee Robinson was an Australian producer, director and screenwriter who was Australia's most prolific filmmaker of the 1950s and part of the creative team that produced the late 1960s international hit television series Skippy the Bush Kangaroo.
Riptide was an Australian adventure television series, starring Ty Hardin, which was first broadcast in 1969. The show featured a foreign lead actor and a foreign producer, similar in approach to the later series The Outsiders. Co-stars were Jonathan Sweet and Sue Costin, while guest roles featured Australian actors such as Tony Ward, Rowena Wallace, Michael Pate, Bill Hunter, Helen Morse, John Meillon, Norman Yemm, Chips Rafferty, and Jack Thompson. The series was filmed at Australian locations.
Noel Monkman (1896–1969) was an Australian filmmaker, born in New Zealand, best known for specialising in underwater photography. He was a press photographer in New Zealand before moving to Australia and jointing the Orpheum Theatre orchestra.
The Intruders is a 1969 Australian film directed by Lee Robinson. It is a spin-off of the popular Skippy the Bush Kangaroo TV series.
Reef Doctors is an Australian television drama series that premiered on Network Ten on 9 June 2013.
Ross Napier was one of Australia's leading radio and TV writers from the 1950s to 1990s, as well as an accomplished novelist. Born in Sydney in 1929, he began writing short stories for magazines while still in high school, selling his first script at 17. Shortly after, he became a staff writer for Grace Gibson Radio Productions, and during the 1950s and 1960s his radio serials were broadcast Australia-wide and internationally. This firmly established Napier as one of Australia's leading drama writers. Whilst at Gibson's he met Ann Fuller, who he married in 1953.
Joy Cavill was an Australian screenwriter and producer.
Fauna Productions is an Australian film and TV production company established by Lee Robinson, Lionel ('Bob') Austin and John McCallum who met during the making of the film They're a Weird Mob (1966). Robinson, Austin and McCallum wanted to make productions aimed at the international audience and enjoyed great success with the TV series Skippy the Bush Kangaroo and Barrier Reef.
Valerie May Taylor AM is an Australian conservationist, photographer, and filmmaker, and an inaugural member of the diving hall of fame. With her husband Ron Taylor, she made documentaries about sharks, and filmed sequences for films including Jaws (1975).
Barrier Reef was sold to over fifty countries, including Britain where it was screened by the BBC. In the U.S. it was picked up by NBC, who were impressed by the underwater scenes, which they called 'glug glug'. Other countries that bought the series included Canada, Japan, South America, South Africa and most of Europe.
