Bellbird (TV series)

Last updated

Bellbird
BellbirdTitleCard.png
Genre
Created byBarbara Vernon
Written by
Directed by James Davern
Oscar Whitbread
StarringSee cast list
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons10
No. of episodes1,697 [1]
Production
Producer Brett Porter [2]
Running time
  • Episodes 1–1508 (15 minutes (excluding commercial))
  • Episodes 1509–1592 (1 Hour)
  • Episodes 1563–1697, (3x half-hour weekly) [1]
Original release
Network ABC
Release28 August 1967 (1967-08-28) 
23 December 1977 (1977-12-23)
Related
Country Life (film version)

Bellbird is an Australian soap opera serial broadcast by the ABC created and co-written by Barbara Vernon, it screened for 10 seasons between 1967 and 1977, and spanned 1,697 episodes. The series centered around the residents of the small fictional Victorian rural township of the series title. [1]

Contents

Bellbird has the distinction of being the longest-running soap opera/serial ever produced by the ABC. It ended the same year as commercial broadcast series Number 96 and The Box , which had run for six and four years respectively. [3]

Production and broadcasting

The series was produced by the ABC at the Ripponlea Studios in Melbourne, with the opening titles filmed at nearby Daylesford. Bellbird screened from 28 August 1967 to 23 December 1977 and although it was not Australia's first television serial (the first was Network Seven's Autumn Affair ), it was the first successful soap opera and even spawned a feature film and tie-in novel.

The show's ratings were modest but it had a devoted following, especially in rural Australia, akin to the ABC's long-running radio drama Blue Hills . During most of its 10-year production run, 15-minute episodes of Bellbird screened from Monday to Thursday nights, leading in to the 7:00 pm evening news bulletin. In 1976, the series was screened as a single one-hour episode each week, before switching to three half-hour instalments per week during its final season. [4]

Storylines

The show's storylines followed the lives of the residents of the small fictional country town that gave the show its title. While the series plots concentrated mainly on small-scale interpersonal, domestic and local relationships, issues and conflicts, there were occasional moments of high drama. One of the most celebrated was the death of the local stock and station agent, Charlie Cousens, played by foundation cast member Robin Ramsay. When Ramsay decided to leave the series in 1968, his character was written out in dramatic fashion, with Cousens plunging to his death from the top of a wheat silo. The death scene has figured prominently in retrospectives of great moments in Australian television, and its celebrity meant that it became one of the few segments from the early years of the series that has survived.[ citation needed ]

Other notable deaths during the course of the series included those of local farm girl, Hagar Grossark (Barbara Ramsay), who drowned during a flood, and the 1974 death of major character Rhoda Lang, played by foundation cast member Lynette Curran, who was killed when her car was struck by a train at a level crossing.

Cast

Bellbird featured a regular cast of 46 actors over its 10-year run. The National Archives of Australia holds a collection of prints from 1977, identifying over 30 actors involved from that time. [5] [ failed verification ]

Main / regular

ActorCharacterEps.
Alan Hopgood Matthew Reed870 episodes (1972–1977)
Anne Charleston [ citation needed ]Wendy Robinson524 episodes (1971–1973)
Anne Lucas [ citation needed ]Glenda Chand67 episodes (1967)
Anne Phelan [1] Kate Ashwood523 episodes (1974–1977)
Anne Scott-Pendlebury [ citation needed ]Cathy143 episodes (1970)
Bob Maza [ citation needed ]Gerry Walters174 episodes (1971)
Brian Hannan [1] Roger Green1182 episodes (1970–1977)
Brian James [ citation needed ]Ian Bennett667 episodes (1970–1973)
Briony Behets [6] Claire52 episodes (1975)
Bruce Barry [ citation needed ]Michael Foley67 episodes (1967)
Bryon WilliamsAdam Lockhart870 episodes (1972–1977)
Carl Bleazby [1] Coloniel Jim Emerson1506 episodes (1968–1977)
Carmel Millhouse [1] Marge Bacon1556 episodes (1967–1977)
Clive WinmillTony Buckland92 episodes (1977–1978)
Dennis Miller [1] Constable Des Davies986 episodes (1968–1974)
Dorothy Bradley [1] Rose Lang1224 episodes (1967–1974)
Elspeth Ballantyne [1] Laura 'Lori' Chandler157 episodes (1967–1971)
Gabrielle Hartley [1] Maggie Emerson1011 episodes (1969–1974)
Gerda Nicolson [1] Fiona Davies1059 episodes (1968–1974)
Gregory RossChris Lang321 episodes (1974–1975)
Ian Smith [1] Russell Ashwood523 episodes (1974–1977)
Jeremy Kewley [ citation needed ]Ken Stratton125 episodes (1976–1977)
Jill Perryman [ citation needed ]Cheryl Turner326 episodes (1971–1975)
John Stanton [ citation needed ]Leo Hill174 episodes (1972)
Julia Blake [ citation needed ]Elaine Thomas675 episodes (1972–1975)
Keith EdenGilbert Lang528 episodes (1967–1970)
Ken Shorter Duncan Ross83 episodes (1968)
Kris McQuade [ citation needed ]Gail Bennet173 episodes (1974)
Louise PhilipChristine Jackson174 episodes (1971)
Lynda Keane [ citation needed ]Ruth Grossark465 episodes (1967–1971)
Lynette Curran [1] Rhoda Lang1102 episodes (1967–1974)
Maggie Millar Georgia Moorhouse684 episodes (1972–1977)
Maurie Fields [1] John Quinney1235 episodes (1969–1977)
Michael Preston Father John Kramer396 episodes (1974–1976)
Moira Carleton [1] Olive Turner1142 (1969–1977)
Penne Hackforth-Jones [1] Ginny Hill347 episodes (1972–1974)
Penny Downie [1] Kelly Jameson71 episodes (1976)
Peter Aanensen [1] Jim Bacon1381 episodes (1968–1976)
Robin Ramsay [1] Charlie Cousens82 episodes (1967–1968)
Rod Mullinar Scott Leighton365 episodes (1973–1975)
Ross Thompson Terry Hill438 episodes (1972–1974)
Sean Scully Ron Wilson353 episodes (1968–1971)
Sheila Florance Dossie Rumsey174 episodes (1972)
Stella Lamond [1] Molly Wilson589 episodes (1969–1973)
Syd Conabere Bernie Austin491 episodes (1970–1972)
Terry McDermott Max Pearson836 episodes (1969–1973)
Terry Norris [1] Joe Turner(1967–1968)
Tom Oliver [1] Tom Gray83 episodes (1969)

Recurring / guests

ActorCharacterEps.
Alwyn Kurts [1] Wes Lewis6 episodes (1977)
Chuck Faulkner [1] Captain Doug Daly6 episodes (1977)
Gerard Kennedy [1] Edward Grey3 episodes (1977)
John Meillon 16 episodes (1971)
Terence Donovan [1] Neil Farrar3 episodes (1977)

Foundation creative team

The show was based on a short treatment by Colin Free then developed by original story editor Barbara Vernon. The original story team included Vernon, Alan Hopgood and Michael Wright. The first executive producer was Brett Porter. [2] The original directors were James Davern and Oscar Whitbread. [7]

International screenings

Episodes of Bellbird were screened briefly in the United Kingdom in 1972. After the initial 52 episodes had been screened, Actors Equity in Australia insisted the ABC increase the price of the episodes so as to pay the actors more. As a result of the price increase, the UK broadcaster purchased no further episodes. [8]

Episodes

Although an extensive selection of episodes survive and reside with the National Archives of Australia, it was reported that the ABC taped over the master tapes of the series, which was a common practice of the time [8] something which series cast member Alan Hopgood had complained about in a TV Times article in 1976: "They just wiped [them] off and another episode [was] run over them .... This failure to preserve the program is criminal, to my way of thinking." [9]

One complete black and white episode is available to be viewed at the Australian Mediatheque at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne, while several colour episodes are known to exist in the hands of private collectors.

Film and novel

The series was the first soap opera in Australia to spin off into a feature film version and tie-in novel, entitled Country Town (1971). It focused on Bellbird's problems during a severe drought. Many future soaps followed suit, spawning their own film versions, including Number 96 and The Sullivans .

Ratings

In 1971, Bellbird was the fifteenth most popular show in the country. [10]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 "Bellbird". Aussie Soap Archive. Archived from the original on 14 July 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  2. 1 2 "TV Pioneers". The Age. 23 July 1970. p. 38.
  3. "Prisoner stars before Prisoner". Television.AU. 3 March 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  4. Moran, Albert (1993). Moran's guide to Australian TV series: your complete guide to every drama series, children's show and sitcom. North Ryde, NSW: Australian Film Television & Radio School. p. 77. ISBN   978-0-642-18462-7.
  5. "C612 Bellbird". National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  6. "Briony – a bit of Class". The Sydney Morning Herald . 17 February 1975. Retrieved 31 March 2025 via Newspapers.com. Lock-green.svg
  7. Vagg, Stephen (29 August 2023). "Forgotten Australian Television Plays: Boy with Banner, Objector and Watch It". Filmink.
  8. 1 2 Mercado, Andrew (27 November 2004). "Soap: It's just what the great unwashed need". The Age . Archived from the original on 23 October 2012.
  9. "Home-Truths From Bellbird". TV Times . 11–17 December 1976. p. 10.
  10. "TELEVISION RATINGS". The Canberra Times . Vol. 45, no. 12, 803. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 6 May 1971. p. 8. Retrieved 20 September 2017 via National Library of Australia.