Jonah (TV series)

Last updated

Jonah
Jonah TV series.png
SMH ad, 15 October 1962
Genre Drama
Written by
Directed by
Starring Brian James
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes20
Production
ProducerHarry Dearth
Running time30 minutes
Budget£3,500 per episode [1]
Original release
Network ATN-7
Release15 October 1962 (1962-10-15) 
1963 (1963)

Jonah is an Australian television drama series which aired for 20 episodes starting from 15 October 1962 on the Seven Network. Produced during an era when commercial television in Australia produced few dramatic series, Jonah was a period drama, and was inspired by the success of ABC's period drama mini-series like Stormy Petrel . [2]

Contents

Eponymous actor Brian James had been the star of Stormy Petrel. The episodes still exist. [3]

Premise

The National Film and Sound Archive describes the series as a "historical drama series about Jonah Locke, a merchant trader in the early Australian colony". [4] Jonah lived in Sydney between 1840 and 1850. He would encounter historical figures.

Regular cast

Guest stars

Background

In March 1962 it was announced ATN would make the series with Michael Plant to be writer and story editor, Harry Dearth to produce and David Cahill to direct. [5] By July the lead actors had been cast. It was shot at Artransa Park Studios. Michael Plant was the writer and script editor. [6] [7]

The episode cost around £3,500 each. They sold to the Australian networks for £1,500 an episode and then to Britain for £1,000 an episode. There were disputes with Actors Equity over how much the actors should be paid. [1]

Reception

One review called it "splendid". [8]

The Australian Women's Weekly called it "fast, action packed entertainment". [9]

Filmink wrote Plant "was a first-rate writer: the stories proceed logically and dramatically, scenes are focused and to the point, characters are well-rounded and their behaviour is consistent." [10]

Episodes

No.TitleGuest stars
1"No Time for Despair"Hans Farkash as Count Strzelecki, Ron Haddrick as Governor Gipps, Al Thomas, Owen Weingott as Stone Polonski [8]
Gold is discovered in 1839, written by Michael Plant
2"The Wrong Hands"Clement McCallin, Joe McCormick, Philip Ross
The story of Ludwig Leichardt
3"A Ring Around a Rosa" Muriel Steinbeck as Caroline Chisolm, Judith Artha as Rosa
The story of a young immigrant girl
4"A Tale of Two Bees"Colin Croft, Brigid Lenihan, John Faasen as Sir John Franklin, Gwen Plumb as Lady Jane Franklin
The story of Benjamin Boyd who dreamed of building his own city
5"Freedom for Port Phillip"Henry Gilbert, John Llewellyn, Lionel Pearcey, Robert McPhee
The story of John Dunmore Lang
6"A Nest of Hornets"Allan Tobin as Lin Fong, Derek Barnes as Captain Zouch [11]
A clash with Chinese migrants at Lambing Flat
7"The Hashemy"N/A
A story about the ship The Hashemy
8"The Man from Myall Creek"N/A
9"The Damned of Darlinghurst"Al Thomas as Colonel Keck, Lyndall Barbour as Fairy Mortimer
Jonah spends time in Darlinghurst Prison on a matter of principle
10"The Treaty of South Island" Harry Willis as Maori chief Te Rauparaha, James Condon as William Wentworth, Ron Haddrick as Governor Gipps
The story of the formation of New Zealand
11"Black Henry" Brigid Lenihan, Chris Christensen, Richard Davies, Claire Dunn
A story about a man who helped fix unemployment
12"The Marquis of Mallabimbee[ sic ]" James Condon, Keith Buckley, Bill Lewis
The clash between William Wentworth and Henry Parkes
13"The Railroader" Wynn Roberts as Morgan, Vaughan Tracey as Jamey
Miles Morgan builds a railway in the Hunter Valley
14"The Coal Mutiny"Tom Farley as James Brown, Moray Powell as Commodore Styles, Noeline Brown as Dorothea Styles
a man leads a charge against the monopoly given to the Australian Agricultural Company
15"Where is Adelaide?"Donald Phillips as Captain Duff, John Barnard as William Light, John Faasen as Horton Depenn
A story of the planning of the city of Adelaide
16"The Seekers"Tanya Haylesworth as Purity Tunstall, Alan Herbert as John Tunstall
Puritans arrive in Australia on their way to New Zealand
17"This Piece of Earth [12] "N/A
18"A Plague on Both Your Houses"Geoffrey King, Julianna Allan, Alexander Archdale, John Gregg
A romance between an emancipist's daughter and the son of an aristocratic gentleman
19"Ship of Fame"Denis Doonan as Captain Westcote, Moya O'Sullivan as Pompy & Donald Philps as Captain Duff
20"The Exile"N/A
Series Finale

See also

Related Research Articles

Autumn Affair is an Australian television soap opera made by and aired by Network Seven station ATN-7, and also shown in Melbourne on Nine Network station GTV-9. Television in Australia had only been broadcasting since 1956 and Seven Network was the first commercial station to make drama a priority.

Emergency is an Australian television series produced by Nine Network Melbourne station GTV-9 in 1959.

<i>Whiplash</i> (TV series) British/Australian television series

Whiplash is a British/Australian television series in the Australian Western genre, produced by the Seven Network, ATV, and ITC Entertainment, and starring Peter Graves. Filmed in 1959-60, the series was first broadcast in the United Kingdom in September 1960, and in Australia in February 1961.

Brian James was an Australian radio, stage, television and film actor.

Rex Rienits was an Australian writer of radio, films, plays and TV. He was a journalist before becoming one of the leading radio writers in Australia. He moved to England in 1949 and worked for a number of years there. He later returned to Australia and worked on early local TV drama.

<i>The Outcasts</i> (Australian TV series) 1961 Australian TV series or program

The Outcasts was a 1961 Australian television serial. A period drama, it was broadcast live, though with some film inserts. All 12 episodes of the serial survive as kinescope recordings. It was a sequel to Stormy Petrel.

<i>Shell Presents</i> 1959 Australian TV series or program

Shell Presents was an early attempt at Australian television drama, being an umbrella title for several different productions. It debuted on 4 April 1959, and aired on ATN-7 and GTV-9, who split production of plays for the series between them. It was an anthology series, each program being a self-contained play for television. The series won a Logie award in 1960 for TV Highlight of 1959. As the title suggests, it was sponsored by Shell. It was described as "a very big deal for the station: major institutional sponsorship from international companies for locally produced drama." It would be followed by The General Motors Hour.

<i>Stormy Petrel</i> (TV series) Television series

Stormy Petrel is an early Australian television drama. A period drama, the 12-episode serial told the story of William Bligh and aired in 1960 on ABC. It was the first live TV serial from the ABC.

<i>The Patriots</i> (TV series) Television series

The Patriots was an Australian television drama mini-series. A period-drama, it aired for 10 episodes on ABC in 1962.

<i>The Hungry Ones</i> 1963 Australian television series

The Hungry Ones was an Australian television mini-series. It was a period drama about a pair of husband and wife convicts trying to go straight, consisting of 10 30-minute black-and-white episodes, which aired on ABC. Unlike previous serials it was videotaped rather than performed live to camera.

<i>The Purple Jacaranda</i> Television series

The Purple Jacaranda was an Australian television mini-series which aired on ABC in 1964 based on a novel by Nancy Graham. Cast included James Condon, Margo Lee, Ronald Morse, Diana Perryman, Walter Sullivan and John Unicomb.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reflections in Dark Glasses</span> 12th episode of the 1st season of Shell Presents

"Reflections in Dark Glasses" is an Australian television film, or rather a television play, which aired in 1960. It aired as part of Shell Presents, which consisted of monthly presentations of stand-alone television dramas. It was written by Sydney writer James Workman, and is notable as an early example of Australian-written television drama. It was broadcast live in Sydney on 6 February 1960, then recorded and shown in Melbourne.

The General Motors Hour was an Australian radio and television drama series.

"Johnny Belinda" was a 1959 Australian TV adaptation of the 1940 play by Elmer Harris which had been filmed in 1948. It was the first "live" one hour drama on commercial television in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thunder of Silence</span> 6th episode of the 1st season of Shell Presents

"Thunder of Silence" is an episode of the 1959 Australian TV drama anthology Shell Presents, and the fourth made in Sydney. It was based on an American play by Stewart Stern which had been produced in the U.S. with Paul Newman and Inger Stevens. It aired live on 22 August 1959 in Sydney with a recorded version airing on 28 November 1959 in Melbourne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A Tongue of Silver</span> 8th episode of the 1st season of Shell Presents

"A Tongue of Silver" is an episode of the 1959 Australian TV drama anthology Shell Presents. Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time. It starred John Meillon, who had been in Thunder of Silence in the same series.

The End Begins is a 1961 Australian television play shot in ABC's Melbourne studios. Like many early Australian TV plays it was based on an overseas script. It was a rare Australian TV play with a science fiction theme and a black lead actor, although no recordings are thought to have survived.

Michael Plant (1930–1965) was an Australian screenwriter, actor and producer best known for co-creating Whiplash.

Delia C. Williams was a British-born Australian actor.

Walter Sullivan was an Australian actor, journalist and reviewer who worked extensively in radio, film, TV and theatre, over a career spanning 6 decades, he's stage and screen career spanning from 1948 and 1997.

References

  1. 1 2 "TV lords lock out actors". Tribune . No. 1284. New South Wales, Australia. 12 December 1962. p. 11. Retrieved 8 July 2020 via National Library of Australia.
  2. ""Jonah" may be a winner". The Australian Women's Weekly . Vol. 30, no. 20. 17 October 1962. p. 15. Retrieved 8 July 2020 via National Library of Australia.
  3. "Search results for jonah". National Film and Sound Archive . Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  4. "JONAH". National Film and Sound Archive . Retrieved 10 March 2013.
  5. "ATN's Series From History". TV Guide. The Sydney Morning Herald . 26 March 1962. p. 1. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  6. "Stars of ATN Historical Series Named" . TV Guide. The Sydney Morning Herald . 2 July 1962. p. 1. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  7. "Jonah Begins on ATN Tonight". The Sydney Morning Herald . 15 October 1962. p. 1. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  8. 1 2 "From convict girl to colonial lady". The Australian Women's Weekly . Vol. 30, no. 2. 31 October 1962. p. 17. Retrieved 8 July 2020 via National Library of Australia.
  9. ""Jonah" may be a winner". The Australian Women's Weekly . Vol. 30, no. 20. 17 October 1962. p. 15. Retrieved 16 July 2020 via National Library of Australia.
  10. Vagg, Stephen (14 November 2021). "Forgotten Australian TV Screenwriters: Michael Plant". Filmink.
  11. "When Our Miners Turned on the Thrifty Chinese". The Age . 22 November 1962. p. 16. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  12. "Jonah Episode Set in Years of Bitterness". TV & Radio Guide. The Age . 17 January 1963. p. 2. Retrieved 3 May 2020.