The Flying Doctors

Last updated

The Flying Doctors
TheFlyingDoctorsTitleCard.png
Title card used from Season 4
Starring
Theme music composerGarry McDonald and Laurie Stone
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons9 (10 including R.F.D.S.)
No. of episodes3 (miniseries)
221 (regular series, 234 including R.F.D.S.)(list of episodes)
Production
Production locationAustralia
Running time55 minutes
Production company Crawford Productions
Budget$3 million (mini-series) [1]
Original release
Network Nine Network
Release26 May 1986 (1986-05-26) 
6 October 1992 (1992-10-06)

The Flying Doctors is an Australian drama TV series produced by Crawford Productions that revolves around the everyday lifesaving efforts of the Royal Flying Doctor Service, starring Andrew McFarlane as the newly arrived Dr. Tom Callaghan.

Contents

The series started as a 1985 mini-series set in the fictional outback town of Cooper's Crossing (Minyip in north-western rural Victoria), and originally ran for over seven years. Several early online episode listings split the 221 episodes into six seasons, [2] however the National Film and Sound Archive confirms nine. [3] [4] Crawford Productions have released the show in DVD and on streaming in ten seasons (including the 13 episodes of the 1992 spin-off R.F.D.S.).

The series' episodes were mostly self-contained medical dramas, but also explored social issues, such as domestic violence, alcohol abuse, and the struggles faced by Indigenous Australians.

Cast and characters

Main cast members

The following characters are credited as "starring" in the opening credits:

A young male doctor who takes over the R.F.D.S base in Coopers Crossing after proving himself to its original boss, Harry Sinclair. He brings along Chris Randall as his assistant. Tom leaves the show after 16 episodes, to volunteer for World Vision in Africa. He returns midway through series five, before leaving again early into series seven, although he remained in the opening credits for the rest of the year. Tom makes a final appearance in series nine, when there is a town celebration in Coopers Crossing.
A female doctor who accompanies Tom Callaghan to run the R.F.D.S base in Cooper Crossing. When Tom leaves for Africa, she decides to stay in Coopers Crossing, remaining until the end of series six, when she moves to Melbourne to take care of her sick father. She returns in series nine for the town celebration, and falls in love with Tom Callaghan again, deciding to join him in Africa.
The doctor who takes over the R.F.D.S base from Tom Callaghan. Geoff is one of the longest-running characters in the series, and stayed until its finale. His relationship with Nurse Kate Wellings was a key storyline, they share a daughter by the end of the series.
Nurse and the only medical staff who stayed through the entire show, as a supporting cast member in the miniseries and first series, before joining the main cast from series two. She eventually begins a romance with Dr. Standish.
Pilot, he makes his first appearance in series two, as a replacement for Gibbo.
A young doctor who joins the staff in series five and stays until the first five episodes of series eight, when he decides to leave to do something else with his life. However, his final rescue mission goes terribly wrong and he dies after falling off a cliff.
A charming womaniser that arrives in series eight and soon begins a relationship with the nurse Jackie Crane.
Supporting cast members

The following characters appear regularly, however are credited in the closing credits alongside the guest actors:

Call signs

One prominent feature in the show is the communication between the aircraft and the base station in Cooper's Crossing. Their designations are spelled out using the NATO phonetic alphabet.

Episodes

SeriesEpisodesOriginally released
First releasedLast released
Miniseries 329 April 1985 (1985-04-29)1 May 1985 (1985-05-01)
1 2626 May 1986 (1986-05-26)17 November 1986 (1986-11-17)
2 249 July 1987 (1987-07-09)25 February 1988 (1988-02-25)
3 263 March 1988 (1988-03-03)1 September 1988 (1988-09-01)
4 248 September 1988 (1988-09-08)11 May 1989 (1989-05-11)
5 2618 May 1989 (1989-05-18)16 November 1989 (1989-11-16)
6 208 February 1990 (1990-02-08)28 June 1990 (1990-06-28)
7 205 July 1990 (1990-07-05)21 November 1990 (1990-11-21)
8 2624 January 1991 (1991-01-24)25 July 1991 (1991-07-25)
9 291 August 1991 (1991-08-01)6 October 1992 (1992-10-06)

R.F.D.S.

By 1993, the ratings were in decline, and few original characters remained in the much-changed cast. The show was then revamped under the title R.F.D.S. (working title: The New Flying Doctors), and its setting was changed to Broken Hill. [5] The spin-off ran for one season on the Nine Network from January 21, 1993 to February 4, 1994 and screened internationally.

The only original cast members that were retained in the show were supporting cast members Maury Fields and Val Jellay as Vic and Nancy Buckley, along with Sophie Lee as Penny Wellings. The storyline had the Buckleys move from Cooper's Crossing pub to Broken Hill. The show lasted just one season in this new incarnation. [6]

Australian pay-TV channel Fox Classics secured the rights to the program from 3 July 2006. Streaming services currently include the spin-off as the tenth season of The Flying Doctors.

The show is not to be confused with the series RFDS , which shares the same premise but was produced by Endemol Shine Australia and aired on Seven Network from 2021.

Cast and characters

Main characters
Supporting characters

Broadcast history

The Flying Doctors: The Inside Story was written by Australian journalist James Oram Fdbook.jpg
The Flying Doctors: The Inside Story was written by Australian journalist James Oram

The Flying Doctors was successfully broadcast in the UK. The original 1985 3-part mini-series was aired three times on Channel 4; first in 1985, a repeat the following year from 30 May 1986 at 10:25. A third repeat aired in 1988.

The ongoing series then broadcast on BBC One. The series initially aired on Fridays at 20:10 from 1 July 1988. On 20 August 1988, the series was moved to a Saturday early evening slot at around 17:15 where it gained a loyal audience of about 6 to 8 million viewers, until 24 August 1991. [7] During the summer of 1992, episodes were repeated Monday to Friday at 11:05, around 8 weeks worth. From September 1992, the series settled into a new regular Friday afternoon slot, usually at around 14:30. The BBC concluded Series 6 in spring 1996 but continued to air repeats in various slots until January 1997.

The Flying Doctors was also broadcast on the satellite and cable channel UK Gold. The channel repeated all 221 episodes weekdays at 15:00 from 1998.

The Flying Doctors briefly returned to free to air when WIN Television, parent company of Crawford Productions commenced reruns of the program on 17 August 2007 at midday week day afternoons.

The series was also aired in some parts of Europe and was particularly popular in the Netherlands where it aired on VARA at 8pm on Saturday nights from 1987 to 1993. The series aired in Ireland on RTÉ One from 1988 to 1996. The series aired in Germany in the early 90s on state broadcaster ZDF. [8] The series aired originally in Sweden and has been re-broadcast on TV4 Guld in 2017 with back to back episodes on weekdays.

The show also aired in New Zealand on TVNZ, where the entire series was shown in primetime, and was very popular.

From 1988 to 1992, it was broadcast in Nigeria by the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Channel 5.

Home media

The Flying Doctors was made available to purchase in Australia. All 221 episodes plus the 13 spinoff-episodes are on a 51 disc set, complete with cast interviews, episode synopses and stills gallery. [9] In region 2, Mediumrare Entertainment have released all nine seasons of The Flying Doctors including the miniseries also called The Flying Doctors in region 2.

Filming locations

An RFDS Beechcraft Super King Air on a remote airstrip in Queensland, Australia. FDF talavera PJS.jpg
An RFDS Beechcraft Super King Air on a remote airstrip in Queensland, Australia.

The series was filmed at: [10]

See also

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References

  1. Lewes, Jacqueline Lee (5 June 1983). "Million$ of Viewing". The Sun-Herald . p. 47.
  2. https://web.archive.org/web/20111020033307/http://www.australiantelevision.net/flyingdoctors/
  3. https://www.collection.nfsa.gov.au/title/1540158
  4. https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/the-screen-guide/t/the-flying-doctors-series-10-1992/5227
  5. "Crawfords classics on DVD". 4 January 2012.
  6. "Friday Flashback: The Flying Doctors | TV Tonight". 25 October 2019.
  7. "Schedule - BBC Programme Index".
  8. "Die fliegenden Ärzte".
  9. The Complete 10 Series Collection 2011 Crawford Productions Retrieved 1 June 2012
  10. "The Flying Doctors". Crawford Productions. Retrieved 13 November 2006.