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The Long Arm was an Australian television police series shown from April 1970, which ran for 19 episodes.
The series was produced in black-and-white by Ansett Television Films and made in-house by the Ten Network as part of an attempt to rival the popular police dramas produced for other commercial networks by Crawford Productions, such as Homicide and Division 4 . The Long Arm was set in Melbourne, with segments shot in Sydney.
As a co-production between Channels 0 and Ten, it was able to marshal larger budgets and resources, allowing for original music and shooting fully on film rather than integrating videotape for interiors as was the Crawford practice at that time. [1] The episodes were based on real-life cases, but it also attempted to introduce a soap opera appeal by examining the private lives of the detectives.
The series was produced by Ron Beck and starred Robert Bruning, Sandy Harbutt, Lyndall Moor and Barbara Mason. Kenneth Goodlet and Tony Ward appeared in semi-regular roles. The series was criticised in the entertainment press for some excessively gory make-up on murder victims for its prime time slot. About a third of the episodes were directed by Colin Eggleston.
Despite having top writers and guest actors, like Tony Morphett and Ron Randell, it failed to find an audience and media magnate Reg Ansett complained to his production crew about its lacklustre performance. [2]
After it was abruptly cancelled, Sandy Harbutt adapted an episode he had written into his cult-favorite 1974 biker action film Stone. Noted Australian filmmaker Simon Wincer got his start as a second unit director on this series before being scooped up by Crawfords to work on the more successful show Matlock Police, which Ansett ordered as its replacement. [3]
The Box is an Australian soap opera that ran on ATV-0 from 11 February 1974 until 11 October 1977 and on 0–10 Network affiliates around Australia.
Ronald Egan Randell was an Australian actor. After beginning his acting career on the stage in 1937, he played Charles Kingsford Smith in the film Smithy (1946). He also had roles in Bulldog Drummond at Bay (1947), Kiss Me Kate (1953), I Am a Camera (1955), Most Dangerous Man Alive (1961) and King of Kings (1961).
Cop Shop is a long-running Australian police drama television series produced by Crawford Productions that ran for seven seasons between 28 November 1977 and 23 July 1984. It comprised 582 one-hour episodes.
Crawford Productions is an Australian media production company, focused on radio and television production. Founded in Melbourne by Hector Crawford and his sister, actress and voice artist Dorothy Crawford, the company, also known as Crawfords Australia, is now a subsidiary of the WIN Corporation.
Homicide was a landmark Australian television police procedural drama series broadcast on the Seven Network and produced by Crawford Productions. It was the television successor to Crawfords' radio series D24. The "Consummate Homicide cast" includes the four characters that are the best known: Det. Snr. Sgt. David "Mac" MacKay, Det. Sgt. Peter Barnes, Inspector Colin Fox and Sen. Det. Jim Patterson.
Matlock Police is an Australian television police drama series made by Crawford Productions for the 0-10 Network between 1971 and 1976. The series focused on the police station and crime in the Victorian town of Matlock and the surrounding district, and the backgrounds and personal lives of the main policemen.
Bluey is an Australian television series made by Crawford Productions for the Seven Network in 1976.
Hunter was an Australian espionage adventure television series screened by the Nine Network from Tuesday 4 July 1967 to March 1969. The series was created by Ian Jones and produced by Crawford Productions.
Stone is a 1974 Australian outlaw biker film written, directed and produced by Sandy Harbutt. It is a low budget film by company Hedon Productions.
Helen Morse is an English-born Australian actress who has appeared in films, on television and on stage. She won the AFI Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for the 1976 film Caddie, and starred in the 1981 miniseries A Town Like Alice. Her other film appearances include Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), Agatha (1979), Far East (1982) and The Eye of the Storm (2011).
Gary Day is a New Zealand former actor, playwright and lighting director who has appeared in Australian television police drama series, including Homicide and Murder Call.
Cash and Company is an Australian television period adventure series, set during the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s. It screened on the Seven Network in Australia in 1976 and on ITV in the UK.
The Rovers was an Australian ocean-based family adventure television show originally screened from 21 August 1969 until 12 June 1970 and was broadcast on the 0-Ten network, the precursor of Network Ten
Sandy Harbutt was an Australian actor, writer and director, best known for the outlaw biker film, Stone (1974) starring his friend Ken Shorter. Although it was very successful at the box office and became a cult classic, it was the only feature he ever directed. He was once married to actress Helen Morse.
Stewart Ginn was an Australian radio, stage and television actor, best known as the character Nancarrow in the 1960s television comedy My Name's McGooley, What's Yours?.
Take That was one of the earliest Australian television series. It debuted in late 1957 and ran till March 1959. As was often the case with early Australian television, it aired only on a single station, in this case HSV-7, in Melbourne.
A Dead Secret is a 1957 play by Rodney Ackland. It is a murder drama set in 1911 London and is based on the Seddon murder trial.
Kevin James Dobson is an Australian director who worked extensively in film and television. His full name is used in order to avoid confusion with the actor Kevin Dobson.
Allan Trevor was an Australian actor, writer and producer.
"The Grey Nurse Said Nothing" is a television play episode from the Australian television series The General Motors Hour. It was produced and directed by David Cahill. It was made by Channel Seven who later called "the most ambitious dramatic production ever attempted in Australia... [written by] one of the world's foremost authors of television plays and the cast is Ihe largest ever assembled for an Australian television dramatic production.... the greatest care has been taken to achieve the maximum possible standard in the production of the play which covered a total period of approximately eight weeks." The episode aired on 28 May 1960 in Sydney and Melbourne, and on 11 June 1960 in Brisbane.