Waterfront (miniseries)

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Waterfront
Genre mini-series
Written by Mac Gudgeon
Directed byChris Thomson
Starring Jack Thompson
Greta Scacchi
Mark Little
Wyn Roberts
ComposerGeorge Dreyfus
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes3
Production
Producer Bob Weis
Running time3 x 2 hours
Original release
NetworkNetwork Ten
Release20 March 1984 (1984-03-20)

Waterfront is a 1984 Australian miniseries about industrial disputes on the Australian waterfront during the Great Depression. [1]

Contents

Premise

In 1928, industrial unrest erupts on the Melbourne waterfront.

Cast

Production

The production was originally envisioned as a feature film. It was based on a script by Mac Gudgeon, who worked on the docks in the 1960s when he was avoiding the draft for the Vietnam War. He heard stories about the 1928 strike and became fascinated by it. Gudgeon wrote the script in sex weeks and showed it to Bob Weis, who was producing Women of the Sun, a mini series on which Gudeon was unit manager. Weis liked it but wanted to do it as a mini series. Gudgeon spent the next 18 months rewriting. [2]

Weis hired Chris Thompson to direct on the basis of 1915. [3] t was the first Australian television Jack Thompson had appeared in except for Spyforce as "I fell in love with the Waterfront script." [4] Greta Scacchi agreed to play the female lead after her breakthrough role in Heat and Dust. [2]

Filming started in February 1983 and took place in Melbourne over 14 weeks with a budget of $2.5 million. The mini-series sold to Channel Ten. [2]

Reception

The Sydney Sun Herald called it "stunning. It will make you cry, it will make you laugh, and it will make you weep with anger. It is superbly made." [5] The Age called it "gritty, gutsy drama... a rattling good yarn... not to be missed." [6]

The mini-series was popular, with a market share of 30 in Sydney and Melbourne. [7]

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References

  1. ↑ Ed. Scott Murray, Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995, Oxford University Press, 1996 p248
  2. 1 2 3 Hooks, Barbara (15 March 1984). "Behind the waterfront". The Age. p. 35.
  3. ↑ Weiniger, Peter (20 November 1982). "Lessons from the past". The Age. p. 153.
  4. ↑ "Waterfront Jack". The Sydney Morning Herald. 4 March 1984. p. 48.
  5. ↑ Lewis, Jacqueline Lee (11 March 1984). "This is a milestone in Australian TV". The Sydney Sun Herald. p. 66.
  6. ↑ "Wharfies at war". The Age. 15 March 1984. p. 37.
  7. ↑ "All-time top-rating Australian mini-series on television, 1978–2009: 1978–2000". Screen Australia. Retrieved 1 June 2023.


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