Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

All titles produced by ABC

184 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year prev 1 2 3 4 next

1970s (continued)

No Fences, No Boundaries – Walter Burley Griffin documentary – c1976

Walter Burley Griffin believed that 'buildings convey the most truth of the mental and spiritual states of various people and times’.

Peach’s Australia – Darling River television program – 1976

Bill Peach was a household name in Australia at the time he gave up being the presenter of This Day Tonight to return to his first love, travel journalism.

Peach’s Australia – Flinders Ranges television program – 1976

Peach’s meanders around the country he’s describing, offering tantalising snippets of history, spiced with art history and Aboriginal Dreaming stories.

Beyond Reasonable Doubt – Alexander McLeod Lindsey television program – 1977

Criminologist Hawkins presents the case of Alexander McLeod Lindsey, jailed for the brutal bashing of his wife. A series on possible miscarriages of justice.

Beyond Reasonable Doubt – The Case of Ronald Ryan television program – 1977

In 1967 Ronald Ryan was the last man to be hanged in Australia. With the public outrage about his execution, Australia ended capital punishment.

A Big Country – The Challenge of Lake Eyre television program – 1978

Roma and John Dulhunty, explorers of the great outback, come to Lake Eyre to conduct their geological survey.

This Day Tonight – The Last Program television program – 1978

It is fascinating to hear the man who dismissed an elected Australian federal government in 1975 say that he would do it again.

A Big Country – Perkins Navy television program – 1979

Bruce Perkins, a highly trained engineer with a pioneering spirit, says you need someone for the top end who is prepared to get things done.

A Big Country – The Prices television program – 1979

Life on an outback station at the end of an era, before satellite technology and helicopters and high-tech vehicles were used to help round up cattle.

A Big Country – The White Rose television program – 1979

Widely known as 'the King of the Dance Hall’, Frank Bourke founded The White Rose Orchestra in 1936 and toured rural areas for more than 40 years.

Patrol Boat – Never Under the White Ensign television program – 1979

Patrol Boat is a television drama about the crew of a navy patrol boat, whose job it is to guard Australia’s coastal waters.

Ride On Stranger television program – 1979

Bookworm Shannon Jones heads for the Harbour City to learn about life, love and politics in the 1930s.

1980s

All the Green Year – Episode 2 television program – 1980

This mini-series about growing up in the years between the world wars recalls a type of small-town society which is now fading into the past.

A Hard God television program – 1980

A Hard God, based on the play of the same name, is the story of a working-class Irish-Australian Catholic family in Sydney in the 1940s.

The Inventors television program – 1980

Panellist Diana 'Bubbles’ Fisher is expected to play the 'dizzy dame’, so she can be guaranteed to talk about the colour of the gadget while the guys talk knowingly about its science.

Lucinda Brayford television program – 1980

Wendy Hughes, Sam Neill, Carol Burns and Barry Quin feature in the saga of an Australian heiress who marries into British aristocracy.

Rusty Bugles television program – 1980

Based on a banned 1948 stage play, this telemovie follows a group of soldiers posted to a remote base in the Northern Territory during the Second World War.

Torque – Series 4, Episode 10 television program – 1980

Peter Wherrett is great talent. He knows cars and can warn of the dangers of the road without sounding preachy.

A Big Country – The Darcys of Mallapunyah television program – 1981

A Big Country launched some of Australia’s best-known journalists and filmmakers, including Bob Connolly, Paul Williams, Chris Masters and Andrew Olle.

A Big Country – The Drover television program – 1981

Jack loves his job and his life on the road. The filmmakers have captured both the hardship and the freedom of a life on the ‘long paddock’.

I Can Jump Puddles television program – 1981

Based on the autobiographical novel of the same name by Alan Marshall, this story of struggle and courage has become a classic Australian tale.

1915 television program – 1982

The television series 1915 cleverly uses First World War historical footage and successfully moves between the action at the front and events at home in Australia.

A Big Country – Gulf Battlers television program – 1982

Vintage A Big Country featuring Elton and Maude beating the odds to run a small cattle station in the Gulf country of northern Australia.

The Blainey View – Footprints television program – 1982

Geoffrey Blainey, one of Australia’s foremost and most controversial historians, later coined the term 'black armband view of history’.

Weekend Magazine – Carnarvon Gorge and the Fighting Highlanders television program – 1982

Weekend Magazine was one of the first programs on television to teach people about the environment and how it should be cherished and protected.

Winner Take All – Downside Risk television program – 1982

An ABC TV series about the fast-paced world of big business, Winner Take All is an early ‘80s time capsule.

A Big Country – City Girls television program – 1983

A group of students from an exclusive girls’ school and a group of unemployed girls hike through the bush.

Peach’s Gold – Eureka television program – 1983

This series exploits a range of first-hand sources for its vibrant retelling of the history, while Bill Peach appears from time to time to explain and analyse.

Peach’s Gold – Finders Keepers television program – 1983

This series is a lively way to learn about history, skilfully blending actors, re-creations, paintings, songs and newspaper headlines to bring the era alive.

Peach’s Gold – Land of Gold television program – 1983

This Bill Peach documentary is full of events, larger-than-life characters and all the madness and colour of this most extraordinary chapter in Australia’s history.

Scales of Justice television program – 1983

The quasi-documentary style of this series adds a gritty reality to the typical car patrol of a police crew on any evening shift around Sydney streets.

The Gillies Report – Series 1, Episode 4 television program – 1984

Max Gillies’ ability to capture the mannerisms of our politicians and Patrick Cook’s searingly funny scripts are this program’s great strengths.

Mail Order Bride television program – 1984

A hard-hitting drama about racism, sexism and xenophobia in a small country town.

Mother and Son – The Funeral television program – 1984

This sitcom shows the fraught relationship between 40-year-old Arthur and his mother Maggie, who is at turns forgetful, quick-witted and manipulative.

Mother and Son – The Money television program – 1984

The problems of ageing would seem like an unlikely subject for television comedy but Mother and Son became an instant success when it was first shown in 1984, continuing for nine years to become one of Australia’s best-loved television shows.

Peach’s Explorers – East to West television program – 1984

Bill Peach loves Australian history and tells us explorers’ stories by using their words, cleverly recreated from diaries and notebooks, and journeying through the same arid interior.

Peach’s Explorers – South to North television program – 1984

There’s a strong sense that each of these men is very much of his time, imbued with a duty to expand knowledge and a ruthless craving for fame and fortune.

Peach’s Explorers – The Prison Walls television program – 1984

The story is entertainingly told with a clever use of dramatic re-creations. The various techniques work to bring history alive.

Peach’s Explorers – The Secret of the Rivers: Captain Charles Sturt television program – 1984

This Bill Peach series uses recreations, diary entries and letters, among other devices, to tell the story of Australia’s colonial exploration in visually interesting ways.

Play School – Bags Wednesday television program – 1984

An episode of the iconic pre-school program Play School from 1984, featuring presenters Noni Hazlehurst and John Hamblin.

Waterfront – Episode 1 television program – 1984

Wharfies involved in a worker’s dispute and Italian refugees desperate to work during the Depression clash with tragic consequences.

Waterfront – Episode 2 television program – 1984

The series tells of the determination to stand up for what is right in a world that is rapidly slipping into a showdown between the extremes of fascism and communism.

D-Generation – Series 1 Episode 1 television program – 1985

While the D-Generation credits read like a who’s who of two decades’ worth of Australian comedy, at the time these comedians were unknowns.

Palace of Dreams television program – 1985

In this acclaimed drama series, an aspiring writer arrives in Sydney from the country during the turbulent and desperate times of the Great Depression.

Babakiueria short film – 1986

A mockumentary surveying the culture and customs of the white native people of the land of ‘Babakiueria’, from the perspective of the country’s black colonisers.

Divine Service – The House of Freedom Church, Brisbane television program – 1986

An informal Christian service is held in a suburban home in Brisbane. This group is involved in a wide range of peace activities in the ‘International Year of Peace’.

The Fast Lane - Episode 7: The Sound of One Hand Counting television program – 1986

A private detective agency run by a couple of incompetents feature in a social satire on life 'in the fast lane’ written by John Clarke and Andrew Knight.

Backchat, Episode 215 television program – 1988

Viewers respond to a song – 'Sack the Jack’ – broadcast at a time when the republican issue was being hotly debated.

Backchat, Episode 216 television program – 1988

Backchat, presented by Tim Bowden for over eight years, was an opportunity for ABC viewers to vent their spleens or heap praise on Aunty.

Backchat, Episode 217 television program – 1988

For some, ABC’s religious programs are a welcome alternative to commercial broadcasts, while for others the ABC turns religion into a Marxist critique.

prev 1 2 3 4 next