All titles in the ‘Drama’ genre
407 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 next
N (continued)
Number 96 – Episode 910 television program – 1975
The 1975 finale of Number 96 has multiple cliffhangers and is the last episode ever aired in a half-hour format.
Number 96 – Episodes 1003 and 1004 television program – 1976
Melodrama thrives in the lives of the residents of a Sydney apartment block in the swinging seventies.
O
Ocean Girl – Series 2, Episode 3 television program – 1995
Ocean Girl is a beautiful alien that can swim at extraordinary speed and telepathically communicate with a humpback whale called Charley.
The Office Picnic feature film – 1972
Bored employees in a mindless bureaucracy are barely more than automatons until released by alcohol at the office picnic, during which sexual and generational differences explode.
One Night the Moon feature film – 2001
One Night the Moon, from director Rachel Perkins, reintroduces song into the Australian landscape. For Indigenous peoples, song has been one of the central means of land management.
One Shoe Short short film – 2007
On a town camp in Alice Springs, a boy searches for a pair of shoes so he can go to school. His friend tries his best to help him out.
Oscar and Lucinda feature film – 1997
Drawn together by a passion for gambling, Anglican priest Oscar Hopkins and Australian heiress Lucinda Leplastrier agree on a wager with life-changing consequences.
Out There – Two Down Under television program – 2002
A comedy-drama for children set in an animal clinic in rural Australia.
The Overlanders feature film – 1946
As the Japanese threaten northern Australia in 1942, a drover takes a mob of prime beef cattle across 2,600 kms of hazardous country to Queensland.
Oyster Farmer feature film – 2004
Writer-director Anna Reeves spent four years immersed in the culture of the beautiful Hawkesbury River area before making this drama.
P
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.
Palm Beach feature film – 1979
The underrated Palm Beach, set on Sydney’s northern beaches, is very daring in its use of sound.
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.
Pentuphouse short film – 1998
This short film by Cate Shortland is a snapshot of a relationship in its last days.
Petals – A Boot Full of Petals television program – 1997
Petals is an animated series for preschool children which revolves around the adventures of five tiny flower ‘petals’ who live at the bottom of an overgrown garden.
Petersen feature film – 1974
Though promoted as a lusty yarn, the frequent and fairly explicit sex scenes between the film’s unhappy characters are hardly titillating.
Phar Lap feature film – 1983
The film is well constructed, both as a folkloric tale of a young man’s bond with a special horse and as an exciting spectacle with a couple of magically charged moments.
Phoenix – Top Quality Crims television program – 1991
Seminal procedural police drama, loosely based on the bombing of Victoria’s Russell Street Police Station in 1986.
The Piano feature film – 1993
The Piano is a film about an artist and the story of a woman whose passionate nature is akin to a form of madness. Both themes are common to Jane Campion’s work.
Picnic at Hanging Rock feature film – 1975
On St Valentine’s Day 1900, three schoolgirls from an exclusive English-style boarding school go missing, along with a teacher, at Hanging Rock, in central Victoria.
Plains Empty short film – 2005
Plains Empty functions as a metaphor for the whole Australian landscape, where the living characters are beset by the spirits of the past, and at no time is the past truly absent.
Playing Beatie Bow feature film – 1985
Playing Beatie Bow has the sumptuous look and feel of a period film, thanks to its award-winning cinematography and production design.
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.
Play School – Opposites Monday television program – 2006
Justine Clarke and Rhys Muldoon sing, march, make ‘surprise’ hats for each other, read a book and play games as they explore the weekly theme of ‘opposites’.
Play School – Trains Thursday television program – 1969
An early episode of iconic pre-school program Play School featuring presenters Don Spencer, Anne Haddy and Ruth Cracknell.
Police Rescue – By the Book television program – 1990
Police Rescue was an immensely popular series during the 1990s, starting as a telemovie then spawning a weekly series for five years and even a feature film.
Police Rescue – Mates television program – 1990
The writing is strong, leaving us with a sense of the great camaraderie that allows these police officers to continue to do their job in difficult circumstances.
Police State television program – 1989
The script for this docudrama-style telemovie was developed using the transcripts from the Fitzgerald Inquiry into Queensland Police corruption.
Poor Man’s Orange television program – 1987
Harp in the South was so admired by Network Ten’s then head of drama, Valerie Hardy, that she immediately commissioned this second series.
Praise feature film – 1998
Praise has alcohol and tobacco, acid and heroin, sex and oblivion and is like a grungy version of Last Tango in Paris.
Proof feature film – 1991
This is a textbook example of how to make a film logistically simple without sacrificing complexity and dramatic impact.
Pugwall – Hollow Drums television program – 1989
The insightful scripts capture teenager angst in a comic and recognisable way; fashions might change but relationships between teenagers and parents don’t.
Pure S feature film – 1975
Pure S was originally banned from release and remains one of the most unusual and frank films about drug use ever made in Australia.
Q
The Quiet Room feature film – 1996
Why does a seven-year-old girl refuse to speak? Increasingly vicious arguments between the parents are not the whole story.
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Rabbit-Proof Fence feature film – 2002
For many white Australians, this popular film was the first direct emotional experience of what it meant to be one of the 'stolen generations’.
Radiance feature film – 1998
This is a rare exploration of the emotional interior lives of Indigenous women, in this case, three sisters.
The Rage in Placid Lake feature film – 2003
The Rage in Placid Lake is a comic drama, tinged with the absurd, and musician-turned-actor Ben Lee plays the title character with the required amount of chutzpah.
Rangle River feature film – 1936
NSW legislation required exhibitors and distributors to invest in, and show, Australian films — but not for long.
The Rats of Tobruk feature film – 1944
The Rats of Tobruk may not be Charles Chauvel’s best movie, but it deserves serious consideration as his best movie about war.
Raw FM – What You Can television program – 1997
A series revolving around community youth radio station 99.9 Raw FM and the young people who run it.
Redfern Beach short film – 2001
Redfern Beach is a love story between two people from different cultural backgrounds, set in a fish-processing factory.
The Removalists feature film – 1975
The story is a savage microcosm of Australia, rather than just a look at the then-topical issue of police hypocrisy and brutality.
Return Home feature film – 1990
Suburbs in Australian cinema are usually the place that characters flee from; this film suggests you can also go back.
Ride On Stranger television program – 1979
Bookworm Shannon Jones heads for the Harbour City to learn about life, love and politics in the 1930s.
Rinso Soap Powder: Then Came Happiness advertisement – 1931
Helen, worn out by the drudge of washing day, is introduced to Rinso by a girlfriend during a bridge night.
Road short film – 2000
A film that emphasises the strangeness of the city, where a black fella has a hard time getting a cab, and more often than not, anything can happen.
Romper Stomper feature film – 1992
Romper Stomper makes viewers participants, forcing them to confront how they feel about violence as entertainment.
Romulus, My Father feature film – 2007
This film is one of a small number of high quality films dealing with the lives of migrants, but it doesn’t labour this point.
Round the Twist – Series One – Skeleton on the Dunny television program – 1989
This first episode gives a real taste for the eclectic range of themes and elements which combine to create the Round The Twist magic.
Round the Twist – Series One – Spaghetti Pig Out television program – 1989
This is a clever and funny episode, based on a simple ‘What if…’ premise. There is loads of silly slapstick, and a spectacular dose of yuck at the end.
