An adventure play for young viewers, set on a cattle station in the Australian outback.
The play follows the adventures of youngsters Bill (Barrie Cookson), Eric (John Unicomb), and Robbie (Stephen MacDonald) on a remote cattle station. Living and working at the homestead are Jim Anderson (Bill Horsley) and Mary Anderson (Robyn King), along with Gillian Denstone (Tessa Clarke). Their lives are disrupted by the arrival of a visitor, Currington (Kenneth Watson).
Broadcast live from the BBC’s studios, this single play offered its young British audience an adventure in an exotic, far-flung corner of the Commonwealth. The Australian outback provided a popular backdrop for children’s fiction in the 1950s, a landscape of vast spaces and inherent danger well-suited to straightforward tales of peril and resourcefulness. Gwynneth Ashby’s teleplay, noted in its billing as being based on a factual event, tapped directly into this tradition of imperial adventure stories, a staple of the BBC’s output for younger viewers.
Broadcast: BBC Television, 1 Episode, 12 February 1957
Written by: Gwynneth Ashby
Producer: Barbara Hammond
Designer: Lawrence Broadhouse
Main Cast: Barrie Cookson (Bill), John Unicomb (Eric), Stephen MacDonald (Robbie), Tessa Clarke (Gillian Denstone), Robyn King (Mary Anderson), Bill Horsley (Jim Anderson), Kenneth Watson (Currington)
