Adventure Unlimited

Adventure Unlimited
Genre Anthology
Created by Lee Robinson
Directed by Ken Hannam
Robin Lovejoy
Composer(s) Bruce Finlay
Country of origin Australia
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 10
Production
Executive producer(s) Herb McIntyre
Producer(s) Lee Robinson
Editor(s) Don Saunders
Running time 25 mins
Production company(s) Waratah Productions
Release
Original network Channel Ten (Sydney)
Original release 8 October 1965

Adventure Unlimited is a 1965 Australian anthology TV series. It was made at a time when Australian TV drama was extremely rare.[1]

It was produced by Lee Robinson and associate produced by Joy Cavill. The directors included Ken Hannam.

The series was made in 1963, but was not shown in Sydney until 1965, airing on Channel Ten on Friday nights at 7.30.[2] It was not seen in Melbourne until 1968. It sold to Canadian television and screened there in 1965.[1]

Episodes

Episode 1 – "The Buffalo Hunters" – 8 October 1965

Filmed on the Northern Territory in West Arnhem Land – starring Grant Taylor as Ted Abbott, one of the Territory's leading buffalo hunters.[3] Written by Cecil Holmes.

Cast

  • Grant Taylor as Ted Abbott
  • Jacqueline Knott
  • Gay Hartley as Julie Tamar
  • Alan Stewart as Sam Saunders
  • Yorkie Tilly as Himself
  • Leonard Teale

Episode 2 – "Uncontrolled Territory" – 15 October 1965

Set in the highlands of Papua New Guinea – a young Australian patrol officer who leads his party to search for the survivors of a plane crash near the Indonesian border. Directed by Robin Lovejoy.

Cast

Episode 4 – "Crocodile" – 29 October 1965

Written by Lee Robinson and directed by Robin Lovejoy.[4]

Cast

Episode 7 – "The Coastwatcher" – 19 November 1965

The story of coast watcher Arthur Reginald Evans (Fred Parslow), who helped safe the lives of John F. Kennedy and the PT 109 crew after their boat was sliced in two by a Japanese destroyed in the Bracket Strait. Directed by Ken Hannam.[5]

Cast

  • Fred Parslow as Arthur Evans

Episode 8 – "Camel Patrol" – 26 November 1965

Set in the Finke River district (NT) – a young officer takes over the district and undertakes a nine-week camel patrol where he realises the use of the camel and local trackers. Written by Brian Wright and Lee Robinson.

Cast

Episode 9 – "The Silver Backed Brushes" – 3 December 1965

Set in 1942 in Madang, Papua New Guinea, about the Australian Army Women's Medical Service. It tells the true story of nurse Margaret Evans (Mary Reynolds), and her brief marriage to an Airforce pilot (Tom Oliver) which lasted only minutes, as he was killed shielding her with his body during an air raid immediately after the wedding. Written by Joyce Spelling (former colonel in chief of the Australian Women's Auxiliary), directed by Ken Hannam.

It screened 13 October 1968 in Melbourne.[6]

Cast

"Summer Affair"

Set on Hayman Island. Filmed by Carl Kayser and Ron Taylor. Directed by Ken Hannam, written by Michael Plant.

Cast

"The Witness"

Set in Papua New Guinea – a nun from a Roman Catholic mission on the upper Sepik River was the witness to a murder in Sydney years before, and her testimony could result in a conviction. The story centres around plots to kill her while the police try to bring her back to testify – written by Joy Cavill, directed by Robin Lovejoy.

Cast

"The Rivals"

Set in Mt. Hagen in P.N.G. – a district show takes place and sees a feud between two coffee growers, Gordan Gillespie (Alexander Archdale) and Bob Cole (Chips Rafferty) with Gordons' boss boy as prize. The competition is a draw & the Bossboy goes off to start his own plantation. Directed by Ken Hannam.

Cast

"Adventure Unlimited"

Set on the Great Barrier reef – two divers are commissioned by a steel company to survey the sands of a section of coast for limestone in the sands – the area is full of sharks and divers go on a shark killing spree when a strange boat turns up with armed men on board. The men steal the divers' boat and proceed to hunt them. The divers ambush them on their own boat and take them prisoner. It turns out they are bringing in illegal aliens. Directed by Robin Lovejoy

Cast

Production

Five episodes were shot in New Guinea – "The Rivals", "Uncontrolled Territory", "The Rescue", "The Witness", and "Silver Backed Brushes."

References

  1. 1 2 "SATIRE'S DIM OUTLOOK". The Canberra Times. 40, (11, 358). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 7 January 1966. p. 11. Retrieved 5 July 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ↑ "Spine chilling", Sydney Morning Herald September 26, 1965, p 83
  3. ↑ "TV Guide". Sydney Morning Herald. 4 October 1965. p. 19.
  4. ↑ "Crocs and gators". Sydney Morning Herald. 25 October 1965. p. 22.
  5. ↑ "Historic Rescue". Sydney Morning Herald. 15 November 1965. p. 18.
  6. ↑ "Based on a true story". The Age. 10 October 1968. p. 16.
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