The Coastwatchers (film)

The Coastwatchers was a docudrama television film about coastwatchers made in 1959 by producer Roger Mirams for Pacific Films. It starred Ken Goodlet and Kevin Colson and was written by John Sherman and directed by Mirams.[3]

The Coastwatchers
Directed byRoger Mirams
Produced byRoger Mirams
Written byJohn Sherman
Starring
  • Ken Goodlet
  • Kevin Colson
Cinematography
  • Roger Mirams
  • Bruce McNaughton
Production
company
Pacific Film Productions
Distributed byABV-2 (Melbourne)
Release date
25 April 1962 (Melbourne)[1]
Running time
65 mins[2]
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish

It was a backdoor pilot for a TV series that did not eventuate. However Mirams later used the ideas for the series in Spyforce (1971–72).[4]

The pilot was entitled "Operation Plum Pudding".[5]

Plot

During World War Two, Australian coastwatchers operate in New Guinea.

Cast
  • Kevin Colson
  • Ken Goodlet
  • James Okhi

Production

Roger Mirams had worked for a number of years in New Zealand. He moved to Australia to cover the 1956 Olympic Games and decided to stay. He established an Australian subsidiary of Pacific Films in Melbourne, in partnership with Chris Stewart Jim Davies. Pacific's first Australian series was The Coastwatchers.[6]

Mirams shot two half hour pilots for the series. Shooting took place on location in New Guinea. Mirams sought finance to make 26 episodes but was not successful.[7] Jimmy Okhi was an American born Japanese. Other non whites were played by various Chinese students from Hong Kong and Malaya. The series did not screen until 1962.[1]

References
  1. "Untitled". The Age. 19 April 1962. p. 11.
  2. "TODAY'S TV". The Canberra Times. 40 (11, 333). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 8 December 1965. p. 26. Retrieved 21 March 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
  4. Spyforce
  5. miff.com archives
  6. http://www.milesago.com/people/mirams-roger.htm
  7. War Coast-Watch Dramas for TV. The Age. 29 March 1961.


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