Shell Presents
Shell Presents was an early attempt at Australian television drama, being an umbrella title for several different productions. It debuted on April 4, 1959,[1] and aired on ATN-7 and GTV-9, who split production of plays for the series between them. It was an anthology series, each program being a self-contained play for television.[2] The series won a Logie award in 1960 for TV Highlight Of 1959. As the title suggests, it was sponsored by Shell.
Though it usually presented straight drama, it also presented a live[3] musical production titled Pardon Miss Westcott, set in colonial-era Australia. A total of 13 productions aired under the Shell Presents banner from 1959 to 1960.[4] There is little information about this series online, however, some of the productions are held at the National Film and Sound Archive[5][6][7][8][9]
Some of the productions were based on overseas plays (such as Thunder of Silence), while some were locally written, such as The Big Day (by Sydney author John Ford).
An article in the 30 October 1960 edition of the Sydney Morning Herald called Australian TV is growing up, while not mentioning it by name, nevertheless provides some information on the series. The article said that the production of "modestly unpretensious" soap opera Autumn Affair provided some of the experience needed to produce Shell Presents productions like Johnny Belinda, and listed the cost to produce Pardon Miss Westcott at £5,000 (a considerable budget at the time). It mentions that work on a live drama production of the era started a month to six weeks before telecast, and that a video-tape of the final rehearsal was made so cast and camera crew could correct last minute faults.[10]
Five of the episodes may have been shown in Perth during 1960 on station TVW-7.[11]
History
In February 1959 leading Australian writers were invited to present plays for the series.[12]
Episodes
- Johnny Belinda - originally aired 4 April 1959
- Other People's Houses - 2 May 1959
- Tragedy in a Temporary Town - 16 May 1959
- They Were Big, They Were Blue, They Were Beautiful 27 June 1959
- The Big Day - 11 July 1959
- Thunder of Silence - 22 August 1959
- Ruth - 5 September 1959
- A Tongue of Silver - 17 October 1959
- Rope - 14 November 1959
- Pardon Miss Westcott - 12 December 1959
- Reflections in Dark Glasses - 6 February 1960
- No Picnic Tomorrow - 9 January 1960
- Man in a Blue Vase - 5 March 1960
Ratings Success
On 20 July 1959 a Sydney Morning Herald article said the program had an estimated audience of around 300,000 in both Sydney and in Melbourne.[13]
See also
- List of live television plays broadcast on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1950s) - One-off plays on ABC
- Killer in Close-Up - 1957-1958 anthology of four half-hour plays on ABC
- List of television plays broadcast on ATN-7
References
- ^ "Well-wishers Jam ATM Switchboard". Sydney Morning Herald. 5 April 1959. p. 5.
- ^ http://colsearch.nfsa.gov.au/nfsa/search/display/display.w3p;adv=;group=;groupequals=;holdingType=;page=0;parentid=;query=shell%20presents%20Media%3A%22TELEVISION%22;querytype=;rec=4;resCount=10
- ^ "'Live' Telecast of New Musical". Sydney Morning Herald. 7 December 1959. p. 13.
- ^ http://colsearch.nfsa.gov.au/nfsa/search/display/display.w3p;adv=;group=;groupequals=;holdingType=;page=0;parentid=;query=Id%3A709260%7CId%3A713985;querytype=;rec=0;resCount=10
- ^ http://colsearch.nfsa.gov.au/nfsa/search/display/display.w3p;adv=;group=;groupequals=;holdingType=;page=0;parentid=;query=shell%20presents%20Media%3A%22TELEVISION%22;querytype=;rec=1;resCount=10
- ^ http://colsearch.nfsa.gov.au/nfsa/search/display/display.w3p;adv=;group=;groupequals=;holdingType=;page=0;parentid=;query=shell%20presents%20Media%3A%22TELEVISION%22;querytype=;rec=2;resCount=10
- ^ http://colsearch.nfsa.gov.au/nfsa/search/display/display.w3p;adv=;group=;groupequals=;holdingType=;page=0;parentid=;query=shell%20presents%20Media%3A%22TELEVISION%22;querytype=;rec=3;resCount=10
- ^ http://colsearch.nfsa.gov.au/nfsa/search/display/display.w3p;adv=;group=;groupequals=;holdingType=;page=0;parentid=;query=shell%20presents%20Media%3A%22TELEVISION%22;querytype=;rec=5;resCount=10
- ^ http://colsearch.nfsa.gov.au/nfsa/search/display/display.w3p;adv=;group=;groupequals=;holdingType=;page=0;parentid=;query=shell%20presents%20Media%3A%22TELEVISION%22;querytype=;rec=8;resCount=10
- ^ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UHxWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QOYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=940,515986&dq=autumn+affair&hl=en
- ^ Marshall, Valda (10 April 1960). "Easter message on television". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 74.
- ^ "Leading Australian Writers Invited to Take Part in TV Drama Project". The Age. 19 February 1959. p. 13.
- ^ "Local plays capture big audiences". Sydney Morning Herald. 20 July 1959. p. 19.
External links
- Seven Network shows
- Nine Network shows
- Australian drama television series
- 1959 Australian television series debuts
- 1960 Australian television series endings
- 1950s Australian television plays
- Black-and-white Australian television shows
- English-language television shows
- Australian anthology television series
- Television shows set in Sydney
- Television shows set in Melbourne