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Getting Along with the Government

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"Getting Along with the Government"
Australian Playhouse episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 7
Directed byJohn Croyston[1]
Teleplay byColin Free
Original air dates30 May 1966 (Melbourne, Sydney)[2]
Running time40 mins
Episode chronology
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Getting Along with the Government is a 1966 Australian Television play for Australian Playhouse. Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time.[3]

Plot

A pleasant inefficient "boss", Mr Bigelow (Don Crosby), works at the Government Department for Marketing. He has a devoted secretary (Joan Lord) and an ambitious rival (Allan Trevor). he discovers that he is being visited by an inspector. But the inspector turns out to be an old schoolmate of the boss.[4]

Cast

  • Don Crosby as Mr Bigelow
  • Allan Trevor
  • Joan Lord
  • Max Obiston
  • Lisa Goddard

Reception

The Sydney Morning Herald called it a "rather banal sketch" which was "well put together and the dialogue often amusing" with "smooth performances".[5]

The Age said it "emphasised the fact that it is not enough for a writer to have an idea. He must know and be able to employ necessary techniques that will be able him to carry it out. This was indeed a theme that required sparkling dialogue and an effective, if light, satiric touch. It missed out because these were just the things it lacked."[6]

References

  1. ^ "TV Guide". The Age. 26 May 1966. p. 33.
  2. ^ "TV Guide". Sydney Morning Herald. 30 March 1966. p. 13.
  3. ^ Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
  4. ^ "TV guide". Sydney Morning Herald. 30 May 1966. p. 13.
  5. ^ Darlington, Dorothy (31 May 1966). "GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR ON A DULL VISIT". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 9.
  6. ^ Monitor (4 June 1966). "Television goes out of focus". The Age. p. 23.