Bellbird is an Australian soap opera serial broadcast by the '' ABC'' and written and created by Barbara Vernon, it screened for 10 seasons between 1967 and 1977, with the series centering around the residents of the small fictional

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

rural township of the series title. Bellbird has the distinction of being the longest-running soap opera/serial ever produced by the ABC. It ended the same year as commercial broadcast series ''

Number 96 96 (ninety-six) is the natural number following 95 and preceding 97. It is a number that appears the same when turned upside down. In mathematics 96 is: * an octagonal number. * a refactorable number. * an untouchable number. * a semiperfect ...

'' and '' The Box'', which had run for six and four years respectively.

Production and broadcasting

The series was produced by the ABC at the Ripponlea Studios in Melbourne, with the opening titles filmed at nearby Daylesford. Bellbird screened from 28 August 1967 to 23 December 1977 and although it was not Australia's first television serial (the first was

Network Seven The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia. ...

's ''

Autumn Affair ''Autumn Affair'' is an Australian television series made by and aired by Network Seven station ATN-7, and also shown in Melbourne on Nine Network station GTV-9. Television in Australia had only been broadcasting since 1956 and Seven was the firs ...

''), it was the first successful soap opera and even spawned a feature film and tie-in novel. The show's ratings were modest but it had a devoted following, especially in rural Australia. During most of its 10-year production run, 15-minute episodes of ''Bellbird'' screened from Monday to Thursday nights, leading in to the 7:00 pm evening news bulletin. In 1976, the series was screened as a single one-hour episode each week, before switching to three half-hour instalments per week during its final season.

Storylines

The show's storylines followed the lives of the residents of the small fictional country town that gave the show its title. While the series plots concentrated mainly on small-scale interpersonal, domestic and local relationships, issues and conflicts, there were occasional moments of high drama. One of the most celebrated was the death of the local stock and station agent, Charlie Cousens, played by foundation cast member Robin Ramsay. When Ramsay decided to leave the series in 1968, his character was written out in dramatic fashion, with Cousens plunging to his death from the top of a wheat silo. The death scene has figured prominently in retrospectives of great moments in Australian television, and its celebrity meant that it became one of the few segments from the early years of the series that has survived. Other notable deaths during the course of the series included those of local farm girl, Hagar Grossark (Barbara Ramsay), who drowned during a flood, and the 1974 death of major character Rhoda Lang, played by foundation cast member Lynette Curran, who was killed when her car was struck by a train at a level crossing.

Cast

''Bellbird'' featured a regular cast of 46 actors over its 10-year run (see links, for actor information).

Main cast

Guest cast

The

National Archives of Australia The National Archives of Australia (NAA), formerly known as the Commonwealth Archives Office and Australian Archives, is an Australian Government agency that serves as the national archives of the nation. It collects, preserves and encourages ...

holds a collection of 43 black and white prints from 1977, identifying over 30 actors involved at that time,

Foundation creative team

The show was based on a short treatment by Colin Free then developed by original story editor Barbara Vernon. The original story team included Vernon, Alan Hopgood and Michael Wright. The first executive producer was Brett Porter. The original directors were

James Davern James Edmund Davern, OAM, is an Australian television director, writer, script editor and producer, and founder of production company JNP Productions. Professional career Davern was employed as a writer and script editor with Australian Broadca ...

and Oscar Whitbread.

International screenings

Episodes of ''Bellbird'' were screened in the United Kingdom in 1972. After the initial 52 episodes had been screened, Actors Equity in Australia insisted the ABC increase the price of the episodes so as to pay the actors more. As a result of the price increase, the UK broadcaster purchased no further episodes.

Episodes

Although an extensive selection of episodes survive and reside with the

, it was reported that the ABC taped over the master tapes of the series, which was a common practice of the time something which series cast member Alan Hopgood had complained about in a '' TV Times'' article in 1976: "They just wiped hemoff and another episode asrun over them .... This failure to preserve the program is criminal, to my way of thinking." One complete

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

episode is available to be viewed at the Australian Mediatheque at the

Australian Centre for the Moving Image ACMI, formerly the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, is Australia's national museum of film, television, videogames, and art. ACMI was established in 2002 and is based at Federation Square in Melbourne, Victoria. During the 2014-15 finan ...

in Melbourne, while several colour episodes are known to exist in the hands of private collectors.

Film and novel

The series was the first soap opera in Australia to spin-off into a feature film version and tie-in novel, entitled ''

Country Town A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while th ...

'' (1971). It focused on Bellbird's problems during a severe drought. Many future soaps followed suit, spawning their own film versions, including ''

'' and '' The Sullivans''.

Ratings

In 1971, ''Bellbird'' was the fifteenth most popular show in the country.

References

External links

Aussie Soap Archive: Bellbird
– Overview and review *
''Bellbird''
at the National Film & Sound Archive {{Oscar Whitbread 1967 Australian television series debuts 1977 Australian television series endings Australian television soap operas Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming Television shows set in Victoria (state) Black-and-white Australian television shows Australian English-language television shows Works by Barbara Vernon Works by Alan Hopgood