''Cash and Company'' is an Australian television period adventure series, set during the

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 literatur ...

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...

of the 1850s. It screened on the

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

in Australia in 1976 and on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...

(including the

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT; now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00&nbs ...

and Anglia regions) in the UK.

Background

The original series consisted of 13 one-hour episodes, and was created by Russell Hagg and Patrick Edgeworth who met working at

Crawford Productions Crawford Productions is an Australian Media (communication), media production company, focused on radio and television production. Founded in Melbourne by Hector Crawford and his sister, actress and voice artist Dorothy Crawford, the company, a ...

. They said they were $5,000 short when making the show - the balance was provided by Ron Casey. Production began in July 1974 and the series premiered on the Seven Network in Brisbane on 17 April 1975, Sydney on 26 May and Melbourne on 29 May. The series was also shown at Sunday lunchtime in the United Kingdom by the

(LWT) Network, in advance of its airing in Australia. It was also screened at the Cannes Film Festival and sold to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

and

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. It was produced by Homestead Films, a TV production company set up by

Patrick Edgeworth Patrick John Edgeworth (25 December 1942 – 22 May 2023) was an English stage and screenwriter. Early life Edgeworth grew up in England. In 1969, he arrived in Australia to be best man at the wedding of his pianist brother Ron and Judith Du ...

and

Russell Hagg Russell Hagg (1938 – 10 February 2022) was an Australian designer and director. He studied architecture at Melbourne University before becoming a designer in British films, then worked for Crawford Productions as a writer and director.Andrew P ...

, who had worked together at Crawford Productions on ''

Matlock Police ''Matlock Police'' is an Australian television police drama series made by Crawford Productions for The 0-10 Network (now known as Network 10) between 1971 and 1976. The series focused on the police station and crime in the Victorian town of Ma ...

''. Edgeworth's brother is the musician Ron Edgeworth, who was married to

Judith Durham Judith Mavis Durham (née Cock; 3 July 1943 – 5 August 2022) was an Australian singer, songwriter, and musician who became the lead singer of the Australian folk music group the Seekers in 1962. The group became the first Australian pop mus ...

The Seekers The Seekers were an Australian folk music, folk-influenced pop music, pop group originally formed in Melbourne in 1962. They were the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the Unit ...

. The episodes dealt with the adventures of

bushrangers Bushrangers were armed robbers and outlaws who resided in the Australian bush between the 1780s and the early 20th century. The original use of the term dates back to the early years of the British colonisation of Australia, and applied to ...

Sam Cash (

Serge Lazareff Serge Constantine Lazareff (7 August 1944 – 20 August 2021) was an Australian actor and screenwriter/editor, who was born in Shanghai, China. He appeared in 54 roles from the late 1960s until 1999, before starting a second career as a writer ...

) and his partner Joe Brady (

Gus Mercurio Augustino Eugenio “Gus” Mercurio (10 August 19287 December 2010) was an American-Australian chiropractor, actor, boxing referee, boxing judge, and sports commentator. He was equally prominent as a character actor on film and television, and ...

) and a helpful widow, Jessica Johnson (

Penne Hackforth-Jones Penne Hackforth-Jones (5 August 194917 May 2013) was an American-born Australian actress and biographer. Early life Penelope Beatrix Hackforth-Jones was born in August 1949 in Greenwich, Connecticut, to Paul and Susan Felicity (née Gullett) ...

). Cash and Brady were fugitives, constantly absconding from the authorities, led by the corrupt police trooper Lieutenant Keogh (Bruce Kerr). Lazareff decided to leave at the end of the first series, when a second series was still in the planning stages. His character was replaced by Ryler, a former bounty hunter, played by

Gerard Kennedy Gerard Michael Kennedy (born July 24, 1960) is a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as Ontario's minister of Education from 2003 to 2006, when he resigned to make an unsuccessful bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Ca ...

, a former cast member of ''

Division 4 ''Division 4'' is an Australian television police drama series broadcast by the Nine Network and created by Crawford Productions airing between 1969 and 1975 for 301 episodes. Synopsis The series was one of the first to follow up on the enor ...

''. After Kennedy's character of Ryler had appeared in one episode, he was recruited to replace Lazareff after Seven told the Homestead Films that they would not buy a second series unless the popular Logie-winning actor was cast in the new series. Patrick Edgeworth and Russell Hagg however, dispute this account. Rather, being so impressed with Gerard Kennedy's work on the last episode of Cash, they claim they told the Seven Network he was their choice to replace Lazareff, upon which Seven agreed. The series was renamed ''

Tandarra ''Tandarra'' is an Australian television series which screened on the Seven Network in Australia in 1976 and on ITV (including the London Weekend Television and Anglia regions) in the UK. It was a follow-up series to ''Cash and Company'' which ...

'' as the character of Sam Cash was no longer featured, and the fugitives from justice story line was removed. The character of Keogh was also dropped, and the character of Annie (Jessica's maid, played by

Anne Scott-Pendlebury Anne Scott-Pendlebury (also known as Anne Pendlebury) is an Australian television, film and theatre actress. She plays the role of Hilary Robinson in the soap opera ''Neighbours''. Career Scott-Pendlebury is the daughter of L. Scott Pendlebur ...

) only appeared in one episode. The character of Sam Cash was not mentioned at all in ''

'', and all flashback sequences from the first series removed any reference to him. Although the series title is taken from history, the story, events and timeline are of no relation to real life Australian

bushranger Bushrangers were armed robbers and outlaws who resided in The bush#Australia, the Australian bush between the 1780s and the early 20th century. The original use of the term dates back to the early years of the British colonisation of Australia ...

Martin Cash Martin Cash (baptised 10 October 1808 – 26 August 1877) was a notorious Irish-Australian convict bushranger, known for escaping twice from Port Arthur, Tasmania, Port Arthur, Van Diemen's Land. His 1870 autobiography, ''The Adventures of Mar ...

, whose gang went by the name of ''Cash and Co''.

Cast

as Sam Cash *

as Joe Brady *

as Jessica Johnson * Bruce Kerr as Lieutenant Keogh

Guest Cast

as Ryler * John Frawley as Jessica's father in law *

as Annie *

Sandy Gore Sandy Gore (born 28 June 1950) is an Australian film, stage and television actress. She has had an extensive stage career in Australia with the Melbourne Theatre Company and Sydney Theatre Company including playing Vivian in '' Wit'' (2000) and ...

as Madam * Jerry Thomas as Harry Horlock * Roz De Winter as Betty Horlock *

as Sarah Simmonds *

Jon Finlayson Jon Douglas Finlayson (23 March 1938–12 September 2012) was an Australian stage and screen character actor, radio performer, writer, director, producer and singer Early life Jon Finlayson was born in Coburg, Victoria to Clorine and Ron Finl ...

as Travers Lewis *

Michael Duffield Michael Duffield (20 January 1915 – 16 June 1986) was an English-born character actor who worked in Australia for many decades. Career Duffield's first acting role was in the 1939 television play ''French Without Tears'', playing the part of ...

as PJ Clarke *

Judy Morris Judith Ann Morris (born 17 February 1947) is an Australian character actress, as well as a film director and screenwriter, well known for the variety of roles she played in 58 different television shows and films, starting her career as a child ...

as Mary Fincham *

Tony Bonner Anthony Frederick Bonner (born 23 November 1943) is an Australian television, film, and stage actor and singer. Bonner became famous in the 1960s children's television series ''Skippy the Bush Kangaroo'', later moving on to lead roles in th ...

as Titus Ruffler

Filming locations

The series was shot almost entirely on location in Emu Bottom Plains, Victoria. This was located near the crew lodgings location at Emu Bottom Station on the outskirts of

Sunbury, Victoria Sunbury ( , ) is a satellite town of Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Hume local government area. Sunbury recorded a population of 38,851 at the . Statistically, Sunbury is ...

, Victoria, the same area where ''

Mad Max ''Mad Max'' is an Australian media franchise created by George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It centres on a series of post-apocalyptic and dystopian action films. The franchise began in 1979 with '' Mad Max'', and was followed by three sequels: ...

'' (1979) was filmed.Albert Moran, ''Moran's Guide to Australian TV Series'', AFTRS 1993 p 103

DVD release

Umbrella Entertainment Umbrella Entertainment is a privately-held Australian film production and distribution company that began operating in 2001. It is based in Kew, Victoria. Umbrella Entertainment manages the theatrical, physical, and digital releases of Australia ...

released the series on DVD Region Free on 2 April 2014.

TV Syndication

'Cash and Company' returned in syndication to Australian TV during the 1990s on Channel Seven during early morning time-slot of 4am. All 13 episodes were replayed. This year the show has made a long awaited return in syndication on the Aussie Classics TV channel on Binge and Foxtel as of March and is aired Sunday nights 7.30pm with replays around 11pm and Sunday mornings at 11am.The complete series is set to be replayed after nearly a 30 year hiatus on Australian television.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0072768
Classic Australian Television website

Watch ''Cash and Company'' opening and a first scene

Umbrella Entertainment website listing
1970s Australian drama television series Television series set in the 1850s Television shows set in Victoria (state) Seven Network original programming Television shows set in colonial Australia 1975 Australian television series debuts 1975 Australian television series endings Australian Western (genre) films