Lynnette Margaret Bayonas (11 April 1943 – 25 January 2010) was an Australian television producer and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

. Her sister was ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...

'' executive producer

Susan Bower Susan Bower is an Australian television producer and television writer best known for her work on the soap opera ''Neighbours''. Bower is also the Entrepreneurship, founder of the production company ''Bower Bird Productions''. Career Bower is a ...

Personal life

Bower was 18 years old and living in London when she got her breakthrough into television. She was an assistant to the general manager of

The Australian Ballet The Australian Ballet (TAB) is the largest classical ballet company in Australia. It was founded by J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1962, with the English-born dancer, teacher, repetiteur a ...

who were then travelling through Europe and were due to travel on to the United States, somewhere that Bayonas didn't want to go. Whilst working in London, Bayonas heard of a job coming up with ''

Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by, produced by and starring Orson Welles and co-written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz. It was Welles's List of directorial debuts, first feature film. ...

'' creator

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...

. She agreed to meet Welles when he was making '' Casino Royale'' with

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show''. Sellers featured on a number of hit comi ...

, Bayonas told him how she wasn't enjoying her job at the Australian Ballet and Welles invited her to Spain immediately. While working in Spain she met her future husband, Luis Bayonas, a writer,

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

and

assistant director The role of an assistant director (AD) on a film includes tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, and maintaining order on the set. They also have ...

Career

Bayonas' first job was taking notes for the film that Welles was working on at the time. Bayonas admitted that working with Welles taught her about flexibility in storytelling and turned her against many writing courses that she felt were structured. After meeting her husband in Spain, Bayonas wanted to return to Australia, and

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 ...

allowed her to do that by appointing her as script editor and writer on shows ''

Homicide Homicide is an act in which a person causes the death of another person. A homicide requires only a Volition (psychology), volitional act, or an omission, that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from Accident, accidenta ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', '' The Box'' and ''

The Sullivans ''The Sullivans'' is an Australian period drama television series produced by Crawford Productions which ran on the Nine Network from 15 November 1976 until 10 March 1983. The series tells the story of a fictional average middle-clas ...

''. In the 1980s she started work on ''

A Country Practice ''A Country Practice'' is an Australian television soap opera/serial which was broadcast on the Seven Network from 18 November 1981 until 22 November 1993, and subsequently on Network Ten from 13 April 1994 to 5 November 1994. Altogether, 14 ...

'', the programme that later allowed her sister

to break into television writing. Whilst working for

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

, she created and worked as the creative consultant on the cult serial, '' Chances'', which had a two-year run from 1991-92. All 126 episodes of this series were released on DVD and Blu-ray in August 2021. Beginning in 1994, Bayonas lived in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

for six years, writing for

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

. During her time in Los Angeles, she worked on programmes such as '' Sunset Beach'' and ''

Prime Time Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

''. In 2000, Bayonas decided to return to Australia and began work on television programmes such as ''

The Saddle Club ''The Saddle Club'' is an Australian-Canadian children's television series developed by Sarah Dodd, based on the books written by Bonnie Bryant. Like the book series, the scripted live action series follows the lives of three best friends in ...

'', ''

The Secret Life of Us ''The Secret Life of Us'' is an Australian television drama series set in the beachside neighbourhood of St Kilda, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is primarily a drama with some comedic moments. The series was produced by South ...

'' and ''Lawrence of Arabia''. In 2008, just as the third series of ''The Saddle Club'' finished production, cancer took hold of Bayonas meaning that this was Bayonas' last work before her death from cancer in January 2010. She was also head of her own production company, Lynn Bayonas Productions, based in

Preston, Victoria Preston is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north-east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, central business district, located within the City of Darebin Local government areas of Victoria, local ...

Filmography

Television

Death

It was announced on 25 January 2010 that Bayonas had died following a long battle with cancer. She was 66 years old. The Australian soap opera ''

'', of which Bayonas's sister

is an executive producer, marked Bayonas's death at the end of their episode broadcast on 25 January 2010 with a title card as the credits rolled.

References

External links

*
The Saddle Club official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bayonas, Lynn 1943 births 2010 deaths Australian television producers Australian women television producers Place of birth missing Australian television writers Writers from Victoria (state) Deaths from cancer in Victoria (state) Australian women television writers Australian expatriates in England Australian expatriates in Spain