''Starting Out'' is an Australian
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...
soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
made for the
Nine Network
The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, 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 five main free-to-air television ne ...
by the
Reg Grundy Organisation
Reg Grundy Organisation (founded as Reg Grundy Enterprises, later known as both Reg Grundy Productions and Grundy Television and known informally as Grundy's) was an Australian-based multinational mass media company, primarily involved in tele ...
in 1983.
Background
The five-night-a-week series was created by
Reg Watson
Reginald James Watson (27 August 1926 – 8 October 2019) was an Australian television producer and screenwriter. He was executive producer on ''Crossroads'' and created Australian media exports serials such as ''Prisoner'', ''Neighbours'', ''T ...
as the network's replacement for the long-running serial ''
The Young Doctors
''The Young Doctors'' is an Australian early-evening soap opera originally broadcast on the Nine Network and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation, it aired from Monday, 8 November 1976 until Wednesday, 30 March 1983.
The series is prima ...
''. It was produced by
Sue Masters who had also been the producer of ''The Young Doctors''.
It was set at a medical college with an emphasis on young people getting their first experience of living away from home and leading independent lives. ''Starting Out'' debuted 18 April 1983 and aired in an early evening slot before the network's news service.
[Mercado, Andrew. ''Super Aussie Soaps'', Pluto Press Australia, 2004. p 198-200]
Cast
The youthful cast included:
*
Leander Brett – Aggie Dean
*
Antoinette Byron – Laurel Adams
*
David Clencie – Ben McNamara
*
Nikki Coghill
Nicola Vicars Coghill (born 4 January 1964) is an Australian actress. She is best known for playing the roles of Sister Jackie Crane in '' The Flying Doctors'', and Miranda Parker in ''Neighbours''.
Career
Coghill was born in Melbourne. She ha ...
– Margot Fallon-Smith
*
Tottie Goldsmith – Trixie Sheldon
*
Rowena Mohr
Rowena in the Matter of Britain was the daughter of the purported Anglo-Saxon chief Hengist and wife of Vortigern, "King of the Britons". Presented as a beautiful ''femme fatale'', she won her people the Kingdom of Kent through her treacherous ...
– Michelle Rivers
*
Julie Nihill
Julie Nihill (born 1957 in Melbourne) is an Australian actress, best known for her 13-year role as Chris Riley on the police drama ''Blue Heelers'' (1994–2006).
Biography
Nihill made her television debut in '' I Can Jump Puddles'' (1981) a ...
– Tessa Staples
*
Peter O'Brien – Craig Holt
*
David Reyne
David Nicholas Reyne (born 14 May 1959) is an Australian actor, musician, television and radio presenter. Reyne was born in Lagos, Nigeria to an Australian mother and English diplomat father. The family moved to Victoria, Australia in the early 1 ...
– Paul Harding
*
Yves Stenning – Will Brodie
*
Gary Sweet
Gary Sweet (born 22 May 1957) is an Australian film and television actor known for his roles in ''Alexandra's Project'' (as Steve), '' Police Rescue'' (as Sergeant "Mickey" McClintock), '' Cody'' (as Cody), '' Big Sky'' (as Chris Manning), '' B ...
– Rod Turner
*
Paul Williams Paul Williams may refer to:
Authors
* Paul O. Williams (1935–2009), American science-fiction author and poet
* Paul L. Williams (author) (born 1944), FBI consultant, journalist
* Paul Williams (journalist) (1948–2013), American founder of mu ...
– Peter Nolan
The more experienced cast members complementing the young leads included:
*
Maurie Fields – Mac Rankin
*
Suzy Gashler – Yvonne Rivers
*
Caroline Gillmer
Caroline Gillmer (born 1955) is an Australian actress, best known for her roles in various television series, such as ''Prisoner
A prisoner (also known as an inmate or detainee) is a person who is deprived of liberty against their wil ...
– Eleannor Harris
*
John Grant – Dr. Greg Munro
*
Jill Forster – Dr. Judith Holt
*
John Hamblin
John Reginald Hamblin (18 March 1935 – 21 September 2022), known affectionately as "Funny John" or "Naughty John", was a British-born Australian children's television presenter and actor of stage and screen who appeared in theatre productions ...
– Dr. James Holt
*
Gerard Maguire
Gerard Maguire (born 25 September 1945) also credited as Gerard McGuire, is an Australian actor, producer and screenwriter best known for his role in ''Prisoner'' as Deputy Governor, ''Jim Fletcher''. Often appearing on Australian television pol ...
– Dr. John Rivers
*
Anne Phelan
Anne Mary Phelan (2 August 1948 – 27 October 2019) was an Australian actress of stage and screen who appeared in many theatre, television and film productions as well as radio and voice-over.
Her television soap opera roles included '' B ...
– Mrs. De Soosa
*
Marie Redshaw
Marie may refer to:
People Name
* Marie (given name)
* Marie (Japanese given name)
* Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973
* Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in ...
– Mrs. Lynch
*
Colin Vancao – Russell Dean
Cancellation
The series failed to gain sufficient ratings and was quickly cancelled and removed from network schedules by 20 May 1983. Some of the unaired episodes were screened sporadically out-of-ratings in late 1983. Not until a late night repeat run during the later half of 1989 several years after production did all of the 85 produced episodes go to air.
External links
*
''Starting Out'' at the National Film and Sound Archive
Notes
{{reflist
Australian television soap operas
Nine Network original programming
1983 Australian television series debuts
1983 Australian television series endings
English-language television shows
Television series produced by The Reg Grundy Organisation