"The Paradise Shanty" is the 30th and the finale

television play A television play is a television programming genre which is a drama performance broadcast from a multi-camera television studio, usually live in the early days of television but later recorded to tape. This is in contrast to a television movi ...

episode of the first season of the Australian anthology television series ''

Australian Playhouse ''Australian Playhouse'' was an Australian anthology TV series featuring the work of Australian writers. It ran for two series consisting of 40 episodes. Among the featured productions were works by Pat Flower who was the main writer hav ...

''. "The Paradise Shanty" was written by Kevin McGrath and directed by

Patrick Barton Patrick Barton is an Australian TV director best known for his productions in the 1960s. Select credits *''You Can't Win 'Em All'' (1962) *''The Gioconda Smile'' (1963) *''Night Stop'' (1963) *''Double Yolk'' (1963) *''The Angry General'' (1964) ...

and originally aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

on 7 November 1966.

Plot

A lone horseman called the Boundary Rider arrives in town. He has a drink and gets sick.

Cast

Dennis Miller Dennis Michael Miller (born November 3, 1953) is an American political commentator, stand-up comedian, talk show host, writer, actor and former sportscaster. Miller was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' fro ...

as the Boundary Rider *

Syd Conabere Sydney Leicester Conabere (8 July 191815 July 2008) was an Australian actor and puppeter. He was notable for his work in theatre, film and television drama in a career spanning more than fifty years. In 1962 Conabere won the Logie award for Bes ...

as Riley * Frank Rich as publican * Dennis Turnull * Doug Owen * Evan Dunstan as customer

Production

It was based on McGrath's play ''Little Topar'' which had won first prize at the 1966 Cairns Drama Festival. Frank Rich was a dancer and singer regularly seen on ''In Melbourne Tonight''. It was the last ''Australian Playhouse'' for 1966.

Reception

The critic from ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'' called it "one of the best of the year's output, being a sceptical look at the old mateship tradition and contrasting pathos with crudity and crassness. The story of a lonely ill fated lad was played out among a crude little plot of unfeeling men. A moving show." The critic added that ''Australian Playhouse'' "has disappointed everyone who hoped for a long line of quality TV plays. It has rudely shown us that we can supply studios, crews and players, but we have a depressing shortage of writers. Also, the Playhouse badly needs a more skilled and creative editor-in-chief for 1967. All that said, ''Playhouse'' consistently drew audiences by the tens of thousands which means it had more impact on potential drama lovers than any stage theatre in the land."

References

External links