A co-production between the ABC and the BBC, 'in association with 20th Century Fox', Ben Hall was a thirteen-part historical drama series about bushranger Ben Hall (1837–1865). Famous as a bushranger who never killed anyone but was nevertheless shot dead by police under the Felons Apprehension Act 1865, Hall was the ideal candidate for a drama series in an era in which Australian television was becoming increasingly fascinated with the dramatic possibilities of its colonial past.
Quoted in 1974, Andrew Osborn (BBC's Head of Drama series) summed up the possibilities as followed:
'The thing that makes Hall so interesting is, he tried to make a go of the land. He married a local landowner's daughter and settled down. But through persistent police persecution, beginning when he was falsely arrested for highway robbery, he was forced into a life of crime. He was a very handsome man, had many sympathisers in the districts where he operated, and was a magnificent horseman. What better story could you have? It's wonderful.' (Australian Women's Weekly, Wed. 27 February 1974, p.10).
The full-page advertisements with which the program was marketed also summed up this approach to the narrative, reading:
'This gang is going to capture a dozen or more police, rob 10 mail coaches and raid 21 towns and homesteads. BEN HALL: From law abiding cattleman of the Weddin Mountains to embittered outlaw. This is the saga of Ben Hall. Tough. Colourful. A desperate period of Australian History.' (See, for example, Australian Women's Weekly, 10 September 1975, p.8).
For a detailed, episode-by-episode synopses, see Film Details.
Note on authorship
According to the Australian Women's Weekly, Ben Hall was first planned in 1971; the delay in production seems to have been down to disputes regarding the allocation of work among the three international partners. For example, the Australian Women's Weekly notes that
'When this series was first proposed about three years ago, an agreement couldn't be reached on the number of Australian writers to be used, and the plan was shelved for a time. Now an equal number of English and Australian writers will contribute.'
The British script-writers included Frank Nesbitt, Allan Prior, and Lindsay Galloway. The series also employed American script-writers–husband-and-wife writing team Jesse Laskey and Pat Silver–but only for a single episode. Information from the program's initial airing in the UK indicates that eight of the thirteen episodes were written by Australians script-writers. The program's script editor, however, was also an Australian: Colin Free.
See also 'In Ben Hall Country', Australian Women's Weekly, 27 February 1974, p.10.
