Cirrus@Austlit

'In 1902 Australia was staging the richest cycling events in the world. When black American athlete, 'Major' Taylor, arrives to compete he has to confront not only the White Australia Policy but the prejudices of the other competitors - his own countrymen.'

Source: Screen Australia.

Brides of Christ is set in the mid-1960s, a time when the Catholic Church and its followers were struggling with the changing face of the Church, including the death of the Pope and the controversial issues of abortion and contraception. Told in six parts, the narrative follows Diane, a young woman who has walked away from her fiancé to join a convent after being sure she has a calling to the faith. Diane is forced to face her own demons, however, and eventually has to decide whether she can teach what the Church preaches, or if it's simply impossible for her to reconcile all the contradictions of the faith and uphold her vow of obedience.

'JACKAROO is the story of a wild Australian stockman - a young Indigenous Australian whose struggle to win the woman he loves and claim the land he has inherited erupts into a saga of family love, loyalty, passion and power.'

Source: Screen Australia.

'Following the death of her mother, Katrina Stanton leaves Australia in search of her father. She meets Arkie Regan who talks his way into her lonely life. A brief and romantic sojourn in Goa turns into an extended nightmare when a Thailand stopover reveals a quantity of heroin in Katrina's luggage. Regan vanishes and Katrina is facing execution if she is found guilty of drug trafficking. Only her elusive father, Hal Stanton, can save her.'

Source: Screen Australia. (Sighted: 21/1/2014)

This 1988 mini-series is based on the novel by D'Arcy Niland, and follows the successful 1957 feature film adaptation, starring Peter Finch (made by Ealing Studios, but filmed in Australia).

The narrative follows Macauley, who tramps through outback Australia looking for work. At first, he's content to leave his daughter Buster with her mother in the city, but when he discovers his wife's infidelity, he takes Buster with him (as the 'shiralee' or 'burden' of the title). As the taciturn Macauley tries to bend Buster to his ways, Buster slowly softens her father's often brutal nature.

Moran notes, in his Guide to Australian TV Series, 'the series was the hit of 1989. It had excellent ratings of 38 nationally and peaked in Adelaide at 45. On BBC2 it had an audience of fourteen million over two nights.'