Cirrus@Austlit

'The film tells the true story of a remarkable relationship between a young teacher and deeply disturbed 13 year-old boy. [...] The product of a broken home, Tom vents his aggression through playing truant, stealing cars and motor bikes, and violent behaviour towards others.

'He and his cronies hang around outside pubs, sipping from cans of beer and taking part in generally anti-social behaviour such as street fights and "gang bangs".

'Not without reason, he is dismissed by most adults as a hopeless case, a delinquent headed for a life of crime.

'Embling attempts to understand Tom's problems, committing himself fully to the boy and providing him with a relationship that is honest and physically secure.

'The teacher and student pass through stages of hostility and caring, frustration and hope, suspicion and trust.

'The relationship is constantly thwarted by the apathy and active opposition of other teachers and officials whose approach is often as brutal as it is archaic.

'Ultimately, Embling and Tom win their fight to a better future.'

Source:

'"Fighting Back" Moved Marshall to Tears', Canberra Times, 12 May 1982, p.24.

When a local housewife is found murdered, suspicion centres on a Polish immigrant, despite the lack of any evidence to connect him to the crime. The men of the town mount a search into the surrounding hills after the fleeing man. The posse includes the local sergeant, desperate to restore his reputation after his negligence led to the deaths of two youths, and misfit Rabbit, who doubts the man's guilt but is urged into the pursuit by his wife.

Constable Ross, a police constable on his first day of duty, and the cynical Sergeant Simmonds are drawn into a domestic dispute when two women come in to report a wife-beater. The officers arrange for a furniture removalist to come and take furniture from the flat of the woman's belligerent husband, and attend the removal themselves. The tension escalates when the husband, Kenny, knocks the removalist down and is subsequently beaten up by the police. The violence escalates as Kenny, who is handcuffed, is repeatedly assaulted while the others watch. It ends only when Constable Ross believes he has killed Kenny. The two policemen argue about the dire consequences, but Kenny regains consciousness and gets up.

Based on David Williamson's play (first staged at La Mama Theatre, Melbourne in 1971), the screenplay (including dialogue) closely follows the structure of the original story. The narrative is also set in the same two locations: a police station and a small flat.

A coming-of-age story about Rhyll Mereweather, a teenage girl who, after her father dies, believes that she now has no family. Soon afterwards, however, she is informed that she has inherited a run-down northern NSW banana plantation. When she travels from her home in Melbourne to see the property, she discovers a crusty old grandfather and some other surprising relatives she didn't know about.

As with the book, the screenplay deals with many issues, including the irresponsible property development ruining the pristine coastline of northern NSW. It also, in a witty and hopeful way, deals with some of the most unsavoury aspects of Australian culture: its casual racism, its ingrained sexism, and the pressures put upon young people to conform to expectations. The film was arguably the first Australian television series to address racism in any meaningful way. Although the series was made at a time when Australia was still pursuing a white-only immigration program and when discrimination against Aboriginal peoples was endemic, the subject matter was handled with some care by the producers.