Cirrus@Austlit

American revival of the 1966 television program, but filmed in Australia (largely in Queensland), and making extensive use of Australian directors and script-writers: eight of the twenty-two writers and five of the nine directors are Australian. As with the earlier version (and the later film incarnations), the program made extensive use of high-tech gadgetry that often crossed the line from science into science fiction.

One of only four films directed by Arch Nicholson before his early death from motor neurone disease, Dark Age follows the attempts by wildlife ranger Steve Harris, his girlfriend Cathy Pope, and trackers Oonadabund and Adjaral to capture a seven-metre salt-water crocodile (already responsible for two deaths) and relocate it to a breeding sanctuary. Their attempts are thwarted by hunter John Besser, determined on revenge after surviving an attack by the crocodile. In the course of the hunt, one of the trackers realises that he has a psychic connection to the crocodile.

According to Gary Couzens's online review for The Digital Fix,

'Dark Age is not a kill-the-monster story but a save-the-monster one. In fact, the real monster is a human - as played by Max Phipps, scary enough and just the right side of overplaying the part. The seven-metre croc may kill people (including a young child in a scene many will find upsetting) but it at least is obeying its nature. We do get moderately gory attack scenes (adroitly directed by Nicholson), a not always convincing but well disguised mechanical giant crocodile and a sex scene, but it's as if Nicholson and Borg are "smugglers" (in the Scorsese filmmaking sense), slipping in eco themes into what could have been a more straightforward exploitation horror movie. In addition, the two principal Aboriginals [sic] in the cast are treated with considerable dignity and sensitivity and, thanks to David Gulpilil's input, the Aboriginal rituals seen here are accurate. Also, the female lead has more to do than be decorative and to help demonstrate the hero's heterosexuality - maybe due to a female scriptwriter? - and the relationship between Steve and Cathy does ring true.'

Made as part of a two-picture deal with RKO Pictures (the other half of which was The Lighthorsemen), Dark Age was never released in Australia, thanks to negotiations with an Australian distributor falling through shortly after completion.

Source: The Digital Fix (http://film.thedigitalfix.com/content/id/75041/dark-age.html). (Sighted: 7/6/2012)

'On a lazy day at Sunday Flat in rugged mountain country in Northern Victoria, Sally Jones and her class are looking forward to the few remaining days to the end of term. Pleasant anticipation turns to stark horror as four grotesquely masked men descend on Sally and the children and whisk them away at gunpoint. A damp and dark cave becomes prison for Sally and her nine young charges until they manage to grope their way to freedom by way of an underwater exit. Their new found freedom, however, is short-lived as their captors are waiting for them at a nearby farmhouse, where they have overpowered the old farmer and his wife. The comic masks of the kidnappers cannot hide their brutal nature as the children are manhandled and the old lady is viciously attacked. In protective defiance, the farmer puts up a brave struggle and is fatally shot. With blood on their hands, the gunmen lock Sally and the children in an old shed. A shotgun blast echoes through the stillness of the night. The old lady too, has been callously murdered. Now Sally has no illusions as to their probable fate. They must escape at any cost. Only one man has been left to guard them and the children devise a plan to lure him into the shed. Thanks to Narelle’s feminine charms and Sid’s piece of fencepost, they are soon free and run into the night. Stumbling and clawing their way forward with no sense of direction and ever fearful of the nearness of their oppressors, they at last find shelter…a cave to use as a makeshift camp. Hungry and frightened, they settle for an uneasy night. Morning brings the shock realisation that the kidnappers have found them. The taunting voices of their pursuers cut through the chill of early dawn. “We’re coming to get you!” With time running out, they must convert the cave into a fortress of sorts. A pooling of potential weapons sees a pathetic arsenal of penknives, sharpened pencils, scissors, a tomahawk…and a bayonet, while Derek fashions primitive spears from saplings. The older boys then busy themselves positioning the spears and the bottom of the ditch-moat in front of the cave. Leaves and branches provide camouflage. The unwelcome mat is ready for the kidnappers. Now, Sally and the children can only wait - and hope… When Narelle wanders from the cave, Sally makes a fanatic search for her. She is confronted by one of the gunmen and a desperate struggle develops. The kidnapper topples into the moat and meets an agonising death when spears impale him. Only the last and most feared of the abductors remains and the group readies itself for a final stand. On finding his accomplice dead, the man charges the cave in a rage, but is overpowered and beaten to death. Back in the familiar surrounds of the schoolhouse, Sally and the children are reticent to elaborate on their ordeal. The inquiring Police fail to notice the interest the pupils are showing in a jar of formaldehyde, containing a large bleached object. If one cannot understand the criminal mind, perhaps it is better to analyse his heart.'

Source: Crawford Productions (http://www.crawfords.com.au/libary/movie/fortress.shtml). (Sighted: 14/6/2013)

An attempt to re-invoke the popularity that police procedurals had enjoyed a decade earlier, Special Squad was the most expensive program produced in Australia up to 1985 (at $150,000 per episode), yet received such lukewarm ratings that Channel Ten chose not to commission a second series.

According to Moran, in his Guide to Australian TV Series,

it was good to watch, with expert stunt work and special effects. With well-paced narratives, intelligently and nicely worked out situations and plenty of emphasis on the villains and victims, Special Squad was just as watchable and entertaining as Homicide had been in its last series.

According to Moran, the failure of Special Squad lay both in its difference from and its similarity to Homicide. The novelty (of Australian accents and Australian locations) that had helped make Homicide so successful was no longer in play, and 'the sight of tough men (on both sides of the law) made the program [Special Squad] seem very old-fashioned. In addition, the plethora of other Australian dramas on air at the time gave viewers more than enough alternatives.'

'In the gem fields of central Queensland, knockabout young miners Mike and Johnny (Colin Friels and Harry Hopkins) borrow heavily to take on a claim-jumping newcomer (Dennis Miller) who has money and muscle. Help arrives from an unlikely source – a city doctor (Norman Kaye) and his family, passing though on holiday, and a lonely pilot (Simon Chilvers), who sells them a plane. They band together against the enemy, but Mike and Johnny argue over strategy and the doctor’s adventurous daughter (Lisa Peers).'

Source: Australian Screen.

A journalist uncovers a government conspiracy that puts Sydney at risk from nuclear testing.

According to MemorableTV.com, this television film was planned as the pilot for a series called Foreign Correspondent, but the show was never picked up.

Source: Memorable TV.com (http://www.memorabletv.com/australia/tvad.htm). Sighted: 4/11/2011

'Set in Sydney's western suburbs, the story of a marriage breakup. Phil Harris spends more time with his mate than with his wife and children. One day, his wife walks out on him, leaving him with the traumatised children.'

Source: Screen Australia. (Sighted: 3/2/2014)