Anthony Wheeler Anthony Wheeler i(A131631 works by) (a.k.a. Tony Wheeler)
Gender: Male
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

BiographyHistory

Film and television writer, director.

During his early career in the Australian television industry Anthony Wheeler appeared as an actor in such 1970s dramas as Shannon's Mob. He later turned to scriptwriting and directing. As a writer he has written episodes for the popular serials A Country Practice and Sons and Daughters (qq.v.); and screenplays for the telemovie Olive (1988), for which he won the Television Writing section of the 1988 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, and the feature film Daisy and Simon (1988). Wheeler's directorial credits include such documentaries as The Africans (1976), Warriors of the Deep (1982), The Visit (1989), and When the War Came to Australia (1991).

Most Referenced Works

Awards for Works

form y separately published work icon Olive ( dir. Stephen Henry Wallace ) Australia : Smiley Films , 1988 25705455 1988 single work film/TV A biopic of actor Olive Bodill.
1988 winner AWGIE Awards Major Award
form y separately published work icon A Country Practice ( dir. Igor Auzins et. al. )agent Sydney Australia : JNP Films Seven Network , 1981-1993 Z1699739 1981-1994 series - publisher film/TV

Set in a small, fictional, New South Wales country town called Wandin Valley, A Country Practice focused on the staffs of the town's medical practice and local hospital and on the families of the doctors, nurses, and patients. Many of the episodes also featured guest characters (frequently patients served by the practice) through whom various social and medical problems were explored. Although often considered a soap opera, the series was not built around an open-ended narrative; instead, the two one-hour episodes screened per week formed a self-contained narrative block, though many of the storylines were developed as sub-plots for several episodes before becoming the focus of a particular week's storyline. While the focus was on topical issues such as youth unemployment, suicide, drug addiction, HIV/AIDS, and terminal illness, the program did sometimes explore culturally sensitive issues, including, for example, the Aboriginal community and their place in modern Australian society.

Among the show's principal characters were Dr Terence Elliott, local policeman Sergeant Frank Gilroy, Esme Watson, Shirley Dean Gilroy, Bob Hatfield, Vernon 'Cookie' Locke, and Matron Margaret 'Maggie' Sloan. In addition to its regularly rotating cast of characters, A Country Practice also had a cast of semi-regulars who would make appearances as the storylines permitted. Interestingly, while the series initially targeted the adult and older youth demographic, it became increasingly popular with children over the years.

1984 winner Logie Awards Most Popular Drama Program
1985 winner Logie Awards Most Popular Drama Program
1986 winner Logie Awards Most Popular Drama Program
1992 nominated Logie Awards Most Popular Drama Program
form y separately published work icon Sons and Daughters ( dir. Philip East ) 1981 Australia : Reg Grundy Enterprises Seven Network , 1981-1987 Z1510959 1981 series - publisher film/TV

Sons and Daughters explores the dramatic incidents in the lives of the wealthy Hamilton family and the working-class Palmer family. The premise that underpinned the show's early years concerned the character John Palmer, on the run from the Melbourne police, who suspect him of murder. He travels to Sydney and falls in love with the wealthy Angela Hamilton, but they are later revealed to be twins who were separated at birth and raised separately: John raised by the wise former prostitute Fiona Thompson before returning to live with his father and Angela raised by her mother, who subsequently married into money. More wealth later arrives through the introduction of the Morrell clan, who have managed to marry their way into the Hamilton family.

1983 winner Logie Awards Most Popular Drama Program
Last amended 16 Sep 2010 10:47:29
Other mentions of "" in AustLit:
    X