Ian Coughlan Ian Coughlan i(A140103 works by)
Born: Established: 1946 Queensland, ; Died: Ceased: 29 Aug 2001
Gender: Male
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1 form y separately published work icon No One Can Hear You Ian Coughlan , ( dir. John Laing ) New Zealand : Daybreak Pacific , 2001 Z1881940 2001 single work film/TV horror thriller

A New Zealand production, scripted by prolific Australian script-writer Ian Coughlan, in conjunction with American actor and sometime script-writer Craig Cronin and New Zealand script-writer and producer John Laing.

A sedate suburban family finds their lives turned upside down when their house guest turns out to be not quite what they were expecting.

1 form y separately published work icon Cubbyhouse Hellion: The Devil's Playground Ian Coughlan , Murray Fahey , ( dir. Murray Fahey ) Australia : Beyond Films , 2001 Z1867272 2001 single work film/TV horror

After her divorce, Lynn Graham returns to Australia with her American-born children, buying a house in the same street as her sister as a means of making a new start. But the house has a history of murder and satanic ritual, and soon two of her children are enslaved by the sinister forces emanating from the cubbyhouse in the back garden.

1 form y separately published work icon Fable Ian Coughlan , ( dir. Malcolm McDonald ) New South Wales : Lady Luck Entertainment , 1997 Z1864656 1997 single work film/TV fantasy

'The life of Henry Fable changes dramatically when he comes into contact with the forces of chance and destiny'.

Source: Screen Australia. (Sighted: 1/6/2012)

1 form y separately published work icon Ocean Girl Barbara Bishop , Shane Brennan , Colin Budds , Ian Coughlan , Everett de Roche , Annie Fox , Graham Hartley , Peter Hepworth , Peter A. Kinloch , Helen MacWhirter , Maureen McCarthy , Alison Nisselle , David Phillips , Carole Wilkinson , Linden Wilkinson , Jenny Sharp , Lois Booton , Judith Colquhoun , Kate Henderson , Michael Joshua , Neil Luxmoore , ( dir. Colin Budds et. al. )agent Australia : Jonathan M. Shiff Productions , 1994-1998 Z1844402 1994-1998 series - publisher film/TV science fiction children's

Ocean Girl follows the adventures of Jason and Brett Bates, who move with their mother (a reasearch scientist studying whale song) to an underwater research station near Port Douglas. There, they accidentally meet Neri, a young girl with super-human strength, the ability to breathe underwater, and an affinity for communicating with whales. As the series progresses through four seasons, the Bateses (and the audience) learn more about Neri's arrival on Earth, her home planet, and the ecosystem of their own home planet.

Ocean Girl, one of the earliest productions to come out of Jonathan M. Shiff Productions, is creator Jonathan Shiff's first science-fiction program; his name has subsequently become synonymous with children's science-fiction and fantasy television programs, through such shows as Cybergirl and H2O.

Ocean Girl is ecological science fiction, in that it uses the genre of science fiction to explore the consequences of exploiting Earth's resources. For example, as the program progresses, Dr Dianne Bates (mother of protagonists Jason and Brett) shifts from her early role as cetologist to a more active role as environmental protectionist, in response to the increasing threat of building large underwater constructions in the delicate ecosystem around ORCA. Similarly, season four shows the devastating effects of a 'Red Virus' on the oceans of Neri's home world.

1 form y separately published work icon Richmond Hill Reg Watson , Ian Coughlan , John Coulter , Michael Harvey , Daniel Krige , ( dir. Gary Conway et. al. )agent Sydney : Reg Grundy Enterprises , 1988 Z1827549 1988 series - publisher film/TV

Like previous Grundy production Waterloo Station, Richmond Hill was an attempt to replicate Crawford Productions' success with the police-drama/soap-opera fusion that was Cop Shop. But like Waterloo Station, it was unsuccessful, limping through a year's worth of poor ratings before being cancelled.

Moran notes in his Guide to Australian TV Series that the program was

designed to fit on the other side of the main evening news, thus hopefully holding viewers already hooked by Neighbours. Although the program had its share of younger characters, it is chiefly remembered for its older players, including the monumental Maggie Kirkpatrick as the pretentious butt of much of the comedy, veteran Gwen Plumb as the caring owner of a boarding house, and Ross Higgins as the police sergeant trying to hold it all together.

Moran also notes that the serial cost $8 million to produce.

1 form y separately published work icon Butterfly Island David Phillips , Marcus Cole , Ian Coughlan , Rick Searle , ( dir. Bill Hughes et. al. )agent Australia : Independent Productions ABC Television Seven Network , 1988-1993 Z1819556 1988-1993 series - publisher film/TV children's adventure

Butterfly Island follows the travails of Charlie Wilson and his children, who are determined to retain the tropical beauties and charm of Butterfly Island, but face such difficulties as the competition from nearby resorts, unscrupulous land developers, and shipwrecked boys with mysterious pasts and unwittingly criminal tendencies.

Moran points out in his Guide to Australian TV Series that the program made use of the same locations as its predecessor, Fauna Productions' Barrier Reef, and 'promoted the kind of tourist image of Australia, so much a feature of Fauna's work'. Indeed, he argues,

Butterfly Island was conceived principally in terms of the formula of 'likeness and difference' so much a feature of Fauna Productions in the 1960s and 1970s, with likeness in the form of father, mother, kids, adventures, odd characters, comedy and adventure; and difference in the form of the Great Barrier Reef, the Whitsundays, Australian beaches, outdoor life, sun and sand.

As such, the program relied heavily on location shooting, and was comparatively expensive by Australian standards.

The program employed a local cast, but Moran points to such American actors as Ann B. Davis, Cameron Mitchell, and Susan Strasberg in cameo roles.


1 1 form y separately published work icon Kadaicha Stones of Death Ian Coughlan , ( dir. James Bogle ) Australia : David Hannay Productions Premiere Film Marketing Limited Medusa Communications , 1988 Z1780394 1988 single work film/TV horror

'When a shopping mall and suburban homes are built on land sacred to the Aborigines, a curse envelopes the residents. The victims are rich kids who dream a Native Australian hands them a magic crystal. When they awaken, the crystal is on the pillow, and the curse begins to take its toll on the spoiled teens. One young man falls victim to a deadly spider, another is killed by an eel while swimming, and yet another young woman dies a horrible death after being ripped apart by a demonic dog. The remaining teens' one hope of survival is an Aboriginal shaman, the only one capable of opposing the stone's deadly power.' (Source: Film blurb)

1 form y separately published work icon Runaway Island Paul Wheelahan , David Phillips , Ian Coughlan , ( dir. David Stevens et. al. )agent Sydney : Reg Grundy Enterprises , 1985 Z1827440 1985 series - publisher film/TV

Another production by Roger Mirams, Runaway Island was a period drama, but like The Terrific Adventures of the Terrible Ten, The Magic Boomerang, and Secret Valley, it focused strongly on independent child protagonists who operated in a world that was either largely without adults or in which the adults were antagonists.

In his Guide to Australian TV Series, Moran notes that the program follows the adventures of two children, Jamie and Jemma McLeod, who

see their father's lands and house in early Sydney Town seized by the wicked Captain Korkle, who has plans to become governor. To escape his soldiers, the children take off with a young pickpocket off the streets. They and other children escape to Runaway Island, an island off the Sydney coast. They are safe there, though they make some dangerous forays back into the town.

Moran notes that the production cost over $2 million, but was left languishing for more than two years before the Seven Network finally aired it. When Seven did air it, it attracted a reasonable audience, and sold in sixteen countries other than Australia.

As with his earlier productions, The Terrific Adventures of the Terrible Ten and The Magic Boomerang, Mirams re-used actors from his previous show, Secret Valley, in this production (namely, the Buchanan siblings).

2 58 form y separately published work icon Neighbours Reg Watson , Seven Network (publisher), Network Ten (publisher), John Hanlon , Reg Watson , Jeff Truman , Ray Kolle , Katrina Foster , John Upton , Anthony Morris , Philippa Burne , Sarah Mayberry , Ian Coughlan , Helen MacWhirter , Elizabeth Packett , Judith Colquhoun , Jenny Lewis , Lois Booton , Lyn Ogilvy , Emma J. Steele , Peter Dick , David Allen , Scott Taylor , Betty Quin , Louise Le Nay , Jason Herbison , Roger Moulton , Marieke Hardy , David Hannam , Ysabelle Dean , Don Battye , Linda Stainton , Sarah Dollard , Wayne Doyle , Hugh Stuckey , Stuart Page , Christopher Gist , Christine McCourt , Martin McKenna , Barbara Angell , Jason Daniel , Margaret Wilson , Sam Meikle , Chris McTrustry , Ginny Lowndes , Alan Hopgood , Chris Corbett , Ray Harding , Sally Webb , David Phillips , Jon Stephens , Piers Hobson , Kit Oldfield , Drew Proffitt , Jane Allen , Eloise Healey , Rick Maier , Gavin Strawhan , Cath Roden , Victoria Osbourne , Jo Watson , Craig Wilkins , Bert Deling , Fiona Wood , Bill Searle , Christine Schofield , Kate Langbroek , Boaz Stark , Christine Madafferi , Michael Joshua , Alix Beane , Rick Held , Roger Dunn , Jo Horsburgh , Susan Bower , Glenda Hambly , Adam Bowen , Clare Mendes , Sue Hore , Lesley Lewis , Chris Phillips , Greg Stevens , Luke Devenish , Kelly Lefever , Mia Tolhurst , Greg Millin , David Worthington , Malcolm Frawley , Serge Lazareff , Deborah Sheldon , Samuel Genocchio , Patrick Edgeworth , Elizabeth Huntley , Graham Hartley , Judy Nunn , Nicholas Langton , Philip Ryall , Timothy Daly , Steve J. Spears , Michaeley O'Brien , Fiona Kelly , Steven Vidler , Hamilton Budd , Chelsea Cassio , John Smythe , Maureen Ann Moran , Kier Shorey , Shaun Charles , Chris Milne , Mark Shirrefs , Graeme Farmer , Sabour Bradley , Chris Hawkshaw , David O'Brien , Don Linke , Sheila Sibley , Coral Drouyn , Tony Cavanaugh , Patrea Smallacombe , Melanie Sano , 1985 Australia : Reg Grundy Enterprises FremantleMedia Australia , 1985-2022 Z1367509 1985 series - publisher film/TV

A daily television drama series set in the fictional Melbourne suburb of Erinsborough, Neighbours chronicles the lives of the residents of Ramsay Street. The series initially revolved around three families: the Ramsays (at number 24 Ramsay Street), the Robinsons (at number 26), and the Clarkes (at number 28). The scope of the series has since broadened to include new Ramsay Street familes.

1 form y separately published work icon Waterloo Station Cheredith Mok , Bill Searle , John Misto , Rick Maier , Ian Coughlan , Greg Stevens , Reg Watson , ( dir. Alister Smart et. al. )agent Sydney : Reg Grundy Enterprises , 1983 Z1827325 1983 series - publisher film/TV

A serial set in the fictional Waterloo Police Station, Waterloo Station had strong soap-opera tendencies: Moran notes in his Guide to Australian TV Series that 'It was rightly seen at the time as trying to fuse The Restless Years with Cop Shop, but without much success'.

Despite focusing overtly on the police and trainees at the station, 'there was', Moran notes, 'little emphasis not only on crime but even on the station itself. Instead, the action moved between the station, a boarding house and the homes of a policeman and a detective who coincidentally are married to sisters. The latter locations, in particular, enabled the series to focus on young people as well as some of the older figures.'

The program was axed after three months on air.

1 1 form y separately published work icon Alison's Birthday Ian Coughlan , ( dir. Ian Coughlan ) Australia : David Hannay Productions Fontana Films Pty Ltd , 1981 Z1865545 1981 single work film/TV horror

Warned of a mysterious fate via ouija board, a young girl is terrorised by her relatives who, as her 21st birthday approaches, plan to transfer her soul into the body of an old crone.

1 1 form y separately published work icon Sons and Daughters Reg Watson , Seven Network (publisher), Don Battye , Greg Stevens , Bevan Lee , Maureen Ann Moran , Peter Pinne , Ray Kolle , Ian Coughlan , Greg Haddrick , John Alsop , Bruce Hancock , Ysabelle Dean , Bill Searle , Alister Webb , Christine Schofield , Boaz Stark , Tony Sheldon , Betty Quin , Lyn Ogilvy , Anthony Wheeler , Foveaux Kirby , Geoffrey Atherden , Colin Bowles , Valda Marshall , Reg Watson , Sally Webb , Jane Seaborn , Melvyn Morrow , Liz Cunningham , Michael Gillett , David Phillips , Alison Nisselle , Sue Smith , Rick Maier , ( 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.

1 form y separately published work icon The Scalp Merchant Ian Coughlan , ( dir. Howard Rubie ) Australia : TVW Enterprises Seven Network Reg Grundy Enterprises , 1978 6095393 1978 single work film/TV crime thriller mystery

'A private investigator is hired by an insurance company to recover a strongbox hidden by a prison escapee in a remote timber town.'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive. (Sighted: 27/6/2013)

1 1 form y separately published work icon The Restless Years Reg Watson , Ian Coughlan , Hugh Stuckey , Coral Drouyn , David Phillips , Ross Napier , Maureen Ann Moran , ( dir. Peter Benardos et. al. )agent Sydney : Reg Grundy Enterprises , 1977 Z1826811 1977 series - publisher film/TV

Another soap opera from Grundy's, The Restless Years followed a group of teenagers from the end of school to early adulthood: the 'restless years' of the title.

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

On paper, The Restless Years should not have worked because the central idea of a group of teenagers and adults variously involved with a kids' refuge was not a particularly strong one. Nevertheless, the series did click with audiences and the program built up a loyal band of viewers who tuned in each evening to watch this tale of lost, confused teenagers and adults. Chief among the latter was the essentially castrating mother played by June Salter.

Mimicking the title of Lesley Stern's article (below), Moran sums up The Restless Years as 'this most Freudian of serials'.

1 form y separately published work icon The Haunting of Hewie Dowker Ian Coughlan , ( dir. Simon Wincer ) Australia : 1976 Z1870438 1976 single work film/TV horror thriller

A policeman is haunted by recurrent visions of a young girl being murdered during a Black Mass.

Information on the film is difficult to come by, but further information will be added to this record if and when it becomes available.

1 form y separately published work icon The Lost Islands Michael Laurence , Ian Coughlan , ( dir. Bill Hughes et. al. )agent Sydney Los Angeles : Pacific Film Productions Paramount Pictures Network Ten , 1976 Z1844157 1976 series - publisher film/TV fantasy

When the sailing ship United World is almost sunk by a hurricane, the forty teenagers who are sailing in her scramble for the lifeboats, but five are overlooked in the general panic. Along with the ship, they are driven into the lagoon of a mysterious island, Tambu. Here, they find a lost civilisation: the descendants of settlers originally headed for New Holland, who still live an eighteenth-century lifestyle. But they are under the domination of the mysterious Q, a seemingly immortal being who allegedly prolongs his life with the aid of a blue weed obtained from a nearby island, Malo. The five children, with the assistance of the Quinns, a local family, seek to avoid the malevolence of Q, who fears they are a threat to his domination of the island.

The Lost Islands was another production from New Zealand-born Roger Mirams, who was also responsible for such Australian television programs as The Terrific Adventures of the Terrible Ten, The Magic Boomerang, The Adventures of the Seaspray, and Spyforce.

1 form y separately published work icon The Spiral Bureau Eye of the Spiral Ian Coughlan , ( dir. Ian Coughlan ) Australia : Nine Network , 1976 7262896 1976 single work film/TV detective horror

'A trio of psychic investigators find themselves caught up in a nightmare.'

Source:

[Television guide], Australian Women's Weekly, 17 September 1980, p.35 [supplement].

1 1 form y separately published work icon Silent Number Robert Caswell , Ian Coughlan , Ron McLean , George T. Miller , Tim Purcell , Ric Birch , Tony Wager , Eddie Davis , John Orcsik , Tom Mclennan , ( dir. Bill Hughes et. al. )agent Australia : South Pacific Films ATF Productions , 1974 Z1829209 1974 series - publisher film/TV crime

Grigor Taylor's first role after leaving the highly rated Matlock Police, Silent Number focuses on Dr Steve Hamilton, a doctor working for the New South Wales Health Department. Hamilton has chosen this path because he couldn't afford to start his own practice, and thought, even before he is seconded to the NSW Police as a police doctor, that this would be more rewarding than work as a GP. This situation causes some tension with his wife, who would rather he worked shorter hours for higher pay in private practice.

According to Don Storey in his Classic Australian Television, Silent Number suffered somewhat from the close attention of censors after early episodes were deemed too violent, which led to the Australian Broadcasting Control Board decreeing that all episodes must be submitted to them for assessment prior to screening. Storey also notes that Silent Number was screened in Melbourne opposite Matlock Police, which seriously damaged its ratings.

Nevertheless, Storey concludes that 'Silent Number was quite a good series. If you allow a certain suspension of disbelief for the premise - real police doctors rarely, if ever, get involved with criminal detection the way Steve Hamilton does - the only valid criticism that could be levelled against it is the "cheap" look that using videotape gives to the interior scenes.'

Moran, in his Guide to Australian TV Series, concurs with this assessment, noting that 'producer Roger Mirams and writer Ron McLean put their heads together to come up with a successful formula for the crime variation. They reasoned that because both medical and police series were popular, a series about a police doctor had to very popular. It wasn't. Again, though, the series is very watchable. Never profound, it does succeed as entertainment.'

1 form y separately published work icon The People Next Door Michael Laurence , ( dir. Ian Coughlan et. al. )agent Gemini Productions , 1973 Z1819200 1973 series - publisher film/TV humour

The People Next Door spins off from previous Gemini Productions' sit-com The Godfathers. The child welfare officer who prompted much of the tension in the original program, Elizabeth Dent, is now married with a child of her own. She and her husband Bill also board Dave Milson, one of the 'godfathers' from the original series. Elizabeth, Bill, and Dave take a house next to misanthropic writer Daniel Penrose and his three children. Following the pattern established by The Godfathers, the program was focalised through the viewpoint of the youngest Penrose child, B.J.

Don Storey, in his Classic Australian Television, notes that the Nine Network commissioned 48 episodes, with an option to review after 16 episodes:

Perhaps it was the timeslot. Perhaps it was the changing tastes of a fickle public. Perhaps the formula was not quite right. Whatever the reason, The People Next Door was nowhere near as successful as The Godfathers. Low ratings caused Nine to exercise their option to reduce the number of episodes, and production ceased after 20 episodes were made.

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