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The Bulletin, 6 November 1957. p. 54
Barbara Vernon Barbara Vernon i(A16361 works by)
Born: Established: 25 Jul 1916 Inverell, Inverell - Ashford area, New England, New South Wales, ; Died: Ceased: 16 Apr 1978 Sydney, New South Wales,
Gender: Female
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1 form y separately published work icon Kadaitcha : A Radio Serial Barbara Vernon , (Manuscript version)x401971 Z1463107 series - publisher radio play
1 form y separately published work icon The Fernery Barbara Vernon , 1974 Sydney : Australian Broadcasting Commission , 1979 Z1463541 1974 single work radio play
1 form y separately published work icon Certain Women Tony Morphett , Anne Brooksbank , David Williamson , Laura Jones , Ted Roberts , Jennifer Compton , Michael Cove , Robert Caswell , Glyn Davies , Chris Peacock , Julian Halls , Charles E. Stamp , Barbara Vernon , Ron Harrison , David William Boutland , Ron McLean , Phillip Grenville Mann , ( dir. Bruce Best et. al. )agent 1973 Sydney : ABC Television , 1973-1977 Z1857626 1973 series - publisher film/TV

Certain Women began as a short series in 1973 and continued on as a serial until 1977. At the centre of the narrative were six women from three generations of a Sydney family. Dolly has two daughters Freda and Jane. Jane has three daughters Marjorie, Helen, and Gillian.

In a short piece announcing the extension of the series after the broadcast of the first six episodes television critic Valda Marshall said the decision to make further episodes 'should also keep the women's libbers happy ... so far as I know, it's the first TV series made here specifically as a starring vehicle for women'.

Source: Marshall, Valda. 'ABC's 'Women' Given Longer Reign'. The Sun-Herald, 25/3/1973, p. 77.

1 form y separately published work icon Silver Bells and Cockle Shells : A Play for Radio Barbara Vernon , 1972 (Manuscript version)x401973 Z1463129 1972 single work radio play
1 form y separately published work icon The Cousin from Fiji Barbara Vernon , ( dir. Alan Burke ) Australia : ABC Television , 1972 Z1292562 1972 series - publisher film/TV

A period drama set in the 1890s, the narrative concerns eighteen-year-old Ella Belairs, who returns to her home in Ballarat, Victoria after having spent her childhood in Fiji.

1 form y separately published work icon Lane End Barbara Vernon , 1972 Australia : Australian Broadcasting Commission , 1972 7635115 1972 series - publisher film/TV

A serial set in the inner-Sydney suburb of Paddington, which 'tells the continuing story of a group of characters who work and live there - a kind of Sydney "Coronation Street."'

Source:

Nan Musgrove, '"Lane End" Should Please "Bellbird" Fans', Australian Women's Weekly, 8 December 1971, p.10.

1 form y separately published work icon Country Town : The Bellbird Movie Barbara Vernon , ( dir. Peter Maxwell ) 1971 Australia : Avargo , 1971 Z1463672 1971 single work film/TV

A feature-film version of the popular ABC serial Bellbird, Country Town sees the district gripped by a severe drought and undergoing severe financial hardship. When young reporter Philip Henderson arrives to further investigate the town (having already published a series of articles that have outraged the local population), he is met with hostility and wariness. Old tensions and enmities are also stirred following Henderson's arrival, but the town eventually rallies together to hold a fund-raising gymkhana. A pub gathering later breaks into celebrations as the much-needed rains arrive.

The Aussie Soap Archive notes that while Country Town retains many of the main characters from the TV series, it is more a standalone piece of cinema than a television spinoff. Interestingly, many of the main television characters do not play pivotal roles in the film's narrative. Instead, they are incorporated into group scenes in the pub and at town meetings: 'Nevertheless they are well-integrated into the proceedings ... Their presence adds texture and complexity to the examination of the town and its travails. In their appearances, the various characters serve to present their own take on the events of the story and how things affect their own situation, resulting in a film that presents various viewpoints and seems to have a realistic scope. The repeated brief interludes where yet another batch of struggling farmers or business people falling on hard times are introduced do not become repetitive and successfully accentuate the severity of the drought problems'. (sighted 16 September 2009).

1 y separately published work icon A Big Day at Bellbird Barbara Vernon , Sydney : Ure Smith , 1971 Z1462805 1971 single work novel
1 y separately published work icon Bellbird : The Story of a Country Town Barbara Vernon , Sydney : Ure Smith , 1970 Z54789 1970 single work novel
1 2 y separately published work icon The Sleeping Planet : A Children's Play Barbara Vernon , (Manuscript version)x401975 Z1463183 1969 single work drama children's science fiction

'Described as a "space adventure", the story concerns the operations of three spacemen from earth who land (by mistake) on an unknown planet Mythodon. There they find two groups, that are far advanced technically, but with the same old problems of wars and misunderstandings. The Earthmen become deeply involved in the local events, with the main plot centring on the 'Sleep ing Beauty' theme. In this case the Prince is sleeping, as well as the Princess, and the reason could arouse deep envy in today's Earth children — because learning on Mythodon takes place while the children are unconscious, plugged in by electrodes to an education machine.'

Source:

'Sleeping Beauty Theme in Space Play', Canberra Times, 14 January 1969, p.12.

1 2 form y separately published work icon Bellbird Barbara Vernon , Beverley Phillips , Peter Hepworth , Michael Jenkins , Ray Kolle , Alan Hopgood , Oriel Gray , Barbara Vernon , ( dir. Michael Jenkins et. al. )agent 1967 Australia : ABC Television , 1967-1977 Z1362910 1967 series - publisher film/TV

Australia's first successful television soap opera, Bellbird was devised by writer Barbara Vernon and telecast by ABC Television between 1967 and 1977. The serial is set in a rural farming community, with the storylines examining the lives of various people from in and around the fictional township of Bellbird. Among the long list of characters introduced during the course of the series were the crusty farmer Jim 'The Colonel' Emerson and his glamorous wife Maggie, the local mechanic Joe Turner and his wife Olive, local policeman Constable Des Davies and his wife Fiona, the unpleasant stock and station agent John Quinney, and Jim and Marge Bacom, proprietors of the local pub that served as a central meeting place.

2 form y separately published work icon Bellbird [Episode 1] Barbara Vernon , ( dir. James Davern ) Australia : Australian Broadcasting Commission , 1967 Z1362907 1967 single work film/TV
— Appears in: Close-Up : Scripts from Australian Television's Second Decade 1971; (p. 177-209)

Episodes one and four from the first season of Bellbird are published in Close Up: Scripts from Australian Television's Second Decade. Editors Don Reid and Frank Bladwell provide a summary of the episodes:

Episode 1: Melbourne teacher Michael Foley sells his house and leaves the city in his Rolls Royce to live in the country township of Bellbird. Lori Chandler, a librarian, has agreed to take him in as a boarder at her property, Bellbird Station. The local P and C committee members find this immoral, however, and demand she renege on her decision. Meanwhile, Glenda Chan, a young Chinese woman, is being pressured to sell her house by local real-estate agent Charles Kozane, who uses Jack Baker, an old friend of the Chans', as his cover. Baker currently tends the garden for Glenda. She is informed that not only is the garden on council land but her family has also been squatting on land originally bought by Lori Chandler's grandfather. Kozane knows that Lori won't sell the land while Glenda still lives in the house, and is attempting to convince her to take Jack's 'generous' offer.

2 form y separately published work icon Bellbird [Episode 4] Barbara Vernon , ( dir. James Davern ) Australia : Australian Broadcasting Commission , 1967 7112626 1967 single work film/TV
— Appears in: Close-Up : Scripts from Australian Television's Second Decade 1971; (p. 177-209)

Episodes one and four from the first season of Bellbird are published in Close Up: Scripts from Australian Television's Second Decade. Editors Don Reid and Frank Bladwell provide a summary of the episodes:

Episode 4: Michael Foley's presence as the new teacher, his living arrangements, and his car become topics of interest within the town. While Mrs Lang finds the whole situation a lot of fuss about nothing, she is nevertheless determined that her daughter will have nothing further to do with Tony Buckland. Charles Kozane invites Foley to his office to apologise for his behaviour, but then asks him to help convince Lori that she shouldn't get involved with the 'Chinese' problem. Kozane is disappointed when Foley not only insists he has no plans to get involved in anything or with anybody in this 'god-forsaken burg,' but also openly criticises his 1920s' Chicago-style methods. The episode ends with Glenda informing Lori about Kozane's attempts to get her out of the house. Lori exclaims with savage bitterness, 'Charlie Kozane! Of all the Grade A stinkers! Charlie Kozane!'

1 1 form y separately published work icon Enough to Make a Pair of Sailor's Trousers Barbara Vernon , Australia : Australian Broadcasting Commission , 1967 7108327 1967 single work film/TV

'A shy and lonely country girl discovers hope in the city when a sailor shows her the way to the 'patch of blue'.'

Source:

[Television guide], The Canberra Times, 28 August 1967, p.19.

1 form y separately published work icon Bellbird [Episode 2] Barbara Vernon , ( dir. James Davern ) Australia : ABC Television , 1967 19048317 1967 single work film/TV
1 form y separately published work icon The Interpretaris Barbara Vernon , Colin Free , ( dir. Alex Ezzard et. al. )agent Frenchs Forest : Artransa Film Productions , 1966 Z1809148 1966 series - publisher film/TV science fiction children's The Interpretaris is the flagship of the all-powerful World Council's space fleet. Mysterious cargo and a secret and dangerous mission undertaken by a multinational crew form the main ingredients. The crew were assisted by a computeroid named Henry - a clumsy-looking robotic computer with artificial intelligence and almost human emotions.
Source: Moran's Guide to Australian TV Series
1 form y separately published work icon The Unwilling Suitor Barbara Vernon , (Manuscript version)x401974 Z1463166 1964 single work radio play
1 y separately published work icon King Tide Running Barbara Vernon , Bruce Beaver , 1964 (Manuscript version)x402208 Z508467 1964 single work drama
1 form y separately published work icon The Loquat Tree : A Play for Radio Barbara Vernon , 1962 (Manuscript version)x401976 Z1463197 1962 single work radio play

'The loquat tree outside Jim Emerson's station homestead in northern New South Wales is his pride and joy–but it is a pest trap.'

Source:

Radio Times, 21 May 1964, p.45.

1 form y separately published work icon Lancelot and the Lady : A Play for Radio Barbara Vernon , 1961 (Manuscript version)x401972 Z1463118 1961 single work radio play
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