Cirrus@Austlit

'In the glowing red heart of the Australian outback, a man is pursued by a vast tank truck trying to run him off the road. Later, when he wakes up in hospital, hurt but somehow alive he realises he has no idea who he is. Helen Chambers, a local rookie cop is sent to check on The Man and as there are no immediate clues as to his identity, she promises to help him find the answers. With merciless figures from his past pursuing him, The Man’s search for answers propels him through the vast and unforgiving outback. Idiosyncratic characters including Luci Miller, a waitress in a sleepy one-horse town, are drawn to this curious new arrival. When somebody from his past contacts him out of the blue, The Man must race to find them before it’s too late.'

Source: Stan.

The relationship between two brothers working a large ranch in Montana is thrown into conflict when one secretly marries a local widow.

'A dramatic three-part series tells the incredible story of Rupert Murdoch's Empire, interweaving his behind-the-scenes influence on world events with the personal battle for power at the heart of his own family.' (Production summary)

In 2016 writer Emily Steel had a termination after her baby was diagnosed with Down Syndrome. 19 Weeks tells her story with brutal honesty.

Emily used to think that people that had 'late' abortions weren't very smart or responsible. A late termination wasn't really ok. Yet here she is, being ushered through protesters, putting on a hospital gown, having an IV drip inserted. Emily is 19 weeks pregnant. The two-day abortion procedure is about to start, but the anaesthetic doesn't seem to be working...

According to recent statistics 1 in 3 women in the UK have had an abortion and 95% of those say they don't regret it. Yet the subject remains taboo. 19 Weeks is a raw account of the emotional, physical and philosophical battles Emily encountered throughout her late pregnancy termination.

Eve Myles stars as Emily in this true and visceral story.

via BBC Radio 4

The Doctor receives a mysterious note in a parcel from the galaxy's leading retailer, prompting her, Yaz, Ryan, and Graham to explore the warehouse moon orbiting the planet of Kandoka.

Twenty-four years after toddler Carys Howell goes missing in Wales, Matilda Grey's mother Janice commits suicide in front of her. Finding a box of clippings about Carys's disappearance, Matilda travels to the village of Penllynith, hoping to get to the bottom of the mysteries of the missing child and her mother's suicide. But the locals hostile, except Australian Nick Dean, who has inherited a mansion nearby, and dark forces are stirring.

'London, 1814. The entire city has turned out for the biggest Frost Fair in decades. But beneath the frozen Thames, revellers are disappearing.'

Source: BBC.

'The Doctor and Clara, with their old friend Rigsy, find themselves in a magical alien world, hidden on a street in the heart of London.'

Source: BBC synopsis.

'Struggling to escape the world of prostitution, Kira has recently received a large sum of compensation money. Unsure what to do with it, and under pressure from an old friend, Kira meets Nina, a social worker in training, and an unlikely friendship develops.'

Source: BBC World Service (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/FJvJkgP6qYBzPHNMLmjzvS/alana-valentine). (Sighted: 28/9/2015)

A young English socialite travelling across Europe by train is disturbed by the disappearance of a fellow traveller (an English governess), particularly as no one else seems to have noticed the lady before she vanished.

'Eighteen-year-old Amelia Edwards (introducing Genevieve Barr) has recently been fitted with a cochlear implant, enabling her to hear, but she struggles to accept that she has a place in the hearing world.

'Breaking free from her over-protective parents (Gina McKee and Hugh Bonneville), she goes to stay with her party-loving cousins, homicide detective uncle, Jim (Douglas Henshall) and vibrant aunt, Maggie (Dervla Kirwan).

'But when Amelia witnesses the audacious murder of a policewoman, she is reluctantly propelled further into a loud and frightening world.

'Jim is assigned the case, and when Amelia identifies a police officer on the drugs squad as one of the killers, he urgently needs to protect his niece. If his colleagues find out what she has witnessed, she will be in extreme danger from the very people with whom he works. By keeping her a secret however, he will jeopardise his own position in the force and put his whole family at risk.

'The Silence is about an ordinary family thrust into extraordinary circumstances. The teenagers' partying lifestyles and casual drug-taking collide with Jim's investigation, and all their lives are hurled into a cacophony of police corruption, betrayal, drugs and murder.'

Source: ABC website (http://www.abc.net.au/) (Sighted: 23/11/2010)

'As the London Blitz begins, a tangled tale of sexual identity unfolds in this first-ever dramatisation of Nobel Prize-winner Patrick White 's 1979 novel.'

Source:

Radio Times, 24 September 2009, p.120.

Screen Australia offers the following synopses.

For series one:

A sitcom about a team of scientific geniuses unravelling the mysteries of the universe in the remote Australian desert. Paul, a repressed British astronomer, dreams of a more adventurous life. He abandons his dull research role in London and relocates to a 'front line' field position at the Royal Australian Observatory. Paul does his best to fit in with a dysfunctional group of strangers exploring the furthest reaches of the galaxy from the most far flung place on earth.

For series two:

Series one followed English astronomer Professor Paul Hamilton after he swapped his dull research job in London for field work at the Royal Australian Observatory, joining a team of scientific geniuses as they attempted to unravel the mysteries of the universe while located in the remote Australian desert. In Series Two, Paul is no longer the new boy and begins to assert himself in ways that can only lead to more heated intellectual debate, awkward romantic moments and bizarre outback encounters.

A three-part radio adaptation of Lucinda Brayford, adapted for radio by Elspeth Sandys.

Saskia (living in Australia) has on online friendship with Noah (living in the UK). Each 'deceives' the other with their online personas, Indy (for Saskia) and Max Hammer (for Noah): Indy and Max allow Saskia and Noah to be the people they hope to be, without any of their own anxieties and uncertainties. Despite this element of deceit, the friendship between the two is presented as genuine and strong. The program received much praise when it first aired for offering a counter-argument to the anxiety that often marks debates about online friendships.

According to Patricia Edgar's account of the creation of this program,

To take such an abstract philosophical concept and create involving stories with appealing characters was a difficult task for any writer. Elaine and I needed smart observers of people and situations who understood the world Noah and Saskia inhabit, who had a flair for sharp, witty dialogue for a modern, pacy story. With the different components in the United Kingdom, Australia and cyberspace, it could be structurally confusing. Chris Anastassiades, who had written the Yolngu Boy script and worked for several other ACTF projects, was the answer, along with Sam Carroll, a young woman who had not yet been spoiled by the demands of writing formulaic drama. She brought her youth and vitality to Saskia; Chris would write Noah.

(Source: Patricia Edgar, Bloodbath: A Memoir of Australian Television, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2006, p.401.)

Further Reference:

'Interview with Paul Nichola'. The Making of Noah and Saskia. ABC.(http://www.abc.net.au/rollercoaster/noahandsaskia/behind_the_scenes/making_of/paul_interview.htm). (Sighted: 12/9/2012).

'Interview with Pino Amenta'. The Making of Noah and Saskia. ABC. (http://www.abc.net.au/rollercoaster/noahandsaskia/behind_the_scenes/making_of/pino_interview.htm). (Sighted: 12/9/2012).

A radio adaptation of P.L. Travers's Mary Poppins stories.

'Saskia finds her spunky co-worker Ernesto playing guitar, and seizes the opportunity to put a band together. She bribes her ten-year old guitar teacher with chocolate, organises a jam for the next day and logs on to update Max. But her imagination takes over when she catches Ernesto with his arms around Renee. She calls the band off, instantly regretting it. But later, nobody is more surprised than Saskia when her first kiss comes out of nowhere…'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive. (Sighted: 12/6/2013)

'Based on the writings of Booker Prize winner JM Coetzee, this powerful dramatisation is directed by Alexander Harvey. It follows Elizabeth Costello , to whom the idea of human cruelty to animals is so abhorrent that she can no longer look another person in the eye. Her compassion leads her to believe that humans - and especially meat-eaters - are conspiring in a crime on an appalling scale.'

Source:

[Television guide], Radio Times, 18 July 2002, p.103.