Margaret Kelly Margaret Kelly i(A90331 works by) (a.k.a. M. Kelly; Margaret Dingwall)
Born: Established: 1939 Queensland, ;
Gender: Female
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BiographyHistory

Script-writer.

Although perhaps best known as the screenwriter for the 1981 feature film adaptation of Puberty Blues, Margaret Kelly has also carved out an impressive career over four decades as a television script-writer.

Kelly's first television scripts were for Crawford Productions' Homicide, for which she wrote in the early 1970s. She followed this with scripts for Quality of Mercy (1975), an anthology series for which all authors were Australian women; the ABC's comedy series No Thanks, I'm on a Diet (1976); Pig in a Poke (1977), co-written with John Dingwall and co-starring Justine Saunders, in which a wealthy Melbourne doctor moves to Redfern; and the ABC's Top Mates (1979), co-written with Anne Brooksbank. Both Pig in a Poke and Top Mates dealt with, among other issues, the disenfranchised and impoverished state of Australia's indigenous population.

In 1980, Kelly adapted Patricia Wrightson's novel as the ABV TV series The Nargun and the Stars, in which a heartbroken and orphaned city boy moves to the country and finds, hidden in the depths of undeveloped land, creatures from the distant Indigenous Australian Dreamtime. This was followed by Kelly's adaptation of Puberty Blues, which she had optioned from the as-yet unpublished stories of Kathy Lette and Gabrielle Carey, whom she had met at a writing workshop in a suburban theatre.

During the 1980s and 1990s, Kelly wrote for A Country Practice (1982, for which she wrote at least seven episodes), The Cowra Breakout (1984), G.P. (1989-1990), Heartbreak High (1994-1995), and SeaChange (1998).

Her post-2000 credits include scripts for McLeod's Daughters (2003).

In 1978, she shared the Logie Award for Best Dramatic Script with John Dingwall for her work on Pig in a Poke.

Most Referenced Works

Awards for Works

form y separately published work icon McLeod's Daughters ( dir. Ali Ali et. al. )agent Australia : Nine Network Southern Star Entertainment , 2001-2009 Z1858228 2001-2009 series - publisher film/TV
2006 nominated Logie Awards Most Outstanding Drama Series
2004 nominated Logie Awards Most Outstanding Drama Series
form y separately published work icon SeaChange ( dir. Michael Carson et. al. )agent 1998 Australia : Artist Services Australian Broadcasting Corporation , 1998-2000 Z1888232 1998 series - publisher film/TV

'In one day successful city lawyer, Laura Gibson's world falls apart. Suddenly she realises she no longer knows her husband, her children, or where her all-consuming career is going. On a whim, Laura grabs at a position as magistrate in the small coastal town of Pearl Bay and with two bewildered kids in tow sets off to change their lives forever.'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive. (Sighted: 18/9/2012)

2001 winner Logie Awards Most Outstanding Drama Series
2000 winner Logie Awards Most Outstanding Drama Series
1999 winner Logie Awards Most Outstanding Drama Series
form y separately published work icon G. P. ( dir. Peter Andrikidis et. al. )agent 1989 Australia : ABC Television Roadshow Coote and Carroll , 1989-1996 7819205 1989 series - publisher film/TV

G.P. is an Australian television series that ran for eight seasons. Set in and around a fictional general medical practice in an inner-city suburb, the storylines explore the professional and personal lives of the doctors and staff who worked there.

1992 winner Logie Awards Most Outstanding Drama Series
Last amended 31 Jan 2013 13:45:38
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