'Jonah, born a hunchback, is feared and revered in equal measure as the ruthless leader of the Push, a violent gang that terrorises the slums of Waterloo. Chook, a fellow member of the Push, is Jonah's loyal best friend. But after a chance encounter with his son, the result of a casual affair, Jonah decides to abandon the larrikin life and settle down. He marries Ada, the mother of his child, and takes advantage of an opportunity to open his own business. Chook, too, leaves the Push and finds love in the arms of factory worker, Pinkey. But can either man escape his awful past?'
Source: Publisher's blurb (Text Publishing edition).
A young boy living on the streets at the turn of the twentieth century decides to make something of his life. The Australian Women's Weekly describes the program as 'detailing the rise of a hunchbacked 1900s larrikin gang leader from the gutter to the respectability of owning a shoe emporium' (Wed. 24 June 1981, p.118S).
For a detailed, episode-by-episode synopsis, see Film Details.
Writing Disability in Australia:
See C.A. Cranston's dissertation 'Deformity as Device in the Twentieth-century Australian Novel'.