Winners series - publisher   novel   young adult  
First known date: 1985 Issue Details: First known date: 1985... 1985 Winners
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y separately published work icon The Other Facts of Life Morris Gleitzman , Fitzroy Ringwood : McPhee Gribble Penguin Australian Children's Television Foundation , 1985 Z350049 1985 single work novel young adult

'Ben stared at the images on the TV screen half in fascination, half in horror. He had never seen anything like this. It was incredible. It was awful. He needed answers . . .
There are some things Ben doesn't understand, so his dad is sent in to explain the facts of life. But it's the other facts that are worrying Ben and he decides to find his own answers. He's deadly serious - and the results are very, very funny.


'The story of one boy's stand for a better world and a slightly better family.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.
y separately published work icon The Paper Boy John Hepworth , Bob Ellis , Fitzroy Ringwood : McPhee Gribble Penguin Australian Children's Television Foundation , 1985 Z350237 1985 single work novel young adult
y separately published work icon Quest Beyond Time Tony Morphett , Fitzroy Ringwood : McPhee Gribble Penguin Australian Children's Television Foundation , 1985 Z830903 1985 single work novel science fiction young adult
y separately published work icon Room to Move John Duigan , Fitzroy Ringwood : McPhee Gribble Penguin Australian Children's Television Foundation , 1985 Z350721 1985 single work novel young adult
y separately published work icon Just Friends Jan Sardi , Fitzroy Ringwood : McPhee Gribble Penguin Australian Children's Television Foundation , 1985 Z371032 1985 single work novel young adult

Susan is new to the neighbourhood. She makes friends at the roller rink and has to decide what she is prepared to accept and what is important to her. (Source: Libraries Australia)

In her memoir Bloodbath: A Memoir of Australian Television (Melbourne: Melbourne UP, 2006), Patricia Edgar notes that this novelisation attracted some controversy:

Hilary [McPhee] had gone along with Jan Sardi's wish to use western suburbs' language in the novelisation. By today's standards, it was tame, not extending beyond terms such as 'really pissed off', 'bitch', 'shut up, would you?', yet the book was described in the Victorian Parliament by Ian Smith, the Member for Polworth, as containing 'the worst form of gutter language'. Apart from the language, he drew attention to a description of kissing. He asked the Minister for Education 'to intervene to ensure that this literature is not made available, at least in primary schools'.

By 7 October 1985 the Director-General of Education in Victoria, Norman Curry (who was also an Anglican minister), had sent a memorandum to principals of all primary schools requesting them to 'bring to the attention of their school community the opinion of the Education Department that the book is not suitable for younger readers as the language is inappropriate'. Foundation staff tracked down the history of this memo which I sent to McPhee Gribble publishers, who were deciding what to do. Norman Curry had taken a personal interest, read the book and annotated it himself, then asked a curriculum officer, Robert McGregor, for an opinion. McGregor drafted for the Education Minister's signature a letter to Ian Smith with the same content as the memo sent to principals. No copy of the Curry memo could be found in the Department, and the English Curriculum section knew nothing of McGregor's memo and advice. It was an unusual step for such advice to be given; normally the Department keeps out of such things and leaves decisions to the discretion of the school community. [...]

I advised Hilary to so nothing. Hilary agreed. But there would be no more swearing in Foundation publications. (pp.173-74)
y separately published work icon Top Kid John Hepworth , Bob Ellis , Fitzroy Ringwood : McPhee Gribble Penguin Australian Children's Television Foundation , 1985 Z552573 1985 single work novel young adult Fitzroy Ringwood : McPhee Gribble Penguin Australian Children's Television Foundation , 1985
y separately published work icon Tarflowers Terry Larsen , Fitzroy Ringwood : McPhee Gribble Penguin Australian Children's Television Foundation , 1985 Z553964 1985 single work novel young adult fantasy Fitzroy Ringwood : McPhee Gribble Penguin Australian Children's Television Foundation , 1985
y separately published work icon On Loan Anne Brooksbank , Fitzroy Ringwood : McPhee Gribble Penguin Australian Children's Television Foundation , 1990 Z259016 1990 single work novel young adult "At her fourteenth birthday party, Lindy wishes she knew her actual birthdate. But only her real parents would know, and they're both dead. Or so Lindy and her Australian family think until the letter from her natural father arrives. Now she must decide between two families and two futures, between Australia and Vietnam." (Source: Trove) Fitzroy Ringwood : McPhee Gribble Penguin Australian Children's Television Foundation , 1990

Related Works

form y separately published work icon Winners Network Ten (publisher), 1985 Australia : Network Ten Australian Children's Television Foundation , 1985 Z1676442 1985 series - publisher film/TV children's

Australian Screen says of Winners that it is 'an anthology series of eight telemovies for children aged between eight and fifteen. No one story is typical. Through comedy, science fiction, historical drama, adventure, fantasy and social realism, many issues are raised. Each of the Winners stories is about children, their families and friends. Common themes across the stories are family relationships, friendship, individuality, and the facing of difficult situations with courage, ingenuity and independence.'

Of the origins of the series, Patricia Edgar says in her memoir Bloodbath: A Memoir of Australian Television (Melbourne: Melbourne UP, 2006):

The series was initially dubbed Masterpiece Theatre, an ironic salute to Phillips Adams' comment at the very first board meeting that we must use popular formats and not look like Masterpiece Theatre. It would eventually air under the title Winners, a title that I selected from a list of ideas during scripting.

I approached a number of experienced producers around the country to induce them to work on a children's program. With guidance from John Morris, I identified twenty of Australia's top writers--including John Duigan, Tom Hegarty, Sonia Borg, Anne Brooksbank, Tony Morphett, Morris Gleitzman, Bob Ellis and Cliff Green--and invited them to a briefing at the Sebel Townhouse in Sydney in February 1983. The way to get their involvement was to make the project high profile and competitivel the media would be involved throughout the process.

Writing is a solitary experience. These selected writers had never been together for a briefing before. The proposal was for each writer to develop two ideas for the sum of $500. If their idea was selected they would go on to the next stage and write a treatment and draft, otherwise we would give their idea back to them. Without exception, the idea appealed. The writers were not instructed on specific program ideas, but I made it clear I did not want bland adventure or syrupy formulaic family shows. I wanted the kind of drama children had not seen before--contemporary, challenging, dealing with important, relevant issue. I wanted stories that would add some meaning to children's lives. If these writers--the cream of the crop--could not deliver, nobody else in Australia could. (pp.155-56)

Edgar said of the series that 'Winners had been a baptism of fire--introducing me to a diverse range of producers, directors, styles of production and problems--as well as a wonderfully exciting introduction to the creation of drama, from an idea on paper to a powerful experience to be shared on screen' (pp.169-70).
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Last amended 15 Aug 2002 16:47:29
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