person or book cover
Screen cap from promotional trailer
form y separately published work icon Top Kid single work   film/TV   children's   historical fiction  
Issue Details: First known date: 1985... 1985 Top Kid
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Set in 1947, this short story explores the actions and consequences that arise from a young boy's moral dilemma. Ten-year-old Gary Doyle is the third child of a large, poor Catholic family. Bright and with a photographic memory, Gary is constantly picked on and beaten up by the boys at school. His teachers want him to go to a special school for bright kids where his talents will be better developed, but his father can't be convinced to let this happen. When Gary wins a radio quiz show and is asked to become a regular, he finds fame and fortune within his reach. But when they start rigging the show, the religious and ethical Gary has a difficult decision to make, as he becomes trapped between his belief in honesty and the benefits that fame can bring.

Source: Australian Screen.

According to Patricia Edgar's memoirs:

I was really upset when I went to view the director's cut of Top Kid, which was my favourite script in the series. [...] Bob Ellis had written an ending that was ambiguous but which explored the enormous pressures on the boy. I had submitted the script to Father Gerry Briglia at the Catholic Education Office for his advice on such a story for young people. He endorsed it strongly and reinforced my confidence that we should be doing provocative productions of this kind.

But Carl Schultz and Jane Scott didn't like the ending and had shot an alternative, unscripted version in which Gary stood up and said, 'I will not tell a lie'. I was horrified; the film had lost its point and been turned into the kind of moralistic, sermonising story for children I detested. I felt very sure of Ellis' likely response. The shoot was well over, so we had to work with the footage we had. But as the director had not believed in the film as written, when it was assembled the scripted ending did not work. There was a prolonged stand-off between me and Jane Scott. I insisted we invite Ellis to view the ending--without the moral line (and without telling him of the producer's attempt to create an alternative ending to his story)--and ask his advice. Bob came up with a very simple but clever solution to extend the line of dialogue from the boy over a freeze-frame and throw the question of judgement back to the audience to ask them what they would have done.

Source: Bloodbath: A Memoir of Australian Television, Melbourne: Melbourne UP, 2006, pp.167-68.

Notes

  • Telemovie.
  • The trailer for this episode is available to view via YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eqeqld0SqFQ (Sighted: 28/9/2012)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • 1985 .
      person or book cover
      Screen cap from promotional trailer
      Link: U9394Three digital extracts from the original production. Australian Screen (Sighted 18/03/10)
      Extent: 48 min.p.
      Note/s:
      • Episode 6
      Series: form y separately published work icon Winners Network Ten (publisher), 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).

Last amended 11 Dec 2014 14:44:39
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