form y separately published work icon Stormy Petrel : A Serial for Television series - publisher   film/TV  
Adaptation of Stormy Petrel Rex Rienits , 1959 single work radio play
Issue Details: First known date: 1960... 1960 Stormy Petrel : A Serial for Television
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

A sympathetic exploration of Governor William Bligh's time in charge of the infant colony of New South Wales, some two years after the infamous Bounty mutiny. The series focuses on his troubled relationship with the NSW Corp, and especially Captain John Macarthur.

Exhibitions

8046779
7993667
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Notes

  • The first Australian ABC television drama, Stormy Petrel was initially produced in 1959 as a series on ABC Radio, and hence the television adaptation was very much a 'radio with pictures' version. Albert Moran notes, however, that Colin Dean and Rex Rienits worked hard at opening out the radio script so that viewers could look at more than talking heads (Moran's Guide to Australian TV Series, p. 435).
  • While not a formal trilogy, Stormy Petrel was the subsequently considered the first in a loose historical trilogy that included The Outcasts (also by Rex Rienits) and concluded with The Patriots (by Phlilip Grenville Mann).

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 1960
    • s.l.,: s.n. , .
      (Manuscript) assertion
      Note/s:
      • 12 episodes. Typescript.
      • This work was originally presented as a serial on ABC Radio in 1959.

      Holdings

      Held at: University of Queensland University of Queensland Library Fryer Library
      Local Id: H1467
    • Sydney, New South Wales,: ABC Television , 1960 .
      Extent: 12 x 30 min. episodesp.
      Description: Black and white

      Holdings

      Held at: National Archives of Australia National Archives Library
      Location: SP862/1, STORMY PETREL 34
      Note:
      ABC television production file includes scripts of episodes 4-12, rehearsal list, actor calls, and 'epilogue'.
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Other Formats

  • Also sound recording.
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Related Works

y separately published work icon Stormy Petrel Rex Rienits , London : Frederick Muller , 1963 Z1380019 1963 single work novel historical fiction
VIEW ALL RELATED WORKS (1)

Works about this Work

Forgotten Australian TV Plays : Stormy Petrel Stephen Vagg , 2021 single work essay
— Appears in: FilmInk , 17 October 2021;
60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & ‘60s Stephen Vagg , 2019 single work column
— Appears in: FilmInk , 18 February 2019;
Promoting History, Culture and Literature: ABC Television and the Creative Writer Susan Lever , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Your Memento , October no. 4 2011; 'When television broadcasting began in Australia in 1956, opportunities for local dramatists were scarce. Within a few years, however, television had swamped radio drama and writers could see that their best chance to reach an audience lay in this new technology. Dr Susan Lever, recipient of the Archives' 2010 Frederick Watson Fellowship, looks at script holdings to assess the role of Australian creative writers in ABC television drama of the 1960s and 1970s.'
Source: Publisher's abstract
Promoting History, Culture and Literature: ABC Television and the Creative Writer Susan Lever , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Your Memento , October no. 4 2011; 'When television broadcasting began in Australia in 1956, opportunities for local dramatists were scarce. Within a few years, however, television had swamped radio drama and writers could see that their best chance to reach an audience lay in this new technology. Dr Susan Lever, recipient of the Archives' 2010 Frederick Watson Fellowship, looks at script holdings to assess the role of Australian creative writers in ABC television drama of the 1960s and 1970s.'
Source: Publisher's abstract
60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & ‘60s Stephen Vagg , 2019 single work column
— Appears in: FilmInk , 18 February 2019;
Forgotten Australian TV Plays : Stormy Petrel Stephen Vagg , 2021 single work essay
— Appears in: FilmInk , 17 October 2021;
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (3)

Awards

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Last amended 5 Jul 2022 15:10:35
Colin Dean
Subjects:
Settings:
  • Sydney, New South Wales,
  • 1808
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