A sit-com set in the fictional Kannabri High School, Good Morning, Mr Doubleday focuses on bumbling science teacher Robinson Doubleday, his girlfriend (and home economics teacher) Jenny Hamilton, and his best friend (and history teacher) Wes 'Tobe' Tobin.
According to Albert Moran, in his Guide to Australian TV Series, 'This series was based directly on scripts written for the American comedy series Good Morning Mr Peepers [Mister Peepers, 1952-1955], which had starred comedian Wally Cox. Australian writer Ron McLean was employed merely to 'adapt' this school comedy about a mild-mannered schoolteacher to Australian conditions.' Don Storey also notes, in his Classic Australian Television, that the program was 'directly based on an American school comedy, Mr. Peepers, of which Fremantle International had purchased the concept' and that the scripts were 'little more than the original American Mr. Peepers scripts, with the relevant details crossed out and altered'.
Storey notes of the central character that 'Doubleday is devoted to his work, with an incessant pride in his school, and although he is a bumbler in his own life, this aspect is not exaggerated and he is actually quite an intelligent person and an excellent teacher. Gallagher showed quite a flair for the role, portraying Doubleday as an interesting and believable character.'
The program also took an unusual approach to the casting of students. Storey notes that 'Doubleday's class was made up of ten students from high schools around Melbourne, with an average age of 16, who were used as "extras." To portray a contemporary school with accuracy and credibility, the producers found the advice of the "extras" invaluable, realising that there had been many changes since their own school years.'
The program was not successful, and production was halted after 26 episodes. Among the reasons for its lack of success, Storey isolates such concerns as the low budget; the constraints in production caused by the production company remaining in Sydney while filming took place in Melbourne (including a lack of contact between the writers and the cast); the 'slow' directorial style; changes in scheduling during broadcast; and an over-reliance in early episodes on broad, stereotypical humour (a problem centred largely on the character of eccentric English teacher Beryl Garney).
'High school education underwent a radical change in Australia in the 1960s and 1970s, commensurate with the major changes experienced within other institutions and social environments. This article is an exploration of Australian television’s use of the schoolroom within drama during the 1970s, with a focus on three productions: 290 half-hour episodes of Class of ’74/’75, 39 hour-long instalments of Glenview High and a pilot for Jackson High, a one-hour show that was not developed but which proved to be a forerunner for Glenview High. The article demonstrates that such shows provide insight into attitudes to both schooling and to teenage life in Australia in the 1970s, as well as being in themselves important and engaging examples of early Australian television drama.' (Publication abstract)
'High school education underwent a radical change in Australia in the 1960s and 1970s, commensurate with the major changes experienced within other institutions and social environments. This article is an exploration of Australian television’s use of the schoolroom within drama during the 1970s, with a focus on three productions: 290 half-hour episodes of Class of ’74/’75, 39 hour-long instalments of Glenview High and a pilot for Jackson High, a one-hour show that was not developed but which proved to be a forerunner for Glenview High. The article demonstrates that such shows provide insight into attitudes to both schooling and to teenage life in Australia in the 1970s, as well as being in themselves important and engaging examples of early Australian television drama.' (Publication abstract)
