form y separately published work icon The Cow Hand single work   film/TV   crime  
Issue Details: First known date: 1972... 1972 The Cow Hand
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

The script held in the Crawford Collection in the AFI Research Collection contains the following character notes (excluding regular characters):

'ATHOL HUTCHINS Lead. About 30. Shoulder length hair, and a wild beard. (Certainly not trimmed). He's a hippie.

'TOM WOOD Second lead. About 60. Has been a very powerful man (physically)

'WILLIAM WOOD Major role. Twenty one years of age. Must have short back and sides haircut.

'KENNY WOOD Major role. Nineteen. Short back and sides haircut.

'MICHAEL WOOD Major role. Sixteen. Short back and sides haircut.

'William, Kenny, Michael are Tom Wood's sons.

'JACK FLYNN Important role. About 45. Short back and sides haircut.

'DOREEN FLYNN Very important role. She's sweet sixteen and has been kissed. She's very young, a slip of a girl.

'MRS. FLYNN Jack's wife. About the same age. Preferably thin and worn.

'PUBLICAN Character Noel Buchanan, as established in earlier episode

'NORM HARRIS The mayor. But a rough, country looking type of mayor with not too much up top. About 60.

'AUCTIONEER 40-45.

'BARMAID 35-40.

'WORKER IN SALEYARDS

'PRIEST About 50. Benign.

'SAM One scene but important. He's about 50, and a dirty, lazy old pig.

'EXTRA Woman in street (teaser).

'EXTRA Woman in street (end of script)

'EXTRAS Crowded bar scene.

'(Budgeted for 12 extras but budget can take 17.' [sic]


Notes

  • This entry has been compiled from archival research in the Crawford Collection (AFI Research Collection), undertaken by Dr Catriona Mills under the auspices of the 2012 AFI Research Collection (AFIRC) Research Fellowship: see The Writer in Australian Television History.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Crawford Productions ; Network Ten , 1972 .
      Extent: 43 min. 55 secs (according to the script)p.
      Note/s:
      • Storey indicates that Jacob was credited as director and Miller as film director.
      Series: form y separately published work icon Matlock Police Terry Stapleton , Ian Jones , Everett de Roche , Ian Jones , Terry Stapleton , Keith Hetherington , Patrick Edgeworth , Tom Hegarty , Douglas Tainsh , Graeme Koetsveld , Peter A. Kinloch , Sonia Borg , Don Battye , Robert Caswell , George T. Miller , Gwenda Marsh , Cliff Green , Vince Moran , Luis Bayonas , David William Boutland , Phil Freedman , Keith Thompson , Denise Morgan , C.F. Barnes , Robert Bruce , Alan Cram , Vern Perry , Martin Robbins , John Dingwall , George Mallaby , Jim Stapleton , Simon Wincer , Melbourne Australia : Crawford Productions Network Ten , 1971-1976 Z1638563 1971 series - publisher film/TV detective crime

      The Matlock Police series (originally simply titled Matlock) was commissioned from Crawford Productions by ATV-0, in response to the popularity of rival-network police dramas such as Homicide and Division 4. Crawford's was initially reluctant to create another police series, but ATV-0 pressured the company for some time. Eventually, Ian Jones and Terry Stapleton devised the concept of a regional (Victorian) police series to provide viewers with something different. The more relaxed atmosphere of the country-town setting also allowed the writers to delve into the private lives of the main characters, rather than focusing heavily on big-city organised crime. In this respect, the series was situated somewhere between Homicide/Division 4 and Bellbird. The series did, however, cover typical rural policing, including such issues as break and enters, domestic issues, itinerant workers, brawls, petty crime and robberies, road accidents, the occasional homicide, and cattle rustling. On other occasions, the Matlock police also assisted Melbourne police in locating criminals on the run (among other problems). The idea behind the show was to reflect the causes of crime in a small community and show the effects on both the community and the officers themselves.

      The fictional town of Matlock (loosely based on Shepparton in Victoria) is situated inland on the Central Highway, approximately 160 kilometres north of Melbourne. Although the town's population is only seventeen thousand, this increases to around seventy-five thousand when the district is included. The Matlock Police Station is typical of a Victorian country town, with a Uniform Branch and a Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB). The CIB is headed by Detective Sergeant Vic Maddern, who grew up in the Matlock district and is an accomplished bushman. Second in command is Detective Allan Curtis, aged in his mid-twenties. Previously from Melbourne, Curtis has just been sent to his first country posting (against his will) when the series begins. Head of the Uniform Branch is Sergeant Bert Kennedy, an Englishman who migrated to Australia in 1950. A thorough but also easy-going man with a good sense of humour, Kennedy is married to Nell and enjoys the country life in Matlock, so much so that he has knocked back promotion to avoid moving to Melbourne. Several constables are attached to the Uniform Branch, but the most prominent is a motorcycle cop, Constable Gary Hogan, who performs a wide variety of duties. Hogan is about thirty, a friendly, easy-going person who grew up in the country and is always willing to help in whatever work is going.

      Number in series: 59
      1972 .
      person or book cover
      Script cover page (Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection)
      Extent: 65p.
      (Manuscript) assertion
      Note/s:
      • The script is copied on pink paper and labelled 'Episode 4Y' on the cover page. The file contains two copies of the script. A notation in the top right-hand corner of Copy 1 in red felt pen reads 'Crew'. An notation in red felt pen in the top right-hand corner of Copy 2 indicates that this copy of the script was designated for Rae Dunn. The Crawford Productions tribute website (crawfordproductions.tv) indicates that Rae Dun worked in publicity.
      • Appended to the end of Copy 1 is a one-page sheet titled 'Filming Times and Location Schedules' and dated Thursday 16th March 1972. This does not appear in Copy 2 of the script.
      • Neither copy of the script is annotated.

      Holdings

      Held at: AFI Research Collection
      Local Id: SC MAT : 59
Last amended 30 May 2013 15:20:05
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