form y separately published work icon Natural Victim single work   film/TV   crime  
Issue Details: First known date: 1972... 1972 Natural Victim
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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):

'PETER WATSON: The first "natural victim". Aged 25 with a mental age of about 14. Well-built and good-looking, he has a record for sexual offences against young girls. He is picked up as a suspect by the police, and this experience upsets the balance he has struggled hard to attain. He becomes aware that he is losing his battle against his old urges and tries to warn the police, but he is too inarticulate to make his fears clear to them.

'BARBARA O'BRIEN: The second "natural victim". A schoolgirl of 15 or 16 at odds with the world because of a disturbed home background. She senses the dangerous element in Watson's make-up and is attracted to it - "playing with fire." She even has a subconscious knowledge that one day he may kill her, and some compulsion draws her towards this end.

'BRIAN LANE: Age 29-33. About the same build as Watson. A sexual psychopath, but with a non-descript exterior. He seems the average, suburban family man. Fairly smooth and glib. Car driver.

'MR. O'BRIEN: Age 40-45. Barbara's father. He has a business dealing in second-hand furniture. Interested mainly in beer and his greyhounds. Dislikes his wife, indifferent to his daughter. Curses the day he ever got married.

'MRS. O'BRIEN: Age 40-45, but she has let herself go and looks older. The marriage has turned her into a neurotic and nagging shrew. Pretends to care for Barbara but in reality uses her simply as a bone of contention with her husband.

'DENISE WRIGHT: Age 15-16. Attends school with Barbara. A nice, shy, ordinary kid, perhaps even a little young for her age. She becomes Lane's last victim.

'MRS. WRIGHT: Age 35-40. Denise's mother. She becomes worried when Denise goes missing and later has to take the news that she has been raped. A neat, nice sympathetic woman.

'SHOP ASSISTANT (MISS WEST) Age 23 -30. Average looks. Mousy personality. Mr. O'Brien's mistress.

'LESLEY MITCHELL. Age 14-16. Early victim. She has to try to identify her attacker in a line up.

'PROPRIETOR OF CAFE. Age 22-30. Camp and pleasant to all customers. Sympathetic to Mrs. Wright when she comes to the cafe looking for her missing daughter.

'MARY. Age 15-16. Denise's friend, but cheeky and knowing in constrast to Denise's shyness. One scene only.

'YOUTH. Age 18-20. Chats to cafe proprietor. One scene, ordinary all-Australian type.

'PARKIN. Age 29-33. Would help if he had a fleeting resemblance to Brian Lane, because he is wrongly identified as Lane in a line-up.

'TRUCK DRIVER. Any age. Bass singing voice. A big, friendly man who finds Denise after she has been attacked. One scene, driver.

'ANGRY MOTORIST. Age 25-40. Has a minor collision with Lane's car and gets very worked up about it. One scene. Driver.

'HOSPITAL DOCTOR. Age 23-27. Brief scene with Vickers. Dialogue.

'SCHOOLGIRL VICTIM. Age 14-16. Fails to identify anyone at the line-up. No dialogue.

'TEENAGE GIRL. Seen at a distance taking her dog for a walk in the park. One scene. No dialogue.

'FOUR MEN FOR LINE-UP. No dialogue. One scene.'

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.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Note: Crawford Productions tribute website (crawfordproductions.tv) suggests that Auzins was credited as director and Jacob as studio director.
      1972 .
      person or book cover
      Script cover page (Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection)
      Extent: 81p.
      (Manuscript) assertion
      Note/s:
      • The script is labelled 'Episode JJ3' on the cover page. There is no indication on the cover page of to whom this copy of the script was designated.
      • There are no signs of annotation on this copy of the script.
      • This copy of the script includes two copies of page 77.
      • The file includes the following ancillary material, access to which is restricted:
        1. Cast list
        2. Casting call sheets

      Holdings

      Held at: AFI Research Collection
      Local Id: SC DIV : 154
Last amended 28 May 2013 15:14:45
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