person or book cover
Script cover page (Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection)
form y separately published work icon Friends? Who Needs 'Em? single work   film/TV   crime  
Issue Details: First known date: 1975... 1975 Friends? Who Needs 'Em?
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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):

'CHARLES SIMPSON: Data processing businessman. Self-made and proud of it. Very efficient, hard working, honest in his dealings. Happily married but the one big tragedy in his life was the drowning of his five year old daughter, Mandy, five years before the story opens. He's never completely got over it and on her birthdates and the anniversaries of her death tends to take to the drink and become morose. He had a nervous breakdown after the tragedy. A man without enemies and a contemporary of Peters, having known each other since childhood days. DRIVES.

'YVONNE SIMPSON: Charles' attractive wife and also a friend of Peters; but Yvonne is more conscious of her 'position' than Charles, tends to worry about always putting on a good 'front' and is generally more shallow than her husband. But she's a good, faithful wife, pushy, wanting only Charles' success and happiness. There's a bit of a women's libber lying dormant in her and when Charles' [sic] is down in hospital, it surges to the fore and she's instrumental in breaking up the friendship between Peters and Charles. She's never really approved of Peters, though she's willing to use him when necessary. Early 30's.

'BOB HUDSON: Roughneck father of the missing child, Angie. Motor mechanic and could earn a good living at it but likes to drink too much, gamble too much ... and spoil Angie too much, to the point of neglecting Kay, his wife, and his other four children, though he'd be surprised if this was pointed out to him. Not too many brains and about as subtle as a bull-dozer. No use for Police; Takes [sic] the law into his own hands when Angie is missing and is, [sic] completely unrepentent about it. Early 30's.

'KAY HUDSON: Bob's long-suffering wife and mother of Angie. She's a quiet woman who rarely complains, battles on, apparently subjugated by Bob but showing a flash of spirit occasionally which usually surprises him. She does her best, really believing she took Bob 'for better or worse' when she married him. But the silent resentment of his obvious favouritism to Angie builds up over the years, finally bursts loose and ends in tragedy ... She's really a tragic figure, uncomplaining, dowdy. About 30.

'ANGIE HUDSON: 10-year old [sic] daughter of the Hudsons. Normal enough kid, revelling in the gifts her father showers on her and sensing that she's his favourite and that he even cares more for her than Kay.

'DOCTOR: One scene.

'BILL LEWIS: Simpson's business partner. Younger, a bit of a hustler, clean-cut type. Worries that Simpson's disappearance and subsequent bashing could affect 'The Firm'. Mid to late 20's.

'TOMMY: Kid in playground. About 10 or 11. Cheeky-faced, appealing. 3 scenes.

'2 UNIFORMED CONSTABLES'.

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

      1975 .
      person or book cover
      Script cover page (Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection)
      Extent: 64p.
      (Manuscript) assertion
      Note/s:
      • The script is labelled 'Episode No. 03465' on the cover page. There is no indication of to whom this copy of the script was designated.
      • The cover page also includes a list of the following crew members:

        Director: Darryl Sheen.

        First assistant director: Michael Lake.

        Cameraman: Ken Ophel.

        Sound recordist: Peter Aarons.

        Continuity: Fran Haarsma.

        Make-up: Viv Mepham.

        Unit manager: Mick Mills.

        Production assistant: Helen Molnar.

        Floor manager: William Templer.

      • The cover page also reflects the changing nature of production with the following note to 'all cast':
        'WARDROBE: The following are not acceptable for colour transmission so please do NOT wear: -
        'WHITE at all times on all garments.
        'RED, MAROON, BLACK VELVET, PALE BLUE, PALE LIME GREEN.
        '"BUSY" patters [sic] on all garments - STRIPES, HERRINGBONE, etc.'
      • The script is typed on thin white paper and annotated throughout with a combination of liquid paper and white stickers (both of which have then been typed over).

        Annotations include alterations to the stage directions (see, for example, page 3), deletion of stage directions and sections of scenes (see, for example, page 8), and relatively minor alterations to dialogue (see, for example, page 18, where the line 'I'll get a search and rescue out immediately' has been changed to 'I'll get Search and Rescue out immediately').

        It also appears as though a page has been removed or (more likely) the page numbers have been mistyped, since what is now page 49 was originally labelled as page 50, and all subsequent page numbers have been altered accordingly.

      Holdings

      Held at: AFI Research Collection
      Local Id: SC DIV : 295
Note: Sheen was credited as director and Lake as first assistant director.
Last amended 29 May 2013 09:21:55
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