The script held in the Crawford Collection in the AFI Research Collection contains the following character notes (excluding regular characters):
'WALLY BURNS 40-55 years old. Character and a rogue. A petty criminal for most of his life, he has managed to pull one big job and get away with it. He is likeable despite his tendency to lie and cheat whenever it suits him. Witty and cunning in his own way. He has virtually adopted his nephew Tommy. By reason of his non-conformism, assisted by lies about his glamorous past, he has become a hero for the boy. Sometimes he is capable of believing his own lies and reacts strongly to any challenge of them. He is the victim.
'CLIFF ADAMS About 20 years. He kills Wally in self defence. He is a National Service evader (but not a standard student pacifist). A working class lad who believes that the Vietnam war is wrong and that he's not going over to get killed when so many people are in basic disagreement over the issues. He has not thought out his position clearly, rather he feels it. He is by no means frail, nor afraid of a fight, but his rudimentary examination of the question has convinced him that he will not go to Vietnam. He is a likeable young man forced by circumstances to kill.
'JO-ANNE EDWARDS About 20 years. Attractive and likeable working class girl. She is completely loyal to her boyfriend Cliff. She reacts emotionally to the problem of the call-up. She just doesn't want Cliff to get killed. She is confused by the events that take place and never quite sure what action is best in any stress situation.
'TOMMY BURNS About 16 years. Working class. Fiercely loyal to his uncle (Wally) whom he has adopted as a father figure. He finds his real father (Jack) intolerably dull. He is worried as soon as Cliff and Jo-Anne come on board the launch because they constitute a threat to his relationship with Wally. Many of his mannerisms and attitudes have been copied from Wally.
'JACK BURNS About 50-55 years. Working class. Tommy's father. Confined to a wheelchair. A hypochondriac who loves to rattle off his life story (which of course consists of misfortunes) to anyone who'll listen. He is sad about life - it has let him down badly - and his only way of getting back is to tell others of life's injustices. He is particularly sad that he has "lost" his son, Tommy, to his no good brother, Wally. A sad and hopeless character.
'KOESTLER 40-55 years. A rather arrogant and snobbish German whose manners give him a certain charm. He has been in Australia for many years and speaks excellent English. He has an upper class bearing and is intolerant of dirty, [sic] slovenliness and general inefficiency.
'MRS. BENNETT 40-55 years. Working class woman. Warm hearted and sympathetic. She has lost menfolk in wars and is completely on Cliff's side in his attempt to evade National Service. A strong willed woman, she stands up to the D's.
'BOB SULLIVAN About 20 years. A pleasant young man. Must be able to swim.
'JANET SULLIVAN About 20 years. An attractive girl, Bob's wife. Must be able to swim.
'TWO COMMONWEALTH POLICE. Extras. Big, burley, [sic] with bullet heads.
'BARMAN'.
