A Country Practice
This article includes a list of general references, but it remains largely unverified because it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (July 2019) |
A Country Practice | |
---|---|
Genre | Soap opera |
Created by | James Davern |
Starring | Andrew Blackman Brett Climo Penny Cook Jamie Croft Matt Day Lorrae Desmond Grant Dodwell Maureen Edwards Sophie Heathcote Syd Heylen Joyce Jacobs Caroline Johansson Anne Looby Judith McGrath Josephine Mitchell Mark Owen-Taylor Georgie Parker Michelle Pettigrove Gordon Piper Shane Porteous Kate Raison Helen Scott Wendy Strehlow Joan Sydney Anne Tenney Brian Wenzel Kym Wilson Shane Withington |
Theme music composer | Mike Perjanik |
Opening theme | A Country Practice (instrumental) |
Ending theme | Reprise |
Country of origin | Australia |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 14 |
No. of episodes | 1,088 (List of episodes) |
Production | |
Producer | James Davern |
Running time | 48 minutes |
Production company | JNP Productions |
Release | |
Original network | Seven Network (1981–93) Network Ten (1994) |
Picture format | 4.3 PAL |
Audio format | Stereo |
Original release | 18 November 1981 5 November 1994 | –
A Country Practice is an Australian television soap opera which ran from 18 November 1981 to 5 November 1994 on the Seven Network, airing at 7:30 pm on Monday and Tuesday evenings. Altogether, 1,058 episodes were produced. The show was made at both ATN-7's production facility at Epping, New South Wales, with exterior locations filmed in Pitt Town and in Oakville, which suburbs lie in the outskirts of Northwest Sydney, Australia.
Several of the regular cast members became highly popular celebrities as a result of their roles in the series. It also featured a number of native Australian animals, particularly the iconic 'Fatso the wombat' adding to its enduring appeal both domestically and internationally. After the series was cancelled by the Seven Network in 1993, a reworked version of the series ran briefly on Network Ten in 1994.
At the time of its cancellation, A Country Practice was the longest-running Australian TV drama; however, by the late 1990s, that record was surpassed by Network Ten series Neighbours. At the height of its popularity, the show attracted 8–10 million Australian viewers weekly (at a time when the population of Australia was a mere 15 million). The series was eventually sold to, and broadcast in, a total of 48 other countries.
Creation by James Davern (OAM)[]
A Country Practice creator and Executive Producer (EP) James Davern, of JNP Productions, had previously worked on a similar rural-based series as the producer and director of the long-running Bellbird, which screened on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1967–1977).
In 1979 he entered the pilot episode for ACP to a script contest by Network Ten, who were looking for a new hit soap opera after the demise of Number 96 two years prior. Davern came third and won a merit award.[1] Although TEN turned the series down, rival TV station Seven Network picked up the series, stating that it liked the characters and setting.
Davern's contribution to the industry was recognised when he was inducted into the Logie Hall of Fame in 1991 and he was honoured with the Order of Australia Medal in 2014.[2]
Production[]
Format[]
Though sometimes considered a soap opera, the storylines of the show's two 45 minute episodes screened over any one week formed a self-contained narrative block. The storylines were meant to have a primary appeal to adult and older youthful audiences, and in particular they had greater appeal to children from middle-class backgrounds.[3] As it did not have the open ended narrative of a traditional soap opera, it was technically a series.[4] Nevertheless, many storylines were developed as sub-plots for several episodes before becoming the focus of a particular week's narrative block. Overall, the program "so emphasized the ongoing storylines of its major characters as to make the distinction between series and serial more or less meaningless".[4]
Network Seven cancellation & Network Ten continuation[]
After its run on the Seven Network, just months after its demise, it was announced that the serial would be picked up by Network Ten with a mainly new cast and a few key cast members continuing from the Seven series. Unlike the Seven series which was produced in Sydney, the Network Ten series was produced in Melbourne with location shooting in Emerald, Victoria. The new series debuted in April 1994, but it was not as successful as its predecessor and was abruptly cancelled in November. The series featured actors including Paul Gleason, Jane Hall, Vince Colosimo, Claudia Black and Laura Armstrong, along with a select few actors returning from the previous Seven Network series.
Cast[]
Main Cast (Seven Network series) 1981-1993[]
Actor | Role | Episodes |
Shane Porteous | Dr. Terence Elliot | (1981–1993) 986 episodes. |
Brian Wenzel | Sgt and club manager . Frank Gilroy | (1981–1993) 937 episodes. |
Lorrae Desmond | Shirley Dean/Gilroy | (1981–1992) 816 episodes. |
Joyce Jacobs | Miss Esme Watson | (1981–1993) 805 episodes, Seven Network. Semi-regular cast member until episode 99 onwards, debuted in episode 1 as Norma. (Retained to Network Ten 1994 series (30 episodes)) |
Gordon Piper | Robert 'Bob' Hatfield | (1981–1992) 742 episodes (Debuted in episode 3) Returned as guest character during season 12 |
Syd Heylen | Vernon 'Cookie' Locke | (1982–1992) episodes 723 (Debuted in episode 14) Returned as guest character during season 12. |
Joan Sydney | Matron Margaret 'Maggie' Sloane | (1983–1990) 453 episodes, Seven Network. (Retained to Network Ten 1994 series after appearing in the Seven Network series finale (30 episodes)) Guest starred in the last episode of season 13. |
Shane Withington | Nurse Brendan Jones | (1981–1986) 367 episodes (Debuted in episode 3) |
Dr. Matthew 'Matt' Tyler (Vet) | (1988–1992) 349 episodes | |
Grant Dodwell | Dr. Simon Bowen | (1981–1986) 332 episodes |
Penny Cook | Dr. Victoria "Vicki" Dean/Bowen (Vet) |
(1981–1985, returned as a guest in 1986, and the 1993 Seven Network series finale) 330 episodes Guest starred in the last episode of season 13. |
Anne Tenney | Melissa 'Molly' Jones | (1981–1985) 299 episodes (Debuted in episode 3) |
Georgie Parker | Nurse Lucy Gardner/Tyler | (1989–1992) 266 episodes (Had previously appeared in a guest role as Barbara Gottlieb in 1988) |
Josephine Mitchell | Josephine 'Jo' Loveday/Langley | (1985–1989) 254 episodes |
Dr. Alex Fraser/Elliot | (1986–1989, returned as a guest in 1993) 246 episodes later guest during 1989 (Had previously appeared in a guest role as Sharon Lyons in 1982) | |
Maureen Edwards | Matron Rosemary Prior/Elliot | (1991–1993) 243 episodes (Had previously appeared in guest roles as Yvonne McLean in 1983, and Katherine D'Angelo in 1990) |
Kate Raison | Cathy Hayden (National Park Ranger) | (1987–1990) 236 episodes (Had previously appeared in a guest role as Darlene McCoy in 1987) |
Andrew Blackman | Dr. Harry Morrison | (1991–1993) 236 episodes Seven Network (Retained to Network Ten series 1994 (30 episodes)) |
Michelle Pettigrove | Nurse Kate Bryant/Morrison | (1991–1993) 230 episodes Seven Network (appeared in Network Ten series 1 episode, 1994) (Had previously appeared in a guest role as Mary O'Connor in 1988) |
Matt Day | Julian "Luke" Ross | (1989-1992), 227 episodes Guest starred in the last episode of season 13. |
Wendy Strehlow | Sister Judy Loveday | (1981–1986) 216 episodes |
Dr. Benjamin 'Ben' Green | (1985–1988), 206 episodes | |
Kym Wilson | Darcy Hudson | (1991–1993), 183 episodes (Had previously appeared in a guest role as Leanne Baxter in 1989) |
Chloe Jones | (1983–1986) 174 epiosdes | |
Dr. Chris Kourous | (1989–1991) 164 episodes | |
Hugo Szreclecki | (1992–1993) 161 episodes (Had previously appeared in a guest role as J.J. Moffitt in 1987 and Mick O'Brian in 1990) | |
Senior Constable/Sgt. Tom Newman | (1992–1993) 160 episodes | |
Judith McGrath | Bernice Hudson | (1992–1993) 149 episodes Guest starred in the last episode of season 13. |
Perce Hudson | (1987–1993) 114 episodes (Had previously appeared in guest roles as Arty Turner in 1981, Alf Trotter in 1982 and Alfred Hitchins in 1984) Appeared from time to time as a valley resident. Not credited until season 13. | |
Anne Looby | Dr. Anna Lacey/Newman (Vet) | (1990)(1992–1993) 148 episodes (Had previously appeared in a guest role as Jennifer Rose in 1990) |
Helen Scott | Matron Marta Kurtez | (1981–1983) 126 episodes |
Brett Climo | Nurse Michael Langley | (1987–1989) 121 episodes (Had previously appeared in guest roles as Barry Hall in 1982, and Sandy Hughes in 1984) |
Sophie Heathcote | Stephanie "Steve" Brennan | (1990–1991), 117 episodes |
Jamie Croft | Billy Moss | (1992–1993) 111 Episodes. (Had previously appeared in a guest role as Ashley Baker in 1991) |
Caroline Johansson | Nurse Donna Manning | (1986–1987) 98 episodes |
Mark Owen-Taylor | Peter Manning (Teacher) | (1986–1987) (88 episodes) returned for a short time in a guest role in 87. |
Matron Ann Brennan | (1990–1991) 85 Episodes (Had previously appeared in a guest role as Wendy Allen in 1989) | |
Kelly Shanahan (Reporter) | (1985–1986) 35 Episodes | |
Jessica 'Jessie' Kouros | (1989–1991) 112 episodes | |
Brian Moll | Councillor Alfred Muldoon | itinerant 1982-1992 |
Network Ten cast (1994)[]
Only three of the original cast members from the Network Seven series were retained in the Network Ten re-launch: Joan Sydney, Joyce Jacobs, and Andrew Blackman.
Actor | Role | Episodes |
Paul Gleeson | Ian McIntyre | 30 episodes (Appeared in the final 8 episodes of the Seven Network Series 1993) |
Claudia Black | Claire Bonacci | 30 episodes (Appeared in the final 4 episodes of the Seven Network Series 1993) |
Vince Colosimo | Danny Sabatini | 30 episodes |
Jane Hall | Dr. Jess Morrison | 30 episodes |
Georgie Wilkes | 30 episodes |
Recurring Characters[]
Actor | Role | Episodes |
Katherine Murray | Fred Bates | 10 episodes (School friend of Georgie's) |
Alyce Platt | Sarah Wilkes | 5 episodes (Georgie's mother) |
Chris Lyons | Miles Ferdenbach | 4 episodes (School friend of Georgie's) |
Clarissa House | Dr. June Munroe | 2 episodes (Doctor at Burrigan Hospital who oversaw Claire's treatment after being shot and admitted Esme after she had a stroke) |
Celebrity guest stars[]
A Country Practice became renowned for its long list of guest cameos, totalling over 1000 stars, with well known mainly Australian actors (predominantly of the period) who would appear in each week's two part episode arc.
Some actors became more prominent during the series run, and were classified as semi-regulars, appearing as the storyline permitted, Famous stars included: Sir Robert Helpmann, Baz Luhrmann, Nicole Kidman, Simon Baker, Smokey Dawson, Ruth Cracknell, Henri Szeps, Pro Hart, John Meillon, Ray Meagher, Andrew Denton, Barry Crocker, Dr John D'Arcy, Paul Kelly, Toni Collette and Delta Goodrem. At the program's height even the then Prime Minister of Australia, Bob Hawke, appeared as himself.
Episodes[]
Series | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | ||||
1 | 14 | 18 November 1981 | 31 December 1981 | ||
2 | 92 | 5 January 1982 | 17 November 1982 | ||
3 | 84 | 1 February 1983 | 16 November 1983 | ||
4 | 90 | 31 January 1984 | 8 December 1984 | ||
5 | 76 | 5 February 1985 | 6 November 1985 | ||
6 | 88 | 7 January 1986 | 31 December 1986 | ||
7 | 88 | 5 January 1987 | 22 December 1987 | ||
8 | 90 | 5 January 1988 | 9 November 1988 | ||
9 | 84 | 3 January 1989 | 18 October 1989 | ||
10 | 86 | 2 January 1990 | 27 November 1990 | ||
11 | 90 | 22 January 1991 | 26 November 1991 | ||
12 | 86 | 19 January 1992 | 24 November 1992 | ||
13 | 90 | 18 January 1993 | 22 November 1993 | ||
14 | 30 | 13 April 1994 | 5 November 1994 |
Setting and stories[]
The series followed the workings of a small hospital in the fictional New South Wales rural country town of Wandin Valley as well as its connected medical clinic, the town's veterinary surgery, RSL club/pub and local police station. The show's storylines focused on the staff, and regular patients of the hospital and general practice, their families, and other residents of the town. Through its weekly guest actors, who appeared in the series portraying differing characters, it explored various social and medical problems. The series examined such topical issues as youth unemployment, suicide, drug addiction, HIV/AIDS and terminal illness. Apart from its regular rotating cast, mainly among the younger personnel, A Country Practice also had a cast of semi-regulars who would make appearances as the storylines permitted. The program as well would also showcase a number of animal stars and Australian native wildlife, most famously Fatso the wombat. Fatso was played throughout the series by three separate wombats, the original actually named Fatso (1981–1986) was replaced due to temperament issues with the cast, a wombat George (1986–1990), he himself replaced due to early signs of wombat mange (a marsupial viral disease), and Garth (1990 through series end).
Highest rating episode[]
Anne Tenney played Molly Jones, who became one of the most popular characters, particularly in the series early years, Molly, was an unconventional fashion designer, farmer and Green-hugging local environmentalist, and after Tenney decided to leave the series, her character's death episode became the highest rating, and most remembered storyline. The series 13 week storyline arc dealt with its addressing of how a young woman, as well as her husband and local residents coped with terminal illness, after the popular character becomes diagnosed with leukaemia. The now iconic episode sees the character of Molly sitting in her back garden and waving while her husband, Brenden, is teaching his daughter to fly a kite. He sees Molly is fading, and calls her name as the screen fades to black[5]
This storyline arc, was originally written to be featured over a continuing 11 week script. A producer realised that the ratings were not being monitored during this period, so it was extended for 13 weeks, and hence 4 extra 1 hour episodes.
Iconic storylines over its 12-year run would also include the wedding of Dr. Simon Bowen (Grant Dodwell) to local vet Vicki Dean (Penny Cook) in 1983, the death of nurse Donna Manning in a car crash in 1987, and the off-screen death of longtime resident Shirley Gilroy, played by original Lorrae Desmond in a plane crash in 1992.
Logie Awards[]
A Country Practice is the third most successful television program after Home and Away (1st) and Neighbours (2nd), at the Logie Awards having won 29 awards during its twelve years of production.[6]
- Best Supporting Actor In A Series: Brian Wenzel
- Best Juvenile Performance: Jeremy Shadlow
- Most Popular Actor: Grant Dodwell
- NSW Most Popular Female: Penny Cook
- NSW Most Popular Show: A Country Practice
- Most Popular Drama Series: A Country Practice
- Best Supporting Actress In A Series: Lorrae Desmond
- Most Popular Lead Actor: Grant Dodwell
- Most Popular Lead Actress: Anne Tenney
- NSW Most Popular Male: Grant Dodwell
- NSW Most Popular Female: Penny Cook
- NSW Most Popular Show: A Country Practice
- Most Popular Drama Program: A Country Practice
- Best Lead Actor In A Series: Shane Withington
- Best Supporting Actress In A Series: Wendy Strehlow
- Most Popular Australian Actor: Grant Dodwell
- Most Popular Australian Actress: Anne Tenney
- NSW Most Popular Female: Anne Tenney
- NSW Most Popular Program: A Country Practice
- Most Popular Australian Drama: A Country Practice
- NSW Most Popular Program: A Country Practice
- NSW Most Popular Program: A Country Practice
- Most Outstanding Actress: Joan Sydney
- NSW Most Popular Program: A Country Practice
- Most Outstanding Actor: Shane Porteous
- Most Popular New Talent: Georgie Parker
- Most Popular Actress: Georgie Parker
- Most Popular Actress: Georgie Parker
- Most Popular Actress: Georgie Parker
Broadcast[]
A Country Practice originally aired on Seven Network Monday (Part 1) and Tuesday (Part 2) nights at 7:30.[citation needed] The unsuccessful 1994 Network 10 remake of the series aired originally at 7:30 on Wednesday nights, but then moved to 7:30 on Saturday nights a few weeks later. In late July, it moved to a low-rating timeslot of 5:30 Saturday nights, directly against Channel Seven's Saturday AFL coverage.
Seven also aired repeats of the original series at 9:30 weekday mornings from 1995 to 2002.
Foxtel's Hallmark Channel broadcast the complete series twice (including the short-lived Network Ten series) in a 2-hour block at 3:30-5:30 weekday afternoons from 2002 to 30 June 2010.
In 2014 Channel 7TWO ran repeats at 02:00 on weekday mornings.
International broadcasts[]
United Kingdom[]
In addition to being broadcast in Australia, the series also had a successful run on the ITV network in the United Kingdom. A Country Practice began 27 October 1982, less than a year after its debut on Seven Network in Australia.
Originally, the series was partially networked (similar in theory to syndication) by Thames Television, the weekday contractor for the London area, to a cluster of six ITV regions; Anglia Television, Border Television, Channel Television, Tyne Tees, Yorkshire Television and TVS. These regions all aired one episode a week, on Wednesdays at 14:45–15:45, and in the original hour-long format. The remaining ITV regions – Central Independent Television, HTV, TSW, Granada Television, Scottish Television, UTV, and Grampian Television – all started later, and by the end of 1989, most of the ITV regions were now scheduling the programme at a day and time of their own choice and were at vastly different points in the storyline. By around May 1990 (regions vary), the ITV network decided to adopt the method established by Yorkshire Television (from 1984) of editing each episode into two half-hour editions which allowed the series to be stripped Monday to Friday, usually before, or after, the lunchtime edition of Home and Away. This format also resulted in curtailment of the full closing credits in certain regions. Scottish Television was the only exception, and they chose various days and timeslots, but always screened A Country Practice in the original hour-long format.
Due to the content of some episodes, a substantial amount were withdrawn from transmission by some regions as the content was considered unsuitable for daytime viewing and this inevitably led to considerable chunks of the story being skipped.
Considered a daytime soap and notably several years behind Australian broadcasts, A Country Practice was popular in the UK and achieved consolidated viewing figures of between 2–3 million which is good for daytime television. Some regions (HTV, Border, Grampian, TSW and Granada) moved the later episodes of the series to an early evening slot of 17.10–17.40.
ITV regional broadcasts
- Originally starting in 1982, Yorkshire Television were the first region to break away from the network transmissions in October 1984 and began editing each episode into two half-hour episodes, screening on Mondays and Tuesdays at 15:30. This led to continuity problems as whenever a public holiday occurred (on Monday), the 15:30 slot would be unavailable. The series was moved to back to an early afternoon hour-long format in 1988 when Sons and Daughters was stripped five afternoons a week at 15:30. A Country Practice then replaced Sons and Daughters when that series ended in March 1989, being again split into half-hour episodes and now being shown five afternoons a week for the first time. It was then moved to an early afternoon slot, and eventually hour-long episodes were reinstated. The series concluded in March 1998 and the Network Ten series was not shown. When Tyne Tees Television merged with Yorkshire, a number of episodes were skipped. This was to allow an alignment of schedules for the two regions.
- TVS and Thames Television followed Yorkshire in September 1988 and started showing three half-hour episodes a week, from Monday to Wednesday, at 12:30–13:00.
- Central Television did not follow the other ITV regions and, unusually, it began A Country Practice in July 1983, airing weekly on Tuesdays, 11:10–12:00, during the summer of 1983, but by September, the series had been shelved. In early 1990 while all the other ITV regions were well into their respective runs, Central surprisingly re-launched the series and followed the rest of the network (except Scottish) and stripped half-hour episodes, Monday to Friday, initially at 14:00-14:30. In September 1990, this changed to 13:50-14:20. From January 1993, moves to 13:15-13:45, and then briefly switches to a mid-afternoon slot, 14:50–15:20 in September 1993, and then 15:00-15:30 until the end of the year. Returns to 14:50-15:20 until March 1994, after which, it is moved back to lunchtimes at 13:55–14:25. By 1997, Central was airing A Country Practice at 12:55-13:25, and in 1998, the network concluded the original series in April in the 13:00–13:30 slot, and then immediately commenced the short-lived Network Ten version, finally completing all the episodes on Friday, 31 July 1998.
- Scottish Television started broadcasting the series in 1983 and always aired A Country Practice as hour-long episodes. Throughout the 1980s the programme moved about in time and day but was generally broadcast once a week in an afternoon slot. In January 1994, after (episode #486), it was dropped from the schedules for about 4 months until June. From episode 491 screened every weekday morning at 10:55 for the duration of the summer school holidays (around 6 weeks) until 2 September. It reverted to its old weekly Tuesday slot the following week. It was the dropped completely after episode #588, during 1996. Although the company took over Grampian Television, the series continued until the end, doing so by airing daily episodes during the summer of 1998.
- HTV started the series on Wednesday, 26 October 1983, broadcasting 1 hour episodes until 1990, when the series moved to 15:25 Wed-Fri as replacement for Sons and Daughters in half-hour format. From September 1993, moved to earlier time slot, but from March 1994, began airing in the early evening 17:10–17:40 slot. By the end of 1998, the series had been reduced to being shown on Thursdays and Fridays only. From January to March 1999, the series was shown on Tuesday through to Friday until Friday 5 March 1999 when the final Channel Seven episode was reached. HTV were the last ITV region to complete the series (and did not show the short lived Channel 10 series).
- Carlton Television, who superseded Thames Television, became the first region to conclude the series, followed closely by Anglia Television in the daily 13:50–14:20 half-hour slot in April 1996. Anglia Television then commenced a short repeat of the first 40 episodes shortly after reaching the end.
- Granada Television,Originally began in the 14:00-15:00 slot in January 1984 and from January 1994, until they aired the last episode during the autumn of 1996, moved the series to the later 17:10–17:40 slot. Border Television had, by now, aligned with Granada's run of the series and followed suit.
- TSW did not begin until 30 May 1989, and initially aired A Country Practice weekly on Tuesdays at 14:00–15:00. August 1989, an additional hour long episode was added on Thursdays (replacing Richmond Hill). In 1990, TSW followed the rest of the English ITV regions and aired five, half-hour episodes, Monday to Friday, at lunchtime until 1998.
- UTV dropped A Country Practice in early September 1998. At that particular point, UTV had been airing episodes only once a week - on Mondays - at 2:45pm, in a 30 minute slot. UTV had reached episodes from early 1993, season 13.
Satellite and Cable broadcasts
- In the mid-1980s, A Country Practice was a prime-time series on Sky Channel, airing twice a week at 20:00 from at least 1985. During August 1985, the series was screened at 19:20 and 20:10 on Tuesday and Thursday evenings in hour-long episodes and by 1986, it was screened at 20:00. The channel also screened The Sullivans and The Young Doctors. When the Sky Channel was launched on the new Astra 1A satellite in January 1989, it became Sky1 and A Country Practice was dropped from the schedule. For a brief period, later episodes were shown in 1997 on the cable channel Carlton Select.
Only the first 40 episodes have ever been repeated in the UK, and that was in 1998 when ITV contractor, Anglia Television, were the only region to repeat any episodes. Unlike other Australian soaps, which became cult viewing due to multiple runs; Prisoner was broadcast twice, first on ITV, and then Channel 5; The Sullivans also had two full runs, once on ITV and repeated on UK Gold; and also Sons and Daughters, which had three runs, first on ITV, then UK Gold, and finally, Channel 5 – A Country Practice has never been repeated in the UK or achieved the cult status of other soap operas of the same era.
European screenings[]
France[]
A Country Practice was named "À Coeur Ouvert".
Germany[]
A Country Practice was named Das Buschkrankenhaus (The Country Hospital), and aired on Sat 1 in 1985, and then on ARD from 1989 to 1991.[7]
Italy[]
A Country Practice was named "Wandin Valley".
Ireland[]
Episode one debuted on RTÉ Two on Monday, 23 September 1985 at 18:15 airing weekdays. Start time later moved to 18:30. RTE split each episode in two to fill a 30 minute slot. On 3rd October 1988, to make way for Home and Away, RTE moved ACP to the main channel RTÉ One, continuing weekdays at 17:30 in a 30 minute slot. The final episode (1088) aired on 13 February 1997.[8] Between 1998 and 2002, RTÉ rebroadcast seasons 8-10 (1988-1990). Episodes aired around midday and later moved to 09:30.
Norway[]
A Country Practice (called "Hverdagsliv") was broadcast on TV2 during the 1990s.
Africa[]
Kenya[]
A Country Practice was also transmitted on Kenyan Television (VoK now KBC) during the 1980s.
Zimbabwe[]
A Country Practice was broadcast on ZBC state television in the 1980s.
Oceania[]
New Zealand[]
A Country Practice was first transmitted on TV2 on the afternoon of Thursday 13 February 1986. Whereas the series was produced as two episodes per week in Australia, it was shown once a week on Thursdays at 2.30pm before moving to twice a week on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 6.30pm by 1987. By 1988, the series went back to once a week on Sundays at around 4pm, and by 1989 an additional episode was broadcast on Saturdays in the same timeslot. By 1990, A Country Practice screened on Channel 2 on Saturdays and Sundays at 5pm until it moved to TV One during the final months of 1991 replacing Fair Go, where it was shown once a week on Tuesdays at 7.30pm until the end of 1992.
North America[]
Canada[]
The entire series was broadcast, from start to finish, by CBC Television outlet CBET in Windsor, Ontario. Two episodes were broadcast daily, Monday through Friday, starting in the late 1980s, until they were caught up to contemporary episodes in the early 1990s. Its inclusion on CBET's schedule was out of necessity to fill a television schedule: because Windsor stations cannot carry programming licensed for broadcast in the United States. Most American programming that was part of the CBC schedule throughout Canada could not be broadcast by CBET and, thus, was replaced by programming imported from Britain and Australia. Many Australian soap operas, A Country Practice among them, have thus found loyal audiences in the Metro Detroit area, while they otherwise remain unknown in North America.
From 1991 to 1994, the show also aired on ASN, a cable network that served Canada's Maritimes. Four hour-long episodes aired each week, from Monday to Thursday with Monday's and Tuesday's episodes repeated on Saturday and Wednesday's and Thursday's episodes on Sunday. The station aired the show from episode 1 to somewhere in the early 700s.
ASN ceased carrying the show when specialty cable channel Showcase was launched on 1 January 1995, as they picked up A Country Practice for broadcast throughout Canada. It broadcast one episode daily, from Monday to Friday, and completed the entire series run (including the 30-episode Network Ten series) in June 1999. It began rebroadcasting the entire series on 28 June 1999, with promises that the entire series would be broadcast for those who missed the first airing. However, a single line of text scrolling across the bottom of the screen during 21 August 2000, episode announced that the show would be removed from the Showcase lineup as of Monday, 28 August 2000. According to the station's email autoresponse at the time, the decision was based on "declining viewership and a demand by viewers for more current programming". Sometime after that, Showcase changed their format to favour a less family-oriented and more adult-oriented viewership.
Novel[]
Series writer Judith Colquhoun, who also wrote episodes for other Australian serials, Blue Heelers, Neighbours and Home and Away released a novel in 2015. Called New Beginnings, it is based on the early episodes of the series from 1981. This was followed up by two further novels from the same author, To Everything a Season and Silver Linings.
DVD release[]
In late 2005, MRA Entertainment announced they had obtained the rights to release the entire series on DVD. In 2008, Magna Pacific Pty Ltd bought out MRA Entertainment, with plans to release Series 6, however the rights were then acquired by Beyond Home Entertainment which then re-released the first 5 seasons in 2007–2008, followed by Season 6 in 2010.[9] On 27 May 2020 Via Vision Entertainment announced they would be releasing season 11 on DVD on 26 August 2020.
Episodes | Discs | Licensed to | Released | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Season 1 | 1–14 | 4 | MRA Entertainment | 3 April 2006 |
Season 2, Part 1 | 15–44 | 6 | MRA Entertainment | 3 April 2006 |
Season 2, Part 2 | 45–106 | 12 | MRA Entertainment | 11 April 2007 |
Season 3, Part 1 | 107–148 | 12 | MRA Entertainment | 11 April 2007 |
Season 3, Part 2 | 149–190 | 12 | MRA Entertainment | 11 July 2007 |
Season 4, Part 1 | 191–236 | 12 | MRA Entertainment | 14 November 2007 |
Season 4, Part 2 | 237–280 | 12 | MRA Entertainment | 14 November 2007 |
Season 5, Part 1 | 281–318 | 12 | MRA Entertainment | 23 April 2008 |
Season 5, Part 2 | 319–356 | 12 | MRA Entertainment | 23 April 2008 |
Season 6, Part 1 | 357–400 | 11 | Beyond Home Entertainment | 7 April 2010 |
Season 6, Part 2 | 401–444 | 11 | Beyond Home Entertainment | 9 June 2010 |
Season 1 | 1–14 | 4 | Beyond Home Entertainment | 11 April 2007 |
Season 2 Part 1 | 15–44 | 6 | Beyond Home Entertainment | 11 April 2007 |
Season 2 Part 2 | 45–106 | 12 | Beyond Home Entertainment | 11 April 2007 |
Season 3 Part 1 | 107–148 | 12 | Beyond Home Entertainment | 11 April 2007 |
Season 3 Part 2 | 149–190 | 12 | Beyond Home Entertainment | 11 April 2007 |
Season 4 Part 1 | 191–236 | 12 | Beyond Home Entertainment | 14 November 2007 |
Season 4 Part 2 | 237–280 | 12 | Beyond Home Entertainment | 14 November 2007 |
Season 5 Part 1 | 281–318 | 12 | Beyond Home Entertainment | 16 April 2008 |
Season 5 Part 2 | 319–356 | 12 | Beyond Home Entertainment | 16 April 2008 |
Season 7, Part 1 | 445–488 | 11 | Beyond Home Entertainment | 5 October 2011 |
Season 7, Part 2 | 489–532 | 11 | Beyond Home Entertainment | 5 October 2011 |
The Early Years: Seasons 1–6 | 1–444 | 116 | Beyond Home Entertainment | 1 May 2013 |
Season 8, Part 1 | 533–576 | 11 | Beyond Home Entertainment | 2 January 2014 |
Season 8, Part 2 | 577–622 | 11 | Beyond Home Entertainment | 2 January 2014 |
Season 9, Part 1 | 623–666 | 11 | Beyond Home Entertainment | 5 March 2014 |
Season 9, Part 2 | 667–706 | 10 | Beyond Home Entertainment | 5 March 2014 |
Season 10, Part 1 | 707–750 | 11 | Beyond Home Entertainment | 28 April 2014 |
Season 10, Part 2 | 751–792 | 11 | Beyond Home Entertainment | 28 April 2014 |
The Middle Years: Seasons 7–10 | 445–792 | 87 | Beyond Home Entertainment | 28 April 2014 |
Season 11 | 793–882 | 22 | Via Vision Entertainment | 26 August 2020 |
Season 12 | 883–968 | 22 | Via Vision Entertainment | 21 October 2020 |
Season 13 | 969–1058 | 23 | Via Vision Entertainment | 2 December 2020 |
Season 14 | 1–30 | 8 | Via Vision Entertainment | 6 January 2021 |
Collection One | 1-148 | 34 | Via Vision Entertainment | 17 March 2021[10] |
Collection Two | 149-280 | 34 | Via Vision Entertainment | 21 April 2021 |
Collection Three | 281-400 | 35 | Via Vision Entertainment | 19 May 2021 |
Collection Four | 401-532 | 33 | Via Vision Entertainment | 21 July 2021 |
Collection Five | 533-666 | 34 | Via Vision Entertainment | 18 August 2021 |
Collection Six | 667-792 | 32 | Via Vision Entertainment | 22 September 2021 |
7plus Streaming Service[]
As of January 2021 Channel 7's streaming service 7plus has made Seasons 01-14 available
Title | Format | Episodes # | Release Date | Streaming Status | Special Features | Distributors |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A Country Practice (Season 01) | Streaming | Episodes 14 | 20 March 2020 | Currently Streaming | None | 7plus |
A Country Practice (Season 02) | Streaming | Episodes 93 | 20 March 2020 | Currently Streaming | None | 7plus |
A Country Practice (Season 03) | Streaming | Episodes 84 | 7 April 2020 | Currently Streaming | None | 7plus |
A Country Practice (Season 04) | Streaming | Episodes 90 | 14 May 2020 | Currently Streaming | None | 7plus |
A Country Practice (Season 05) | Streaming | Episodes 76 | 11 June 2020 | Currently Streaming | None | 7plus |
A Country Practice (Season 06) | Streaming | Episodes 88 | 9 July 2020 | Currently Streaming | None | 7plus |
A Country Practice (Season 07) | Streaming | Episodes 88 | 6 August 2020 | Currently Streaming | None | 7plus |
A Country Practice (Season 08) | Streaming | Episodes 90 | 3 September 2020 | Currently Streaming | None | 7plus |
A Country Practice (Season 09) | Streaming | Episodes 84 | 1 October 2020 | Currently Streaming | None | 7plus |
A Country Practice (Season 10) | Streaming | Episodes 86 | 29 October 2020 | Currently Streaming | None | 7plus |
A Country Practice (Season 11) | Streaming | Episodes 90 | 26 November 2020 | Currently Streaming | None | 7plus |
A Country Practice (Season 12) | Streaming | Episodes 86 | 15 December 2020 | Currently Streaming | None | 7plus |
A Country Practice (Season 13) | Streaming | Episodes 90 | 30 December 2020 | Currently Streaming | None | 7plus |
A Country Practice (Season 14) | Streaming | Episodes 30 | 24 February 2021 | Currently Streaming | None | 7plus |
See also[]
References[]
- ^ baybee. "A Country Practice (TV Series 1981–1993)". IMDb.
- ^ "Mr James Edmund Davern". It's An Honour. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
- ^ Jacinta Burke; Helen Wilson; Susanna Agardy (1983), "A Country Practice" and the child audience: a case study, Australian Broadcasting Tribunal, Melbourne. ISBN 0-642-87073-X
- ^ a b Bowles, Kate. Soap opera: 'No end of story, ever' in The Australian TV Book, (Eds. Graeme Turner and Stuart Cunningham), Allen & Unwin, St Leonards, NSW, 2000. ISBN 1-86508-014-4 p 127
- ^ "How Molly's death on A Country Practice touched the nation:'the writers' room was shedding tears'".
- ^ "TV Week Logie Awards – Past Winners". Yahoo!7 TV.
- ^ Das Buschkrankenhaus – fernsehserien.de
- ^ "RTÉ TV Listings 1981 – 1996". Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
- ^ "A Country Practice – Full Episode DVD Box Sets". www.acountrypractice.com. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
- ^ "A Country Practice - Collection 1 - DVD". Madman Entertainment. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
External links[]
- Wandin Valley Bush Nursing Hospital.
- Encyclopedia of Television.
- A Country Practice (Seven Network) at IMDb.
- A Country Practice (Network Ten) at IMDb.
- A Country Practice at the National Film and Sound Archive.
- "Holding the Mirror Up to Wendy" – Interview with Wendy Strehlow (2014)
- "Calm Life Mind" – Interview with Gavin Harrison (2015)
- Seven Network original programming
- Network 10 original programming
- Australian television soap operas
- Australian medical television series
- Television shows set in New South Wales
- Television shows set in Victoria (Australia)
- 1981 Australian television series debuts
- 1994 Australian television series endings