I remember when they blew up the Mt. Thomas police station and killed off Jo Parrish (Jane Allsop’s character). All in a bid to increase viewership which they were losing to McLeod’s Daughters.
Those shows weren’t competing against each other though. But Blue Heelers had dropped in the ratings considerably and McLeod’s Daughter was more popular at that stage.
I also think Seven’s decision to axe Blue Heelers was linked to them regaining the broadcasting rights to AFL and Supercars from 2007. But by the end of the noughties decade, it became clear that television viewing habits was about to change, if it hadn’t already.
I heard just before Covid that Ten were considering a Blue Heelers reboot and that it would be a carry on from the original series, with Tom (John Wood) having retired as a police officer and PJ (Martin Sacks) as acting senior sergeant and Nick (William McInnes) returning in early episodes with a rough synopsis that Mt Thomas station was being considered for closure featuring Russell Falcon-Price (Neil Pilot) fighting against Monica Draper (Peta Dodson) to keep Mt Thomas station. The storyline would take one of two directions- if the series was renewed beyond the first season that a new sergeant would be appointed, if it failed, Mt Thomas station closes into St David’s station.
The fact that it didn’t happen may have been due to Covid, change of Ten ownership or if they couldn’t get things logistically right (possibly not getting actors to commit) may have been the reasons. A lost opportunity if it was a fact and not just a rumour.
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Found this rare video of Alicia Gorey (as she was known back then) presenting ABC News Western Australia in 2008.
Courtesy: Simply Retro Vintage Company
On the topic of Barry Hall’s tribunal appearance, I can recall Tony Jones presenting a live update from Sydney at about 8:00pm Sydney/Melbourne time when the verdict (he was suspended for seven matches) was announced.
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Flashback on tonight’s news was about BTQ’s history - 65 years on 1 November
65 years ago this week, a switch was thrown and Channel Seven was on air in Brisbane for the very first time. Tonight, a Flashback on ourselves. https://t.co/VZ3A1cGXPF @MaxFutcher #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/sMjfWSo5eh
— 7NEWS Brisbane (@7NewsBrisbane) October 27, 2024
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BTQ is very lucky to still have so many items from the past.
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Looks familiar to the one used by ATN7.
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It’s a fake, mocked up for the 40 years of television special in 1996. They did the same mock up for HSV
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Helps that they keep the archives for the whole network there.
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That’s because all of the networks archives are constantly being digitised at BTQ. Much of the old archives at the Nine and Ten networks are sitting idol.
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Clearly, the seven staff wouldn’t have any idea. Sad really.
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Much “archive” stuff is actually later re-creations because the real thing was either not kept or was kept but later junked. The much better B/W era of Number 96 is largely lost because it was felt people would no longer watch B/W
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when you say “much”… How much do you actually mean?
We obviously know that TCN9’s “Good evening and Welcome to Television” is a re-creation. But I would not go as far as to say that “much” archive material is re-creations??
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I was being slightly hyperbolic but there would obviously be more besides your Seven example and TCN9’s duplicity that have not been detected or exposed even going by pure probabilities.
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I think because over time different methods of recording took place, we have seen footage of differing qualities and some as a consequence of time have deteriorated. Even if you think about how the old VHS and Beta cassettes faired over time, depending on how they were stored deteriorated to the extent they could no longer be played.
I have some black and white dvds and you notice the quality difference between say Beverley Hillbillies as opposed to something more recent like Married With Children and even compare the latter with the tv series Superstore or even another more recent dvd recording.
Some may have been recreated to the best of their abilities and some recovered with obvious glitches.
A good example of a television program with lost episodes is British comedy Dads Army. On the dvd releases there are audio recordings of the “lost” episodes. Unfortunately those episodes have never been re-recorded or even made with more recent actors to illustrate how they would have been played. Talented British actor, David Jason could have played a convincing Captain Mainwaring, even thought he is a significantly different build to original actor, Arthur Lowe.
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SBS claiming 50 year anniversary next year based on the start dates for 2EA and 3EA.
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A post was merged into an existing topic: Nine News and Current Affairs
And most of the home tapers were kids so a lot of now-missing TV and radio that appealed to their parents does not survive even in audio form.