KIDS IN THE DANGER ZONE
What sort of parent would take their three-year-old boy abseiling down a dizzyingly-high sheer rock face or allow their young children to climb down one of the deadliest mountains in the world? Well, it turns out a growing number of parents around the world are doing just that – leading their children headlong into the face of danger. It’s all in the name of extreme parenting – mums and dads who are ruling anything online out of bounds and declaring the only way to raise well-balanced children is outside in the real world on a white-knuckle adventure. It’s a high-risk world that many other parents will find way too perilous. But extreme parents are claiming success against a raft of behavioural issues. It’s all about the bruises, the bumps, the bleeding knees – but the critics of extreme parenting, including some paediatricians and child psychologists, say exposing your child to such danger is not worth the risk, and dispute the evidence that the activities foster a better kid. Sunday Night’s PJ Madam meets the parents taking their kids deep into the danger zone.
HEALING HANA
Hana Tarrif is a desperately sick little girl running out of time and answers. In a cruel twist, a childhood operation to save her life solved one health emergency, but unleashed a medical drama that may kill her. So she’s been through more in her seven young years than most of us will go through in a lifetime. Twice she’s had to leave her home in Sydney to travel overseas for controversial medical procedures that her parents hope will help save her. Hana’s medical nightmare began in 2014. After undergoing surgery to remove a tumour on her brain, she was left with a rare side effect – she was unable to stop eating. Within 18 months Hana’s weight had tripled. Unable to find help in Australia, her parents took her to Egypt for an operation to try and get her weight down, and then Canada for experimental laser surgery. Now, her parents are on a global race to find a way to keep their young daughter alive. Sunday Night’s Denham Hitchcock is with them.
MARTIN BRYANT
With the 20th Anniversary of the Port Arthur massacre six-weeks away, our report on Martin Bryant has shone a new light on a bleak chapter in our recent history. It was the first time we’d heard from Bryant, an experience that some found painful and confronting. For many others, it offered important insight into the mind of Australia’s worst mass murderer and the dreadful plight of his victims. Those police interviews have also raised new questions about the senseless loss of 35 lives. Just how did a young Martin Bryant get his hands on those guns? And many have also asked this: was he mentally fit to stand trial? This week, more never-before-aired material from Bryant’s police interview will give startling new insights into his character and his appalling rampage. Mike Willesee’s exclusive report on what Bryant told police 20 years ago will answer man
WHEN A MAN BECOMES A WOMAN
To thousands of clients he’s a high profile and highly successful businessman. His friends and family know him as a loyal mate, a great father and a loving husband. He heads a flourishing Australian financial advisory firm and his expertise and services are sought by thousands across the country and around the world. So a great deal is at stake as this highflyer reveals that he is becoming a she. It’s been a secret he’s carried for most of his life. He’s wrestled with his gender issues, fought them, tried to suppress them and eventually accepted and celebrated them. Revealing his secret to friends and family was daunting and painful but ultimately liberating. The reception ranged from shock and surprise to ‘so what!’, but everyone who mattered has come to support the transition. But will his long list of clients old and new be so accepting? Will it deal a damaging blow to his extensive business interests? We’ve seen others reveal their “secret” and change their gender very publicly; Cher’s daughter, Chaz Bono, became a man. American Olympic legend Bruce Jenner became Caitlyn. Sunday Night’s Rahni Sadler has been granted remarkable access to this very sensitive journey all the way through to his brave and very public revelation, and brings us a powerful and controversial story for our times.
A SOLDIER AND THE SEA
Anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and a long list of mental and behavioural issues are generally targeted by drug therapy which can be hit or miss and, in turn, trigger a range of side effects. But is there an enduring, profound and natural alternative surrounding us? Science suspects there is. The sea. And more specifically, its waves. The latest research is aimed at understanding why spending time in the surf is bringing profound relief to those with mental health issues and helping to sooth conditions like attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism. The US Army is using surf therapy to help mend broken soldiers returning from warzones with crippling PTSD and it’s having a significant impact. Here in Australia, digger James Milliss is haunted by the demons of PTSD, while his son Johnny is autistic. James discovered by accident what science is trying to formally discern - that he and Johnny get amazing relief from their conditions by spending time in the surf. Sunday Night’s Denham Hitchcock takes us to the frontiers of brain research and to some of the world’s most stunning surf spots to reveal how it works. Along the way he becomes the first person ever to have brain activity measured in real time while riding a wave. The results are revealing. And at the forefront of this effort to understand the healing power of waves is the master of them himself. Eleven-time world surfing champion Kelly Slater is an ambassador for surfing therapy and he reveals why he also believes the power the ocean can be harnessed to conquer many ills. He also makes James Milliss’ dream come true, surfing with him on some spectacular breaks near Kelly’s home in Hawaii.
I watched the first half of tonight’s show for the feature on investment adviser Daniel Kertcher who dressed as Savannah before he met his future wife, and later became a woman full time. Powerful story.
I haven’t seen the report, but personally I think that if these sorts of stories on mainstream TV programs like Sunday Night (and also that one about a transgender child on Inside Story a few weeks back) encourage transgender people to come out and seek support and also get the general public understanding that these people are perfectly normal and just want to be accepted for their choices, then surely it must be a good thing?
Transgender stories seem to be in vogue lately but I found that subject infinitely more worthwhile than Denham Hitchcock’s wankfest dressed up as a story on PTSD. Can’t believe the EP couldn’t see through that as as an excuse for Hitchcock to go surfing on the company’s time when the reporter pitched that story idea. Exercise releases endorphins and is beneficial to mental health. Who knew?
The Japanese swear by it, Hollywood is embracing it, and now it’s heading our way. It’s called Cryotherapy – the health therapy that takes just three minutes and involves exposing yourself to the coldest temperatures on earth, a mind boggling minus 140 centigrade. But its proponents argue that it’s well worth it. They say it slows down the ageing process, burns calories and can even help improve your mental health – claims that have won over a legion of famous film stars and top-shelf sporting names who are all lining up to spend time in a super-cold mist of liquid nitrogen. But there are some in the scientific community who say it is nothing more than a health fad and that nature is just as effective at delivering cold as a cure all. With the first cryotherapy facility about to open in Australia, Sunday Night’s PJ Madam takes a cold hard look at the business of freezing your way to good health and investigates the case of the young woman in America who died while using a cryo machine.
THE OTHER ELVIS
As an up-and-coming singer-songwriter in the English music scene back in the 1970s, Declan Patrick MacManus felt that his name didn’t quite match his amazing talent. So he became Elvis Costello, a name that is forever linked to some of the biggest hits of the time: Watching the Detectives, I Don’t Want to go to Chelsea and the hauntingly beautiful ballad Alison. Nearly four decades later, Elvis is a musician still at the top of his game – a member of rock royalty with mates like Bruce Springsteen, Sting and Sir Elton John. The prolific performer has just released a book about his life and is now planning another world tour with Australia included. Sunday Night’s Alex Cullen caught up with Elvis to hear about one of his early tours down under which ended in a riot and the master musician’s unlikely fascination with an iconic Aussie bushman.
This edition of SUNDAY NIGHT hosted by Melissa Doyle airs on Sunday at 7.00pm on Seven.
JUSTICE FOR BABY CHLOE
What would you do if you left your child with a babysitter and two days later she was dead? What would you do if the babysitter was charged with child homicide and was later acquitted? And what would you do if an inquest later found that your 10-month-old daughter most likely died because of the babysitter? You’d want justice. But for Melbourne parents Anthony and Kat Murphy, that may never happen. It’s now been six years since their baby Chloe died. Six years since a precious night out together ended with them rushing their daughter to hospital with what turned out to be massive – and fatal – brain damage. Three weeks ago the final chapter in Chloe’s very short life was written. The coronial inquiry heard from nine expert witnesses, who all gave testimony leading the coroner to conclude that, on the balance of probabilities, the babysitter caused the fatal injuries. But under our legal system, the prime suspect will most likely never be brought before a court of law again. In this special Sunday Night investigation, Denham Hitchcock speaks exclusively to Anthony and Kat Murphy about their fight for justice and hears compelling evidence from one of the key experts who has no doubt who was responsible for baby Chloe’s death.
THE HONEY BADGER’S TOP ADVENTURE
He’s as well known for his quirky one-liners as he is for his ability to sniff out a try. But the man who fires off his zingers quicker than a rat up a drainpipe has a side to him that will greatly surprise. For football superstar and Olympic Sevens hopeful Nick Cummins has a very personal goal in his life: to help two of his seven siblings battle a terminal illness and to be a loving son to his dying dad. To do that, the man they call the Honey Badger has taken dad Mark and two of his brothers to one of the wildest and most beautiful places in Australia – the Kimberley. It’s been high on his dad’s bucket list so for a week they sampled the wild delights of our remote north west. But amongst the fishing, the swimming and the high jinx, Sunday Night guest reporter Simon Reeve witnessed great moments of love and tenderness between a father and son who know their time together is fast running out.
This edition of SUNDAY NIGHT hosted by Melissa Doyle airs on Sunday at 8.30pm on Seven.
Mike Willesee interviews Kerri Anne Kennerley this week, she will talk for the first time about her husband’s recent freak accident. This interview is sure to be a tear jerker
[quote=“Salty, post:29, topic:862, full:true”]
Mike Willesee interviews Kerri Anne Kennerley this week, she will talk for the first time about her husband’s recent freak accident. This interview is sure to be a tear jerker
[/quote] Can’t wait to watch this interview yet you really wonder if it is sincere. I know Willesee said he is close friends with KAK but was it a fight to see who could get the first interview?
@nationalnews from what l’ve read there was a bidding war with Nine for this interview. And most likely Kerri Anne approved who will conduct the interview.
The veteran television personality has signed an exclusive interview contract with the Seven Network’s Sunday Night worth in the region of $350,000 sources close to Kennerley confirmed on Tuesday.
Kennerley’s manager Sean Anderson refused to comment on the agreed figure but is believed to have brokered the deal following a fierce bidding battle between the Seven and Nine Networks.
THE POWER OF LOVE
She is one of Australia’s most enduring and loved personalities. She’s unstoppable, irrepressible, unbreakable. Until now. Kerri-Anne Kennerley has suffered a shocking blow and it’s going to take all her famous energy and stoicism to keep going. But she knows she must, for the sake of her husband – the love of her life – John. John sustained catastrophic injuries in an otherwise simple fall at a golf club in coastal New South Wales in March. He fractured vertebrae in his neck, suffered profound paralysis and is breathing with the aid of a ventilator. Kerri-Anne is by his side in an intensive care unit in Sydney every day, willing a recovery but she knows their life together will never be the same again. In an emotion-charged Sunday Night special, reported by long-time family friend Mike Willesee, we see Kerri-Anne like we’ve never seen her before, coming to terms with a life inexorably altered, mustering courage and fortitude by John’s side, bravely assessing the challenges of the days, weeks and months ahead, then dissolving into tears and despair as she mourns the terrible injuries to her husband and the impact it has had on their joyous time together. John has been her rock, now Kerri-Anne must summon every ounce of her own strength and resourcefulness to be the rock for John in his time of need.
LIGHTS, CAMERA, RACING!
“It’s an amazing story. It’s National Velvet isn’t it, she’s our National Velvet”. That’s how celebrated Australian actor Rachel Griffiths interpreted Michelle Payne’s breakthrough win in last November’s Melbourne Cup. And with her considerable Hollywood clout, Rachel set about securing the film rights to Michelle’s story. Rachel says after she ‘stalked’ Michelle at a Sydney race meeting, a warm friendship developed between one of our most-loved and respected Hollywood actors and one of our biggest and newest sporting heroes. And doubtless Rachel will be using National Velvet – the Hollywood classic starring Elizabeth Taylor as a girl who took on the boys and won – as inspiration for Michelle’s big screen story. On Sunday Night Melissa Doyle walks the track with Rachel and Michelle and discovers they have more in common than one might imagine, including the shared experience of being catapulted into the national and international spotlight – Rachel via her performance in the Aussie classic Muriel’s Wedding and Michelle aboard Prince of Penzance in the Cup. Michelle says in a candid interview: “As a jockey you dream to win the Melbourne Cup but you don’t prepare yourself for what might happen after that, and that’s an absolute whirlwind.” Rachel adds: “My first movie was hugely loved and literally, one Friday, nobody ever looked at me and then on Monday I had people double taking. It’s a very strange experience.” On Sunday Night we learn Michelle is keen to get back to racing full time and why she’s pushing Rachel to give her brother Stevie a role playing himself in the Hollywood movie.
This edition of SUNDAY NIGHT hosted by Melissa Doyle airs on Sunday at 8.30pm on Seven.
[quote=“TV.Cynic, post:36, topic:862”]
Sunday 10 April at 8:30pm
THE POWER OF LOVE
[/quote] Good interview besides the situation I will explain in a moment. It made me release, how much I miss Kerri-Anne on our screens, why did Nine axed Mornings with Kerri-Anne when regularly it was rating better than the current Mornings version. Such a Television Icon. I wish her and John the best of hope and for a speedy recovery.
[quote=“nationalnews, post:30, topic:862”]
you really wonder if it is sincere. I know Willesee said he is close friends with KAK
[/quote] Interesting that Mike said on Weekend Sunrise that he did two interviews with Kerri-Anne, in response to Kerri-Anne’s braveness. Willesee said the first interview she was brave, answered all the questons professionally. He furthermore stated that they watched the interview and weren’t happy with it so went back to KAK and asked her to show more emotions. Not sure her nor John’s best interests were at heart.
It was an emotional interview with Kerri-Anne, but I think Mike got some dates wrong. He said KAK got her own show in 1985 (with footage of her Midday show on Nine) but she was hosting Good Morning Australia on Ten at the time.
Wow! All the big points to take out of the interview.
I too felt something was off with the sincerity of the interview. I dont for a second take anything away from Kerri-Anne and her emotions through this time, but something didnt feel right and felt a little staged. Interesting to hear this info today.
I gave up when the story got to its second ad break and we were given a teaser for the next segment which showed KA in tears. It looked very staged, like she was told to ramp it up. I switched off at that point I have all sympathy for them and their situation but this was just drawn out. I suppose Seven wanted to get its money’s worth but I’m not sure it justified as much airtime as it got.
