The Box (TV series)

"The Box" was an Australian soap opera than ran on Network Ten from 1974 until 1977.

Inspired by the success of soap opera "Number 96", Crawford Productions, then known for the highly popular police dramas they specialised in, launched "The Box", their first-ever soap opera, in February 1974. It was a naughty satire set in fictional television station UCV-12. Characters in the series were said to be modelled on Australian television figures of the day, and many self referential elements featured. Like "Number 96" the series was famous for its frequent nude glimpses and sexual content.

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The initial episodes emphasised sex, scandal, and the political machinations of station personnel. The first episode showed a sexy young woman seduce a male TV compere, pose for a nude centerfold with a male action-hero TV actor, and then be seduced by a scheming female journalist. This seduction featured Australian TV's first ever lesbian kiss. It was later revealed that the young woman was a 15-year-old schoolgirl.

The journalist in question was Vicki Stafford (Judy Nunn) who emerged as a popular character in the series. The show also featured a high-camp male homosexual, television producer Lee Whiteman (Paul Karo), and gossipy tea lady Mrs Hopkins (Lois Ramsey).

Along with constructing characters modelled on real-life Australian television figures of the day, "The Box" presented various fictional programs produced by UCV-12 that commented-on real-life Australian programs. Troubled action drama "Manhunt" with its accident-prone star Tony Wild (Ken James) was much like the police series produced by Crawfords at that time. Variety program "Big Night Out" was an "In Melbourne Tonight" style production, and later the medical drama "Mercy Flight" seemed connected to early Australian series "The Flying Doctor" (1959).

Behind the scenes

Initially "The Box" proved a huge hit, ranking as Australia's second most popular show in 1974. Thereafter the series toned-down the more controversial elements and more comic notes appeared.

The series was shot in the studios of ATV-10, initially in black and white but switching to colour in 1975. In its first year the series was broadcast as five half-hour episodes each week. Later the weekly output was reduced from two and a half hours of fresh material a week to two hours, and episodes would be broadcast in two one-hour blocks each week.

Feature film

A feature film of the same name was produced in colour in January 1975 featuring much the same cast as the series at that time along with Graham Kennedy playing himself, Cornelia Frances as Dr S M Winter, an efficiency expert brought in to improve operations at UCV-12, and Robin Ramsay as Winter's assistant. The film was shot on 35 mm on new sets at Crawford Productions' Abbotsford studios. It was released in August 1975.

The series continues

The series continued after the film, and soon the film's sets were moved to the television studios to be used in the series. In the show's storyline an office fire in October 1975 explained the change in appearance. Episodes screened as two, one-hour episodes each week throughout 1976.

Production on the series ended in April 1977 due to declining ratings and the closing episodes screened through 1977 in a late-night timeslot.

Cast

The original cast was: George Mallaby, Peter Regan, Fred 'Cul' Cullen, Belinda Giblin, Barrie Barkla, Helen Hemingway, Judy Nunn, Paul Karo, Ken James, Monica Maughan, Kay McFeeter, Graeme Blundell, Briony Behets, Fred Betts, Ken Snodgrass, Lois Ramsay. Later cast additions included Delvene Delaney, Luigi Villani, Tracy Mann, Jill Forster, John Stanton, Geraldine Turner, Cheryl Rixon, Noni Hazelhurst, Anne Louise Lambert, Maurie Fields, Don Barker, Penny Downie.

criptwriters

Key writers for the early episodes included Tom Hegarty, Don Battye and Jonathan Dawson.

See also

* List of Australian television series

External links

* [http://www.crawfords.com.au/libary/drama/box.shtml Crawford Productions]
* [http://members.ozemail.com.au/~fangora/thebox.html Aussie Soap Archive: The Box] — Overview and review
*
* [http://colsearch.nfsa.afc.gov.au/nfsa/search/summary/summary.w3p;adv=yes;group=;groupequals=;page=0;parentid=;query=Number%3A138047%20|%20Number%3A371342;querytype=;resCount=10 The Box at the National Film and Sound Archive]