The Truckies
The Truckies is an Australian television drama which first screened on the ABC in 1978. The Truckies was about the pressures of life on the road for transport driver Chris and his wife Carol.[1]
The Truckies | |
---|---|
Genre | Drama |
Country of origin | Australia |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 13 |
Production | |
Executive producer | Oscar Whitbread |
Running time | 60 minutes |
Release | |
Original network | ABC |
Original release | 31 July – 16 October 1978 |
Cast
- Michael Aitkens as Chris
- John Wood as Stokey
- Colleen Hewett as Carol
- Michael Carman as Jeff
- Frank Wilson as Wally
- John Ewart as Spanner
- Lois Ramsey as Dora
Production
It was executive produced by Oscar Whitbread and was made by several of the team behind the TV show Power Without Glory.[2]
Critique
John Wood later recalled: "I thought it was a tremendously innovative show, but it came aground on the reef of ABC internal politics. Obviously there were things wrong with it, and I guess by going for truthfulness they stuffed up in a sense, because one of the problems in driving along in a truck and doing different angles and two shots and reverses is that it's totally impossible to match the engine revs at any time. But apart from that problem of not being able to match the soundtrack, I thought it was a wonderful show. Unfortunately it caused a lot of havoc, because the guy who took over as head of drama in Sydney had been an ex-sound recordist, and he regarded it as beneath his 'golden standard', so he was very willing to sabotage it. And it was a great excuse for the Sydney mob to say you stuffed up down there."[3]
References
- http://www.australiantelevision.net/the-truckies/
- "TELEVISION That tedious cleric trundled out again". The Canberra Times. 52 (15, 657). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 4 August 1978. p. 17. Retrieved 29 February 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
- http://www.classicaustraliantv.com/INTVWJohnWood.htm
External links
- The Truckies at Australian Television Information Archive
- The Truckies at IMDb