ABC Classic Dramas Collection - The Memorable TV DVD Review

This August sees the release of some of Australian TV's best loved shows, unleashed from the ABC archives is a whole raft of excellent TV from the golden age. We take a look at the shows below.
PALACE OF DREAMS 3 Disc Set \| 500 mins \|PG One of ABC's most ambitious drama serial ever telling the story of the Mendel family, owners of the working class Sydney Hotel the Dundee Palace, seen through the eyes of writer Tom Raynor who lives in the hotel this is gorgeous stuff, fully involving and beautifully shot, Michael O'Neill headlines as Tom but Henri Szeps steals the serial with his portrayal of head of the Mendel household Mick. The exterior shots of the pub were filmed at the Olympic Hotel in Darlinghurst. Very attractively packaged in a digipack slipcase the 3 disc set also includes an interview with producer Sandra Levy.	I CAN JUMP PUDDLES 3 Disc Set \| 445 mins \| PG Wonderfully heart warming and based on the true story of Alan Marshall I Can Jump Puddles tells the varied life of crippled writer Marshall from his humble farm beginnings in Western Victoria, through working in a boot factory in Melbourne onto his mixing with crooks and prostitutes on his way to becoming a writer. Tracing 20 years in his life from the ages of 11-31 (young Adam Garnett is great as the teenaged Alan and deservedly won a logie for best Juvenile actor), beautifully produced and very evocative Puddles is a classic slice of Aussie drama, again very nicely put together and very collectable.
SCALES OF JUSTICE 2 Disc set \| 228 mins \| M15+ These three linked dramas about corruption in the corridors of power and the police force proved highly contentious and controversial when first broadcast back in 1983, the dramas focused on a young probationary in The Job, a pair of drug squad detectives in The Game and a naive attorney general in The Numbers, very well made and with a top flight cast (including Bill Hunter, John Meillon, Nick Tate and John Hargreaves) the plays provoked a great deal of debate in the media and watching them today seem even more relevant and would have to be marked down as essential viewing.	RIDE ON STRANGER 208 mins \| M15+ Great mix of videotaped interiors and location shooting on film give Ride on Stranger the classic feel, telling of 8 years in the life of Shannon Jones (Liddy Clark) growing up in the depressed 1930's as naive teenager in a country town to becoming a woman in the changing political scene of Sydney. Peter Yeldham turns in an excellent script based on Kylie Tennant's 1943 novel, watch for Noni Hazlehurst as the easy going Beryl and some great Blue Mountains scenery, it really is the kind of production the ABC excel and the kind of production that needs to make a comeback.
LUCINDA BRAYFORD 200 mins \| PG Wendy Hughes proves she is one of Australia's best actresses every time she appears on screen, Lucinda Brayford, made in 1980, would have to be among her best work, based on the novel by Martin Boyd Brayford tells the story of Lucinda Vane who marries aide de camp to the Governor of Melbourne Hugo Brayford but has things turn sour on her when the couple move to England just after the end of world war one, Lucinda proves herself to be a modern independent woman though and despite the trial thrown at her manages to overcome them, a straight forward story well told Lucinda Brayford and Hughes is first class, she ages throughout the production from 18 to 45 and of course there is an early role for the brilliant Sam Neill. Good stuff.	COME IN SPINNER 2 Disc Set \|213 mins \| M15+ With it's evocative soundtrack by Vince Jones, Come in Spinner is a world war two drama about three women who work in a beauty salon situated inside the famous Sydney hotel The South Pacific, the girls Ckare, Deb and Ginny have their lives changed forever during one week in the life of the hotel, Lisa Harrow, Kerry Armstrong and Rebecca Gibney headline as the three girls, none of the three have particularly easy lives Clare for example is pregnant to a married officer whilst Deb is trapped in a loveless marriage and Ginny too has more than her fair share of man trouble. Come in Spinner, made in 1990, really captures its period well, it is lavish of budget and other big names in the cast include Gary Sweet, Justine Clarke and Bryan Marshall. It's a drama well worth watching.
EDEN'S LOST 180 mins \| M15+ Based on the novel by Sumner Locke Elliott Eden's Lost charts the story of 17 year old Angus Weekes growing up in the 1930's Blue Mountains of Sydney, he finds himself drawn into the world of the wealthy St James family and the 3 part story is mainly concerned with his relationships with the 3 women of the household, Eve, Bea and Stevie, becoming a kind of confidant to them and gradually coming to realise how manipulative and destructive their lives actually are, Sumner Locke Elliott always wrote strong roles for women and Eden's Lost is no exception and despite Angus being the lead the story really belongs to the three girls especially the destructive Eve, again it looks fantastic, full of period detail and manages to pull you in very nicely.	THE LEAVING OF LIVERPOOL 205 mins \| M15+ During the 1950's the British Government decided it would be a good idea to ship out thousands of orphans to the farthest reaches of the empire, many of them came to Australia and more than a few of them suffered harsh treatment at the hands of their new foster parents, this fantastic production focuses on two of these orphans, Lilly and Bert who end up in a labour camp and then working on a sheep station, harsh and uncompromising and certainly not offering your standard happy ending, The Leaving of Liverpool did much on its first broadcast in 1992 to shed new light on the child migration schemes of the post war years, big of budget this is heart wrenching but supremely watchable drama.