''Adventure Unlimited'' is a 1965 Australian anthology TV series. It was produced by Lee Robinson and associate produced by

Joy Cavill Joy Cavill (1923–1 March 1990) was an Australian screenwriter and producer. Biography She worked in radio for a number of years before breaking into films as continuity person on ''King of the Coral Sea'' (1954). This film started an associati ...

. The directors included

Ken Hannam Ken Hannam (12 July 1929 – 16 November 2004) was an Australian film and television director who also worked in British television drama. Career Born in St Kilda, Melbourne, the eldest of three boys, Hannam lived in his youth in Sydney and ...

. It was made by Waratah Film Productions a short lived company that came out of an unsuccessful attempt to gain a third commercial television licence. It has been described as "surprisingly obscure" considering the talent involved.

Broadcast history

The series was made in 1963, but was not shown in Sydney until 1965, airing on Channel Ten on Friday nights at 7.30. An episode appears to have aired on Thursday, 30 September 1965. It was not seen in Melbourne until 1968, where it started 15 September. It sold to Canadian television and screened there in 1965.

Episode 1 - "Summer Affair"

Directed by Ken Hannam, written by

Michael Plant Michael Plant (1930–1965) was an Australian screenwriter, actor and producer best known for co-creating ''Whiplash''. ''The Bulletin'' said on his death in 1965 that Plant "had left as big an impression on Australian viewing habits as any one m ...

and Evan Green. Filmed by Carl Kayser and Ron Taylor. Set on

Hayman Island Hayman Island is the most northerly of the Whitsunday Islands, off the coast of Central Queensland in the locality of Whitsundays in the Whitsunday Region, Queensland, Australia. The island is . It is a private island open to the public, most ...

. A drama involving a rich heiress, her husband and a pretty young singer. Aired Sydney 10 December 1965.

Cast

Tom Oliver Tom Oliver (born 12 June 1938) is a British-born Australian retired actor who started his career in theatre in his native country, before emigrating to Australia. Oliver, a staple of the small screen since the early 1960s, is best known for h ...

Clarissa Kaye Clarissa Kaye (2 August 193121 July 1994) was an Australian stage, film and television actress. She was the second wife (1971–1984) of the British actor James Mason. After her marriage, she was often known as Clarissa Kaye-Mason. Biography ...

Ron Haddrick Ronald Norman Haddrick (9 April 1929 – 11 February 2020) was an Australian actor, cricketer, narrator and presenter. In 2012, he received the Actors Equity Lifetime Achievement Award for his long and distinguished career in media, spanning s ...

*Gabrielle Hartley

Episode 2 - "The Witness"

Written by

, directed by Robin Lovejoy. Set in Papua New Guinea – a nun from a Roman Catholic mission on the upper Sepik River was the witness to a murder in Sydney years before, and her testimony could result in a conviction. The story centres around plots to kill her while the police try to bring her back to testify. Aired in Sydney on 5 November 1965.

Cast

Owen Weingott Owen Ash Weingott (21 June 1921 – 12 October 2002) was an Australian actor, director and drama teacher. Although primarily working in theatre, he appeared on radio and television in serials and made for television films and voice overs. Weingo ...

*Janette Craig * Bob McDarra *Don Philps *Bell Meek *Mike Maxwell

Episode 3 - "Adventure Unlimited"

Directed by

Robin Lovejoy Robin Casper Lovejoy, OBE (17 December 1924 – 14 December 1985) was an Australian director, actor, and designer best known for his work on television and in theatre. He was one of Australia's leading theatre directors of the 1960s and 197 ...

. Photography by Carl Kayser and Ron Taylor. Set on the Great Barrier reef – two divers are commissioned by a steel company to survey the sands of a section of coast for limestone in the sands – the area is full of sharks and divers go on a shark killing spree when a strange boat turns up with armed men on board. The men steal the divers' boat and proceed to hunt them. The divers ambush them on their own boat and take them prisoner. It turns out they are bringing in illegal aliens. Aired Sydney 22 October 1965. The episode was reviewed in the ''Sydney Morning Herald''.

Kylie Tennant Kathleen Kylie Tennant AO (; 12 March 1912 – 28 February 1988) was an Australian novelist, playwright, short-story writer, critic, biographer, and historian. Early life and career Tennant was born in Manly, New South Wales; she was educate ...

said "besides being dull it was slow."

Cast

Murray Rose Iain Murray Rose, (6 January 1939 – 15 April 2012) was an Australian swimmer, actor, sports commentator and marketing executive. He was a six-time Olympic medalist (four gold, one silver, one bronze), and at one time held the world records ...

Richard Meikle Richard Meikle (10 October 1929 – 2 June 1991) was an Australian actor who worked extensively in film, theatre, and radio. He was the father of writer Sam Meikle. Career Meikle began his career as a stage actor. His first recorded role was in ...

Chips Rafferty John William Pilbean Goffage MBE (26 March 190927 May 1971), known professionally as Chips Rafferty, was an Australian actor. Called "the living symbol of the typical Australian", Rafferty's career stretched from the late 1930s until his death ...

*Alexander Cann *Ray Teale *Frank Bailey *Snow Johansen

Episode 4 – "The Coastwatcher"

Directed by

. The story of coast watcher Arthur Reginald Evans (

Fred Parslow Frederick Henry Parslow (14 August 1932 – 26 January 2017) was an Australian actor, who appeared in film, television and theatre. Acting career Parslow was notable in several film and TV roles, with parts in internationally successful TV so ...

), who helped safe the lives of

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

and the PT 109 crew after their boat was sliced in two by a Japanese destroyed in the Bracket Strait. Aired Sydney 19 November 1965

Cast

as Arthur Evans

Episode 5 – "Crocodile"

Written by Lee Robinson and directed by Robin Lovejoy. Aired in Sydney 29 October 1965.

Premise

Two crocodile hunters are on the trail of Melangie, a giant crocodile valued at £500 if it can be captured alive. The plans go astray when three American women tourists arrive in Arnhem land. They are to record the mating call of the crocodile.

Cast

Gwen Plumb Gwendoline Jean Plumb AM BEM (2 August 1912 – 5 June 2002), was an Australian performer of international appeal, actress and comedian active in literally every form of the art genre, (except circus) including revue, pantomime, vaudeville, in ...

*Mick Larkin *Sophie Stewart *Bonnie Walker

Production

Gwen Plumb wrote in her memoirs that the episode was shot in 1961 in East Arnhem Land, 200 km from Darwin. Plumb wrote "we were told it was a rich man's safari camp where brave sportsmen from all over the world, and particularly America, shot crocodiles, water buffaloes, kangaroos - anything that moved. So Sophie tewartand I packed a couple of cocktail frocks. It was the biggest dump you could ever imagine."Plumb p 155 Plumb says conditions were unsanitary, water buffalo would wanted through the camp at will", and the camp 'was run by a looney called Alan Stewart who wore a pistol in his belt." A crocodile was brought in from the aquarium in Darwin and Plumb says it passed out in the heat. She enjoyed filming at a lagoon, and a plane that flew in beer every night. "One night it didn't and we mutinied till they send another," wrote Plumb.

Episode 6 – "The Buffalo Hunters"

Written by Cecil Holmes. Producer and directed by Lee Robinson. Filmed on the Northern Territory in West Arnhem Land – starring Grant Taylor as Ted Abbott, one of the Territory's leading buffalo hunters. The

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

listed this as episode 8 but it was the first (possibly second) episode aired in Sydney, on 8 October 1965.

Cast

*Grant Taylor as Ted Abbott *Jacqueline Knott *Gay Hartley as Julie Tamar *Alan Stewart as Sam Saunders *Yorkie Tilly as himself *

Leonard Teale Leonard George Thiele AO (26 September 192214 May 1994), professionally Leonard Teale, was a well-known Australian actor of radio, television and film and radio announcer, presenter and narrator known for his resonant baritone voice. He is be ...

Episode 7 – "The Silver Backed Brushes"

It was directed by Ken Hannam and shot by Bill Grimmond and Carl Kayser. Set in 1942 in Madang, Papua New Guinea, about the Australian Army Women's Medical Service. It tells the true story of nurse Margaret Evans (Mary Reynolds), and her brief marriage to an Airforce pilot (

) which lasted only minutes, as he was killed shielding her with his body during an air raid immediately after the wedding. Written by Joyce Spelling (former colonel in chief of the Australian Women's Auxiliary), directed by

. It screened 3 December 1965 in Sydney and 13 October 1968 in Melbourne. Filming took place in New Guinea. It was one of the first professional roles in Australia for Tom Oliver who called the result "awful. Terrible."

Cast

*Mary Reynolds as Margaret Evans *

*John Armstrong *

Jeanie Drynan Jeanie Drynan is an Australians, Australian film and television actress well known for her roles in the television series ''Class of '74'' and in the 1994 film ''Muriel's Wedding''. She may be best known to international viewers for her role a ...

*Judith Arthy *Mike Thomas *

Thelma Scott Thelma Marjorie Scott (17 June 1913 – 23 November 2006) was an Australian character actress whose six-decade career in theatre, radio, film and Australian made her one of her country's most recognisable and beloved personalities. Having st ...

Episode 8- "Uncontrolled Territory"

Directed by

. Set in the highlands of Papua New Guinea – a young Australian patrol officer who leads his party to search for the survivors of a plane crash near the Indonesian border. He becomes the first white man to contact a tribe of cannibals. Aired Sydney: 15 October 1965

Cast

Reg Livermore Reginald Dawson Livermore (born 11 December 1938) is an Australian actor, singer, theatrical performer and former television presenter. Childhood From a young age, Livermore demonstrated an interest in the performing arts. Regular outings to ...

*Chris Christensen

Episode 9 – "Camel Patrol"

Written by Brian Wright and Lee Robinson. Directed by Robin Lovejoy. Set in the

Finke River The Finke River, or ''Larapinta'' (Arrernte), is a river in central Australia, one of four main rivers of the Lake Eyre Basin and thought to be the oldest riverbed in the world. It flows for only a few days a year and when this happens, its wate ...

district (NT) – a young officer takes over the district and undertakes a nine-week camel patrol where he realises the use of the camel and local trackers. Aired Sydney 26 November 1965.

Cast

*Neil Fitzpatrick *Tubba Tubba *Jessica Noad

Episode 10 - "The Rivals"

Directed by

. Set in Mt. Hagen in P.N.G. – a district show takes place and sees a feud between two coffee growers, Gordan Gillespie (Alexander Archdale) and Bob Cole (Chips Rafferty) with Gordons' boss boy as prize. The competition is a draw & the Bossboy goes off to start his own plantation. Aired in Sydney 12 November 1965.

Cast

Alexander Archdale Alexander Mervyn Archdale (26 November 190513 May 1986) was a British actor, manager and theatre producer. He had a very long career in both the theatre and in film, stretching from the 1930s to the 1980s. He spent the latter part of his life an ...

as Gordon Gillespie *

as Bob Cole *

Nigel Lovell Nigel Tasman Lovell (27 January 1916 – 13 December 2001) was an Australian stage, radio, film and television actor, and producer of opera and both stage and radio drama. History Lovell was born in Sydney, a son of Tasman Lovell, Professor of ...

Lowell Thomas Lowell Jackson Thomas (April 6, 1892 – August 29, 1981) was an American writer, actor, broadcaster, and traveler, best remembered for publicising T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). He was also involved in promoting the Cinerama widescreen ...

Production

Five episodes were shot in New Guinea – "The Rivals", "Uncontrolled Territory", "The Rescue", "The Witness", and "Silver Backed Brushes."

References

Notes

External links

''Adventure Unlimited''
at Milesago
''Adventure Unlimited''
at

{{Ken Hannam 1965 Australian television series debuts Australian anthology television series