''Cassidy'' is a 1989 mini series, screened on

ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...

in Australia, based on the 1986 novel by

Morris West Morris Langlo West (26 April 19169 October 1999) was an Australian novelist and playwright, best known for his novels '' The Devil's Advocate'' (1959), '' The Shoes of the Fisherman'' (1963) and ''The Clowns of God'' (1981). His books were pub ...

. It told the story of Charles Parnell Cassidy, a fictitious

premier of New South Wales The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislature. ...

. It screened on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

in May 1990.

Plot

Charles Parnell Cassidy, the premier of New South Wales, arrives in London to visit his estranged daughter, Charlotte (also known as "Charlie"). Cassidy commits suicide, leaving Charlie a briefcase with a video and computer discs. The video explains his death, and details his corrupt dealings, which are substantiated by the evidence on the disks. As executor of Cassidy's estate, Charlie is given the option of selling the files to Cassidy's business partner for $20 million, handing them over to the NSW Attorney-General or carrying on her father's business. She returns to Sydney to deal with his political and business legacies. Charlie's central role in the plot is a departure from West's novel, which used Cassidy's son-in-law as the main protagonist. Writer Murray-Smith said that she thought it was more interesting to use the daughter to drive the plot, with the opportunity to examine the "whole notion of blood ties" and inheritance.

Cast

* Bill Hunter - Charles Parnell Cassidy * Caroline Goodall - Charlie Cassidy *

Martin Shaw Martin Shaw (born 21 January 1945) is an English actor. He came to national recognition as Doyle in ITV (TV network), ITV crime-action television drama series ''The Professionals (TV series), The Professionals'' (1977–1983). Further notable ...

- James Griffin *

Denis Quilley Denis Clifford Quilley, OBE (26 December 1927 – 5 October 2003) was an English actor and singer. From a family with no theatrical connections, Quilley was determined from an early age to become an actor. He was taken on by the Birmingham Re ...

- Marcus Melville *

Philip Quast Philip Mark Quast (born 30 July 1957) is an Australian actor and singer. He has won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical three times, making him the first actor to have three wins in that category. He is perhaps best known ...

- Sam East *

Tracy Mann Tracy Mann (born 1957) is an Australians, Australian actress and voice artist. After appearing in a number of television series, she won an Australian Film Institute award in 1980 for movie ''Hard Knocks (1980 film), Hard Knocks'' . She has ...

- Kate *

Pat Bishop Patricia Mary Bishop (13 June 1946 – 28 March 2000) was an Australian actress, born in Belfast, Northern Ireland noted for her performances in theatre, film and television series. She was married to the renowned Australian actor Bill Hunter ...

- Clare Cassidy * Pauline Chan - Alice Wu *

Anthony Brandon Wong Anthony Brandon Wong (born 12 May 1965), often credited simply as Anthony Wong, is an Australian actor. His roles include Ghost in ''The Matrix Reloaded'' and '' The Matrix Revolutions''. Career His role of Ghost from ''The Matrix Reloaded'' ...

- Wayne

Production

The series was a co-production of the ABC and Bob Weis. In 1988, Five Arrows Films Pty Ltd, an investment vehicle managed by Rothschild Bank Australia,Premier Saga', The Sun Herald, Sydney, 21 August 1988
/ref> had bought the rights to nine of West's works. Cassidy was the only one of these works to be produced as a film or television series.

Reception

The mini-series garnered generally positive reviews in the major metropolitan newspapers. The television critic for ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' in Melbourne called it "exciting ... the drama created by harlie'sadventures is powerful and entertaining." The ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

's'' critic called it "an almost (but not quite) super political thriller", singling out Goodall's "outstanding performance" as Charlie and Murray-Smith's "beautiful screenplay". ''

The Sun-Herald ''The Sun-Herald'' is an Australian newspaper published in tabloid or compact format on Sundays in Sydney by Nine Publishing. It is the Sunday counterpart of ''The Sydney Morning Herald''. In the 6 months to September 2005, ''The Sun-Herald' ...

's'' critic noted the "superb international cast, glamorous locations and a rattling good plot". In Sydney, the first episode won the non-news ratings for the evening, with a 16-point share. The second episode, with a 14-point share, was beaten by the final season episode of ''

Fast Forward To fast-forward is to move forwards through a recording at a speed faster than that at which it would usually be played, for example two times or two point five times. The recordings are usually audio, video or computer data. It is colloquially ...

'' and the movie ''

An Eye for an Eye "An eye for an eye" ( hbo, עַיִן תַּחַת עַיִן, ) is a commandment found in the Book of Exodus 21:23–27 expressing the principle of reciprocal justice measure for measure. The principle exists also in Babylonian law. In Roman c ...

''.

References

External links

* 1989 television films 1989 films Films based on works by Morris West 1980s Australian television miniseries 1989 Australian television series debuts 1989 Australian television series endings Television shows based on Australian novels {{Australia-tv-film-stub