''Deadline'' (stylized as ''..Deadline..'') is a 1981 Australian-American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

thriller

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Arch Nicholson Arch Nicholson (1941 – 24 February 1990) was an Australian film director. He was born in Melbourne and grew up in Western Australia, originally training to be a teacher. Seeing ''Last Year at Marienbad'' made him want to become a filmmaker an ...

and co-produced by the Australian division of

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

and

New South Wales Film Corporation ---> Screen NSW, formerly known as the New South Wales Film and Television Office, or FTO, and before that the New South Wales Film Corporation, is a brand name that is part of Create NSW, an agency of the Government of New South Wales that is ...

Plot

Journalist Barney Duncan ( Barry Newman) discovers that an earthquake on the Australian outback was found to be a small nuclear detonation, and the work of an extortionist who vowed to detonate more devices unless his conditions for blackmail are met.

Cast

* Barry Newman *

Trisha Noble Patricia Ann Ruth Noble (3 February 1944 – 23 January 2021) was an Australian singer and actress. Initially performing as Patsy Ann Noble, she was a teenage pop singer in the early 1960s, with regular appearances on the music and variety tele ...

Bruce Spence Bruce Spence (born 17 September 1945) is a New Zealand–Australian actor. Spence has amassed over 100 film and television credits and has also acted in theatre. Biography Spence won an AFI Award for Best Actor for his role in the 1971 comedy ...

Alwyn Kurts Alwyn Cecil Kurts (28 October 1915 – 4 May 2000) was an Australian drama and comedy actor of radio, television and film, best remembered for his role as gruff Inspector Colin Fox in the TV series '' Homicide''. Biography Kurts' father, David ...

Production

It was originally known as ''Shadow Effects'' and was shot on location in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

and the mining town of

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

. It was a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

for an unmade TV series which was to be called ''Foreign Correspondent''.Ed. Scott Murray, ''Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995'', Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p39-40 At one stage

Graham Kennedy Graham Cyril Kennedy AO (15 February 1934 – 25 May 2005) was an Australian entertainer, comedian and variety performer, as well as a personality and star of radio, theatre, television and film. He often performed in the style of vaudevilli ...

was going to play a priest. Production was held up due to protests from Actors Equity. "I like the concept, it's a contemporary issue," said Newman during filming in December 1980. "I'm a news nut; my favorite actor is

Walter Cronkite Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009) was an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the ''CBS Evening News'' for 19 years (1962–1981). During the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the mo ...

References

External links

* 1982 television films 1982 films Australian television films Television films as pilots Television pilots not picked up as a series Films about nuclear war and weapons Hanna-Barbera films Australian thriller films American thriller television films 1980s English-language films Films directed by Arch Nicholson 1980s American films 1980s Australian films {{tv-thriller-film-stub