''Eye of the Night'' is a 1960 Australian television play. It was written by

Kay Keavney Kay Keavney (1921–1989) was an Australian writer. She was born in Sydney and completed a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Sydney. She went to work at the ABC, the youngest person and the first woman to be hired as a scriptwriter by that or ...

and directed by Christopher Muir. It was broadcast live on the ABC from Melbourne on the night of Wednesday 24 February. In Sydney on the same night the ABC were doing a live broadcast of the play '' The Turning Point''. These two were the first in a series of ten plays made by the ABC in 1960 using local writers, others including ''The Astronauts'' and ''The Slaughter of St Teresa's Day''. (Other plays possibly included '' Close to the Roof'', ''

Dark Under the Sun ''Dark Under the Sun'' is a 1960 Australian TV play. It was written by Brisbane author, Chris Gardner, who also wrote ''The House of Mancello'' (1962) and '' A Private Island'' (1964). Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time. The play ...

'', ''

The Square Ring ''The Square Ring'' is a 1953 British tragi-comic drama, directed by Basil Dearden and made at Ealing Studios. It stars Jack Warner, Robert Beatty and Bill Owen. The film, based on a stage play by Ralph Peterson, centres on one night at a f ...

'', ''

Who Killed Kovali? ''Who Killed Kovali?'' is a 1960 Australian television play. It had previously been filmed for British TV in 1957. It was made at a time Australian TV drama was rare. Plot Hungarian tennis player Ivor Kovali is playing in a semi-final at Wimbled ...

'', and ''

Swamp Creatures ''Swamp Creatures'' is a play by the Australian author Alan Seymour. He wrote it for radio, stage and TV. It was Seymour's first produced play. Plot Two sisters live together in the Australian bush, the dominant Constance and the frail Amy. Amy' ...

''.)

Plot

A man breaks into homes at night and terrorises women. He eludes police for two years. In the Melbourne suburb of Sunshine, a woman, Ruth Arnott, fears that a man in her own house, a man oppressed by his mother, may be the attacker. The opening scenes take place at Victorian Police Headquarters with the rest at a house in Sunshine.

Cast

*Beverley Dunn as Ruth Arnott * Brian James as her accountant brother-in-law, Frank Arnott *

Dennis Miller Dennis Michael Miller (born November 3, 1953) is an American talk show host, political commentator, sports commentator, actor, and comedian. He was a cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1991, and he subsequently hosted a stri ...

as her husband Ian Arnott *Nevil Thurgood *

Syd Conabere Sydney Leicester Conabere (8 July 191815 July 2008) was an Australian actor. He was notable for his work in theatre, film and television drama in a career spanning more than fifty years. In 1962 Conabere won the Logie award for Best Actor, for ...

as a detective *Moira Carleton as the next door neighbour *

Agnes Dobson Agnes or Agness may refer to: People *Agnes (name), the given name, and a list of people named Agnes or Agness * Wilfrid Marcel Agnès (1920–2008), Canadian diplomat Places * Agnes, Georgia, United States, a ghost town *Agnes, Missouri, United ...

Production

Early Australian TV drama production was dominated by using imported scripts but in 1960 the ABC was undertaking what has been described as "an Australiana drive" of producing local stories. This was based on an original script by

an experienced writer for radio as well as TV series like ''

The Story of Peter Gray ''The Story of Peter Grey'' was an Australia, Australian television daytime soap opera produced by the Seven Network and first broadcast in July 1962 . James Condon starred in the title role as a church minister, with other cast members incl ...

''. To prepare for the production, Muir visited the police department to study criminal detection techniques and meet psychologists. According to ''The Age'' Beverly Dunn "has a difficult role to play, involving several emotional scenes."

References

External links

*
''Eye of the Night''
at AustLit (subscription required) 1960s Australian television plays 1960 television plays {{Australia-tv-film-stub