James Edmund Davern, OAM, is an Australian television director, writer, script editor and producer, and founder of production company JNP Productions.

Professional career

Davern was employed as a writer and script editor with Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) television branch in the 1960s. He worked as a producer and director in drama and music programmes and was involved in establishing a script production line. In 1967, Davern was director and producer of the very first episode of '' Bellbird'', Australia's first successful television soap opera, set in a rural community. Davern moved to the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia ...

where he created the highly popular series '' A Country Practice'', one of the most popular drama series in Australian television history. The series ran from 1981 to 1993 with 1,058 episodes. When the

cancelled '' A Country Practice'' in 1993, it was remade by

Network 10 Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

in 1994. Although James Davern moved to

to work on the "new" series. It was not a success and was cancelled after 30 episodes. Davern wrote episodes for '' Homicide'', ''

Alpha Scorpio ''Alpha Scorpio'' was a short-lived Australian children's science fiction television series, written and produced by James Davern, and which aired on ABC Television in 1974. It starred Peter Hepworth and Kevin Wilson as two university stu ...

'', '' Rush'', ''

Patrol Boat A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and the ...

'', '' A Country Practice'', and ''Warming Up''. As producer or executive producer, he worked on shows such as ''Rush'', ''Alpha Scorpio'', ''Barnaby and Me'', ''No Room to Run'', ''Patrol Boat'', ''A Country Practice'', ''Queen of the Road'', ''Warming Up'', ''Hector's Bunyip'', ''Land of Hope'', ''Whipping Boy'', ''The Hostages'', ''Reprisal'', ''Without Warning''.

Awards and honours

Davern was inducted into the Logies Hall of Fame in 1991 in recognition for his service to and influence on Australian television. In 2014, Davern received an

Order of Australia Medal The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(OAM) for service to television as a writer, director and producer. It's an Honour website url=http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=1149129 21-04-2014

References

Further information

Moran, Albert (interviewer). "James Davern: Interviewed by Albert Moran." ScreenSound Australia: National Film and Sound Archive Oral History - Television collection. Record No: 273689 Australian television directors Australian television writers Australian television producers Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Living people Logie Award winners Year of birth missing (living people) Australian male television writers {{Australia-tv-bio-stub