Lynnette Margaret Bayonas (11 April 1943 – 25 January 2010) was an Australian television producer and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

. Her sister was '' Neighbours'' executive producer

Susan Bower Susan Bower is an Australian television producer and television writer best known for her work on the soap opera ''Neighbours''. Bower is also the founder of the production company ''Bower Bird Productions''. Career Bower is a former nurse who ...

Personal life

Bower was 18 years old and living in London when she got her breakthrough into television. She was an assistant to the general manager of

The Australian Ballet The Australian Ballet is the largest classical ballet company in Australia. It was founded by J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1962, with the English-born dancer, teacher, repetiteur and direc ...

who were then travelling through Europe and were due to travel on to the United States, somewhere that Bayonas didn't want to go. Whilst working in London, Bayonas heard of a job coming up with '' Citizen Kane'' creator

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

. She agreed to meet Welles when he was making '' Casino Royale'' with

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

, Bayonas told him how she wasn't enjoying her job at the Australian Ballet and Welles invited her to Spain immediately. While working in Spain she met her future husband, Luis Bayonas, a writer, art director and assistant director.

Career

Bayonas' first job was taking notes for the film that Welles was working on at the time. Bayonas admitted that working with Welles taught her about flexibility in storytelling and turned her against many writing courses that she felt were structured. After meeting her husband in Spain, Bayonas wanted to return to Australia, and

Crawford Productions Crawford Productions is an Australian media production company, focused on radio and television production. Founded in Melbourne by Hector Crawford and his sister, actress and voice artist Dorothy Crawford, the company, also known as Crawfor ...

allowed her to do that by appointing her as script editor and writer on shows '' Homicide'', ''

Division 4 ''Division 4'' is an Australian television police drama series made by Crawford Productions for the Nine Network between 1969 and 1975 for 301 episodes. Synopsis The series was one of the first dramas to follow up on the enormous success o ...

'', '' The Box'' and ''

The Sullivans ''The Sullivans'' is an Australian period drama television series produced by Crawford Productions which ran on the Nine Network from 15 November 1976 until 10 March 1983. The series tells the story of a fictional average middle-cla ...

''. In the 1980s she started work on '' A Country Practice'', the programme that later allowed her sister

to break into television writing. Whilst working for Nine Network, she created and worked as the creative consultant on the cult serial, '' Chances'', which had a two-year run from 1991-92. All 126 episodes of this series were released on DVD and Blueray in August 2021. Beginning in 1994, Bayonas lived in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

for six years, writing for Paramount Pictures. During her time in Los Angeles, she worked on programmes such as '' Sunset Beach'' and '' Prime Time''. In 2000, Bayonas decided to return to Australia and began work on television programmes such as ''

The Saddle Club ''The Saddle Club'' is an Australian-Canadian children's television series developed by Sarah Dodd, based on the books written by Bonnie Bryant. Like the book series, the scripted live action series follows the lives of three best friends in ...

'', ''

The Secret Life of Us ''The Secret Life of Us'' is an Australian television drama series set in the beachside neighbourhood of St Kilda, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is primarily a drama with some comedic moments. The series was produced by Southe ...

'' and ''Lawrence of Arabia''. In 2008, just as the third series of ''The Saddle Club'' finished production, cancer took hold of Bayonas meaning that this was Bayonas' last work before her death from cancer in January 2010. She was also head of her own production company, Lynn Bayonas Productions, based in Preston, Victoria

Filmography

Television

Death

It was announced on 25 January 2010 that Bayonas had died following a long battle with cancer. She was 66 years old. The Australian soap opera '' Neighbours'', of which Bayonas's sister

is an executive producer, marked Bayonas's death at the end of their episode broadcast on 25 January 2010 with a title card as the credits rolled.

References

External links

*
The Saddle Club official website

Memorial to Lynn Bayonas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bayonas, Lynn 1943 births 2010 deaths Australian television producers Australian women television producers Place of birth missing Australian television writers Writers from Victoria (Australia) Deaths from cancer in Victoria (Australia) Australian women television writers Australian expatriates in England Australian expatriates in Spain