''Outpost'' is a 1959 Australian television play about Australian soldiers in New Guinea during World War Two. It was written for television by John Cameron. It was one of the most acclaimed early Australian-written TV plays.

Plot

In September 1943, during World War Two, four Australian soldiers are stranded in an isolated army outpost in New Guinea, waiting for an attack on Buna. The soldiers include Sergeant 'Happy' Adams, Signaler 'Tiger' Lyons and Corporal 'Mitch' Mitchell. Tension happens when McCudden, an arrogant NCO from the airforce, arrives, bringing mail for Happy. McCudden is murdered and the soldiers fear a Japanese attack. Mitch reads in a newspaper that Happy's wife has died in Brisbane. Happy reveals his wife had been having an affair with another man back and when relatives found out and threatened to write to Happy, she committed suicide. The men discover photographs of McCudden's girlfriends, who included Happy's wife.

Cast

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 Signaller "Tiger" Lyons * Keith Eden as Sergeant 'Happy' Adams * Paul Karo as Flight Sgt. Steve McCudden * Dennis Miller as Corporal "Mitch" Mitchell * John Morgan as Signaller "Baron" Peterswald

Production

John Cameron had been a sergeant in the

Australian Army Signal Corps The Royal Australian Corps of Signals (RASigs) is one of the 'arms' (combat support corps) of the Australian Army. It is responsible for installing, maintaining, and operating all types of telecommunications equipment and information systems. The m ...

during World War Two. He served in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

at Wanagila, where a secret airstrip was being made in preparation for an attack on Japanese-held Buna, 40 miles away. Cameron was working as a supervisor of facilities at the ABC in Melbourne at the ABC. He had been involved with theatre since his says at university and said he had the story in mind for many years but was prompted to write it when he heard about the shortage of TV scripts and decided to write his own. It took him eight weekends over June and July and he submitted it under a pen name, "John Alexander". The identity of the writer surprised the ABC. The production was performed "live" in a Melbourne studio, with the exception of a jungle sequence, which was pre-recorded. It was the first TV performance for Dennis Miller. The director was Chris Muir, made it just before he filmed ''Albert Herring'' for the ABC. Muir said he liked the play's "economy of dialogue and mounting tension." Kunai grass was imported for use in the show. Bananas were bought especially from Queensland. The Australian Army provided firearms including Owen guns, Tommy guns and rifles

Reception

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 ...

'' said:

The author makes no better than commonplace use of the clever idea... playwright and play could have been helped by clevered hints of the general heat malaise, crawling fear and eginess of jungle fighting from producer Christopher Muir, whose imagination never rose above neat routine. The cast performed creditably, powerful or rich playing being excluded for the most part by flat, everyday commonplace of the dialogue... Paul Karo's portrait... was much too overdone to be convincing, but there was much conviction in the performance of young and intense Denis Miller and sufficient conviction in the work of his more experienced co players.

Cameron went on to write the television plays ''

The Teeth of the Wind ''The Teeth of the Wind'' is a 1962 television play broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was written by John Cameron who had written '' Outpost'' (1959) which had screened on American television. It was shot in Melbourne and ...

'' (1962), ''

Otherwise Engaged ''Otherwise Engaged'' is a bleakly comic play by English playwright Simon Gray. The play previewed at the Oxford Playhouse and the Richmond Theatre, and then opened at the Queen's Theatre in London on 10 July 1975, with Alan Bates as the star ...

'' (1965), and ''

The Quiet Season ''The Quiet Season'' is a 1965 Australian television short. It aired on the Australian Broadcasting Commission and was produced in the studios of their Brisbane station (ABQ). It was the fourth play produced at the ABC's Brisbane studios at Toowo ...

'' (1965).

US screening

The play was bought for screening in the US by CBS in 1961 along with another Australian play, ''

The Scent of Fear "The Scent of Fear" is television play written by Ted Willis. It was originally written for British anthology series ''Armchair Theatre'', adapted from the story "Stowaway" by Mary Higgins Clark which was reportedly based on a real story that happe ...

''. The two dramas screened on June 18, 1961 in several key markets including New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago and St Louis. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote that "unfortunately Mr Cameron telegraphed his resolution early in the drama and also greviously overtaxed the element of coincidence. But the settings and direction were first rate."TV: A Situation Series: Wayne and Shuster Are Seen in 'Holiday Lodge,' Replacement for Jack Benny By JACK GOULD. New York Times 26 June 1961: 51.

References

External links

* * * {{Christopher Muir 1950s Australian television plays 1959 television plays Plays about World War II Papua New Guinea in fiction