''Prelude to Harvest'' is a 1963 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
Colin Dean.
The production was broadcast to celebrate the 175th anniversary of
Captain Phillip's landing at Sydney Cove.
Plot
In January 1789 in London, a ship is loading up with convicts including 200 women. Six months later the ship is still there with the convicts on board, in miserable condition.
In Sydney, a ship is meant to arrive with supplies but is wrecked on the way. Governor Philip must come up with a plan to avoid famine in the colony.
Cast
*
Wynn Roberts as
Governor Phillip
*Deryc Barnes as
John Nicol
*
Edward Howell as Lt Edgar, RN
*
Neva Carr-Glyn was Mrs Barnsley
*
Richard Meikle
Richard Meikle (10 October 1929 – 2 June 1991) was an Australian actor who worked extensively in film, theatre, and radio. He was the father of writer Sam Meikle.
Career
Meikle began his career as a stage actor. His first recorded role was in ...
as Captain Collins
*Alan Herbert as Briggs
*
Terry McDermott
Terence McDermott (born 8 December 1951) is an English former football midfielder who was a member of the Liverpool team of the 1970s and early 1980s, in which he won three European Cups and five First Division titles. He was capped 25 times ...
as
James Ruse
James Ruse (9 August17595 September 1837) was a Cornish farmer who, at age 23, was convicted of burglary and was sentenced to seven years' transportation. He arrived at Sydney Cove, New South Wales, on the First Fleet with 18 months of h ...
*Joan Morrow as Sarah
*Mary Reynolds as Elizabeth
*Henry Gilbert as
Major Ross
*
Reg Gorman
Reg Gorman (2 August 1932 – 5 August 2021) was an Australian television and film actor, and comedian, he was known best for his role in TV serial ''The Sullivans'', as Jack Fletcher. and children's series ''Fergus McPhail'' as Harry Patters ...
as seaman
*
Ric Hutton
Ric Hutton (1926–1996) was an Australian actor. He worked in Britain, Australia and the United States of America. He was best known in Australia as the voice of "Black Jack Seager" in the hit radio series ''The Castlereagh Line'' written by Ros ...
as
Watkin Tench
Lieutenant General Watkin Tench (6 October 1758 – 7 May 1833) was a British marine officer who is best known for publishing two books describing his experiences in the First Fleet, which established the first European settlement in Australia in ...
*
Edmund Pegge
Edmund Pegge (born 1 April 1939) is an Australian actor, who has worked in both Australia and the United Kingdom.
Arriving in Adelaide as a teenager, Pegge completed his education at St Peter's College before graduating from the National Inst ...
as Lt Daws
*
Keith Buckley
Keith Buckley (born November 19, 1979) is an American singer, best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the now defunct hardcore punk band Every Time I Die and the heavy metal supergroup The Damned Things. He is also a published author.
Ear ...
as
Lt King, RN
*Betty Dyson
Production
Australia Day 1963 would mark the 17th anniversary of Captain Phillip's landing at Sydney Cove. The ABC decided to commemorate it by commissioning two productions to screen over the Australia Day weekend - ''The Land That Waited'', a 50-minute documentary on the history of white exploration and settlement in Australia which screened on Saturday January 26, and ''Prelude to Harvest''.
Rehearsals took place on November 12–14, 1962.
References
External links
''Prelude to Harvest''at
AustLit (subscription required)
1963 Australian television plays
{{Australia-tv-film-stub