''Skyways'' is an Australian

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

drama series made by

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 ...

for the

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

Production and casting

The series, which aired from 1979 to 1981, was set at the fictional Pacific International Airport and dealt with the lives of the pilots, airline staff and management team who worked there. ''Skyways'' was mainly taped in a television studio where, in many interior-set scenes,

Colour Separation Overlay Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fields to ...

created the illusion of a bustling airport with taxiing planes outside the window. Many of the exterior scenes were shot on location at

Melbourne Airport Melbourne Airport , colloquially known as Tullamarine Airport, is the primary airport serving the city of Melbourne, and the second busiest airport in Australia. It opened in 1970 to replace the nearby Essendon Airport. Melbourne Airport is ...

. The show's regular cast members included

Tony Bonner Anthony Frederick Bonner (born 23 November 1943) is an Australian television, film and stage actor and singer. Bonner became famous in the 1960s children's television series '' Skippy the Bush Kangaroo'', later moving on to lead roles in the ...

as airport manager Paul MacFarlane, later replaced by Gary Doolan (

Gerard Kennedy Gerard Michael Kennedy (born July 24, 1960) is a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as Ontario's minister of Education from 2003 to 2006, when he resigned to make an unsuccessful bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Ca ...

Tina Bursill Tina Bursill (born 24 July 1951) is an Australian actress. She played Louise Carter on the television series '' Skyways'' (1979–1981) and Sonia Stevens on ''Prisoner'' (1983–1984). She played Meryl Knight in the Nine Network drama series ...

played glamorous and ruthless assistant manager Louise Carter. Bill Stalker, played head of airport security Peter Fanelli, an ex-detective. When ''Skyways'' ended Fanelli was moved to Crawford

police procedural The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eith ...

Cop Shop ''Cop Shop'' is a long-running Australian police drama television series produced by Crawford Productions that ran for seven seasons between 28 November 1977 and 23 July 1984. It comprised 582 one-hour episodes. The show The show revolved ar ...

'', while Brian James' character George Tippett was transplanted to ''

Holiday Island ''Holiday Island'' is an Australian television series made by Crawford Productions for Network Ten. The show aired twice weekly from 1981 to 1982, with the first episode going to air on 17 June 1981. Series synopsis Like preceding Crawford ...

''.

Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan roles

Years before ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera, which has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons an ...

'' and international pop stardom,

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

and Jason Donovan appeared together in one episode as siblings.

Storylines

An early storyline featured a lesbian flight attendant (

Judy Morris Judith Ann Morris (born 17 February 1947) is an Australian character actress, as well as a film director and screenwriter, well known for the variety of roles she played in 58 different television shows and films, starting her career as a child ...

) unsuccessfully attempting to seduce a colleague (Deborah Coulls) who revealed she was heterosexual. Morris' character was soon afterwards stabbed to death in the shower as part of a murder-mystery storyline.

International broadcast

The series screened across Europe and the UK during 1985–1986 on Sky Channel which would later become

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

. It also aired in the UK on Astra Satellite channel

Lifestyle Lifestyle often refers to: * Lifestyle (sociology), the way a person lives * ''Otium'', ancient Roman concept of a lifestyle * Style of life (german: Lebensstil, link=no), dealing with the dynamics of personality Lifestyle may also refer to: Bu ...

during 1990 at 1.00 p.m Monday to Friday. Syndication During the first week of January 2006 the entire series was replayed Thursday early mornings weekly at 2.00am then at the later time-slot of 3.00am on WIN TV in Wollongong, South Coast NSW as part of the early morning Crawfords Classics TV series.

Cast

– Paul MacFarlane *

– Louise Carter * Ken James – Simon Young * Bruce Barry – Douglas Stewart * Bill Stalker – Peter Fanelli * Brian James – George Tippett *

Joanne Samuel Joanne Samuel (born 5 August 1957) is an Australian film and television actress, who is best known for her role as the screen wife of Mel Gibson's title character in the 1979 film ''Mad Max''. Biography and career Samuel was born in Camperdow ...

– Kelly Morgan * Deborah Coulls – Jacki Soong * Kris McQuade – Faye Peterson *

Bartholomew John Bartholomew John (born 24 August 1952 in Christchurch, New Zealand) is an actor best known for his roles on television in America and Australia. In 1974, his single "Someone" peaked at number 75 in Australia. Career He played Dr. Chris Piper in ...

– Nick Grainger *

– Robyn Morris *

Andrew McKaige Andrew McKaige (born 1959) is an Australians, Australian actor, most prominent in television soap opera. As well as acting, McKaige is also a voice-artist and singer-songwriter, having played with the country rock band, The Fine Line. In 1994, ...

– Alan MacFarlane * Gaynor Martin – Mandy MacFarlane *

– Gary Doolan *

Kerry Armstrong Kerry Michelle Armstrong (born 12 September 1958) is an Australian actress and author. She is one of only two actresses to win two Australian Film Institute Awards in the same year, winning Best Actress in a Leading Role for ''Lantana'' and Be ...

– Angela Murray * Maurie Fields – Chas Potter *

Kylie Foster Kylie may refer to: *Kylie (name), a female given name **Kylie Minogue (born 1968), Australian singer, often known simply as Kylie **Kylie Jenner (born 1997), television personality and cosmetics company executive Music * ''Kylie'' (album), 1988 ...

– Belinda Phipps *

Charles Tingwell Charles William Tingwell AM (3 January 1923 – 15 May 2009), known professionally as Bud Tingwell or Charles 'Bud' Tingwell, was an Australian film, television, theatre and radio actor. One of the veterans of Australian film, he acted in his ...

– Harold Forbes * Ron Falk – Derek Powell * Cecily Polson – Jocelyn Powell * Carmen Duncan – Elaine MacFarlane *

Anne Charleston Anne Charleston (born 30 December 1942) is an Australian actress, notable for her career locally and in the United Kingdom in theatre and television. Charleston started her career in theatre in the mid 1950's, and has been a staple of the small ...

– Wendy Stewart *

Belinda Giblin Sue Belinda Giblin (born 2 March 1950) professionally billed as Belinda Giblin, is an Australian actress. Prominent in theatre and television soap operas, and several feature films. Giblin's small screen roles include '' The Box'' as Kay Webst ...

– Christine Burroughs *

Fred Parslow Frederick Henry Parslow (14 August 1932 – 26 January 2017) was an Australian actor, who appeared in film, television and theatre. Acting career Parslow was notable in several film and TV roles, with parts in internationally successful TV so ...

– David Rankin * Irene Inescort – Mrs. Young * John Walton – Bryan Johnson * Susanna Lobez – Janet Patterson *

Kit Taylor Kit Taylor (born 1942) is an Australian actor, and the son of actor Grant Taylor. He made his acting debut as Jim Hawkins in the film ''Long John Silver'' (1954) and the associated TV series ''The Adventures of Long John Silver ''The Adve ...

– Tim Barclay *

Dina Mann Dina Mann (born 1951), also credited as Diana Mann, is an Australian actress and casting director recognised for several television soap opera and film roles starting from 1970 until 1985, after which she worked as a casting director until 2 ...

– Fiona Woods *

Jeff Kevin Jeff Kevin (born 1944) is an Australian actor and theatre director best known for portraying Arnold Feather in 338 episodes from 1972-1977 in television soap opera ''Number 96'', his character was involved in numerous iconic storyline's inclu ...

– Geoff Goodwin * Michael Duffield – Sir Joseph Miles * Penelope Stewart – Barbie Beach

External links

*
Aussie Soap Archive: SkywaysCrawford ProductionsSkyways at the National Film and Sound Archive
Seven Network original programming Australian television soap operas 1979 Australian television series debuts 1981 Australian television series endings Aviation television series Television series by Crawford Productions English-language television shows {{Australia-tv-prog-stub