''Stark'' is a 1993 British-Australian television serial, based on the bestselling 1989 novel '' Stark'' by comedian

Ben Elton Benjamin Charles Elton (born 3 May 1959) is an English comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director. He was a part of London's alternative comedy movement of the 1980s and became a writer on the sitcoms '' The Young Ones'' and ''Bla ...

. The three-episode series, directed by

Nadia Tass Nadia Tass is an Australian theatre director and film director and producer. She is known for the films ''Malcolm'' (1986) and ''The Big Steal'' (1990), as well as an extensive body of work in the theatre, both in Australia and internationa ...

, was an international coproduction between the

British Broadcasting Corporation #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

and the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

. It starred

and

Jacqueline McKenzie Jacqueline Susan McKenzie (born 24 October 1967) is an Australian film and stage actress. Early life Born in Sydney, New South Wales, McKenzie attended Wenona School in North Sydney until 1983 then moved to Pymble Ladies' College, where she ...

Production

The budget for the series was A$7 million, with most of the money coming from the BBC. Elton wrote the script adapted from his own novel, as well as taking the starring role as the " whinging Pom", CD.''An Interview with Ben Elton'', ''Stark'' DVD, July 2007.

Cast

as CD (Colin Dobson) *

as Rachel O'Donoghue *

Colin Friels Colin Friels (born 25 September 1952) is a Scottish-born Australian actor of theatre, TV and film and presenter Early life Friels was born in Kilwinning, Ayrshire, Scotland.Interview with Colin Friels, ''George Negus Tonight'' (ABC Television) ...

as Sly Morgan *

Deborra-Lee Furness Deborra-Lee Furness (born 30 November 1955) is an Australian actress and producer. She is married to actor Hugh Jackman. Early life Furness was born in Annandale, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, and raised in Melbourne, Victoria. At ...

as Chrissie *

Derrick O'Connor Derrick O'Connor (3 January 1941 – 29 June 2018) was an Irish theatre and character actor. O'Connor was best known for his performance as South African mercenary Pieter Vorstedt in '' Lethal Weapon 2'' and for his roles in three Terry Gilliam ...

as Zimmerman *

Bill Wallis William Wallis (20 November 1936 – 6 September 2013) was a British character actor and comedian who appeared in numerous radio and television roles, as well as in the theatre. Biography Wallis was born in Guildford in Surrey, the only son of A ...

as Walter * Bill Hunter as Ocker Tyron * John Neville as Lord De Quincey

Locations

Although ''Stark'' is primarily set in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, the series was filmed in two other Australian states:

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. Desert scenes, which make up much of the later episodes, were filmed in and around

Coober Pedy Coober Pedy () is a town in northern South Australia, north of Adelaide on the Stuart Highway. The town is sometimes referred to as the "opal capital of the world" because of the quantity of precious opals that are mined there. Coober Pedy is ...

Broadcast

''Stark'' was first aired by the ABC in Australia over two nights on 11 and 12 August (the first and second episodes were edited together into one movie-length episode; the third episode aired as the second and final episode in Australia). The series did not air in the United Kingdom until it appeared on BBC2 on Wednesday nights from 8–22 December.

Differences between the series and the novel

The main changes from the plot of the novel were the extent of the Stark Consipiracy's plan, and the ending. In the novel, Rachel escapes from Stark just prior to the launch, the Star Arks land at their moonbase and the conspirators are quickly consumed by their own greed, selfishness and hatred, with Sly eventually committing suicide. In the series, Lord de Quincy intends to scuttle a fleet of 'leper ships' carrying toxic waste, to actually hasten the extinction of the human species. Sly boards the rocket with Rachel, who has fallen in love with him, and the pair stage a mutiny, although they are killed when the Star Arks are shot down by the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

. In an interview included on the DVD edition, Elton states that this change was suggested by producer

Michael Wearing Michael Wearing (12 March 1939 – 5 May 2017) was a British television producer, who spent much of his career working on drama productions for the BBC. He is best known as the producer of the well received serials ''Boys from the Blackstuff'' (19 ...

, who was concerned that the novel lacked a "jeopardy point". Several of the main characters' names are also changed in the series: Sly Moorcock was renamed Sly Morgan, and Lord Playing is renamed Lord De Quincey.

References

External links

*
Variety Review
{{Ben Elton 1993 British television series debuts 1993 British television series endings 1990s British drama television series 1990s Australian television miniseries 1990s British television miniseries BBC television dramas Television shows based on British novels 1993 Australian television series debuts 1993 Australian television series endings Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming Television shows written by Ben Elton