''Half a World Away'' (also known as ''The Great Air Race'') is a 1991 Australian

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

directed by Marcus Cole from an original story by

Ross Dimsey Ross Dimsey (born 16th October 1943) is an Australian writer, producer, director and film executive. He was born in Melbourne and worked in Britain and America from 1969–69. He worked in a variety of capacities on a number of films. From 1969� ...

, who served as the producer of the series. The international cast included

Helen Slater Helen Rachel Slater (born December 15, 1963) is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She played the title character in the 1984 film ''Supergirl'', and returned to the 2015 TV series of the same title, this time as Supergirl's adoptive mot ...

, Robert Reynolds,

Caroline Goodall Caroline Cruice Goodall (born 13 November 1959) is a British actress and screenwriter. She was nominated for AFI Awards for her roles in the 1989 miniseries ''Cassidy'', and the 1995 film ''Hotel Sorrento''. Her other film appearances include ' ...

Tim Hughes Timothy David Llewelyn Hughes (born 23 July 1977) is a British worship leader, singer, songwriter, and Anglican priest. Formerly the director of worship at Holy Trinity Brompton, a large Anglican church in central London, he has since been o ...

and

Barry Bostwick Barry Knapp Bostwick (born February 24, 1945) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Brad Majors in the musical comedy horror film ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' (1975) and Mayor Randall Winston in the sitcom ''Spin City'' (199 ...

. The film was based on the 1934

MacRobertson Air Race The MacRobertson Trophy Air Race (also known as the London to Melbourne Air Race) took place in October 1934 as part of the Melbourne Centenary celebrations. The race was devised by the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Sir Harold Gengoult Smith, and th ...

. The film was also known as ''The Great Air Race'' in video and international versions.Murray 1996, p. 203.

Plot

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

, the "London to Melbourne Air Race" known as the "MacRobertson Trophy Air Race" named after Sir

Macpherson Robertson Sir Macpherson Robertson KBE (6 September 185920 August 1945) was an Australian philanthropist, entrepreneur and founder of chocolate and confectionery company ''MacRobertson's''. He was also known for bringing the United States inventions of c ...

(James Condon), a wealthy Australian confectionery manufacturer, was announced as a long-distance race open to competitors from all over the globe. As part of the Melbourne Centenary celebrations, the idea of the race was devised by the Lord Mayor of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

with a prize fund of £50,000 put up by Sir Macpherson Robertson. The race was organised by the

Royal Aero Club The Royal Aero Club (RAeC) is the national co-ordinating body for air sport in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1901 as the Aero Club of Great Britain, being granted the title of the "Royal Aero Club" in 1910. History The Aero Club was foun ...

to fly from

RAF Mildenhall Royal Air Force Mildenhall or RAF Mildenhall is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located near Mildenhall in Suffolk, England. Despite its status as a Royal Air Force station, it primarily supports United States Air Force (USAF) operations, and ...

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

Flemington Racecourse Flemington Racecourse is a major horse racing venue located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is most notable for hosting the Melbourne Cup, which is the world's richest handicap and the world's richest 3200-metre horse race. The racecou ...

, Melbourne, approximately . Five compulsory stops at

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

Allahabad Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, Darwin and

Charleville, Queensland Charleville () is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Murweh, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Charleville had a population of 3,335 people. Geography Located in southwestern Queensland, Australia, Charleville is west o ...

were scheduled although the competitors could choose their own routes. In England, two special purpose

de Havilland DH.88 Comet The de Havilland DH.88 Comet is a British two-seat, twin-engined aircraft built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was developed specifically to participate in the 1934 England-Australia MacRobertson Air Race from the United Kingdom to A ...

racers were built by

Geoffrey de Havilland Captain Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, (27 July 1882 – 21 May 1965) was an English aviation pioneer and aerospace engineer. The aircraft company he founded produced the Mosquito, which has been considered the most versatile warplane ever built,D ...

(Robin Bowering) for the teams of Captain

Tom Campbell Black Tom Campbell Black (December 1899 – 19 September 1936) was an aviator, English aviator. He was the son of Alice Jean McCullough and Hugh Milner Black. He became a world-famous aviator when he and C. W. A. Scott won the London to Melbourne Ce ...

(Robert Reynolds) and Flight Lt. C. W. A. Scott (

) as well as the husband and wife team of

Jim Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim ...

(

Jonathan Hyde Jonathan Stephen Geoffrey King (born 21 May 1948), known professionally as Jonathan "Nash" Hyde, is an Australian-English actor. Hyde is perhaps best known for roles as Herbert Arthur Runcible Cadbury in the 1994 comedy film '' Richie Rich'', Sa ...

) and Amy Mollison (

). Many other entries from England were production aircraft that could not compete with the Comets. The other serious contenders were from the United States where celebrity pilots such as

Roscoe Turner Roscoe Turner (September 29, 1895 – June 23, 1970) was a record-breaking American aviator who was a three-time winner of the Thompson Trophy air race and widely recognized by his flamboyant style and his pet, Gilmore the Lion. Early life ...

(

Clyde Pangborn Clyde Edward Pangborn ( ''c''. October 28, 1895 – March 29, 1958), nicknamed "Upside-Down Pangborn", was an American aviator and barnstormer who performed aerial stunts in the 1920s for the Gates Flying Circus. He was its half-owner, chief pil ...

(David Arnett) and

Jacqueline Cochran Jacqueline Cochran (May 11, 1906 – August 9, 1980) was an American pilot and business executive. She pioneered women's aviation as one of the most prominent racing pilots of her generation. She set numerous records and was the first woman to br ...

(

) were entered with potent long-distance racing aircraft. The most unusual entry was from

KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amste ...

with a

Douglas DC-2 The Douglas DC-2 is a 14-passenger, twin-engined airliner that was produced by the American company Douglas Aircraft Company starting in 1934. It competed with the Boeing 247. In 1935, Douglas produced a larger version called the DC-3, which b ...

airliner that would fly the course as part of a proving flight to establish the efficiency and safety of the airline. Starting on 20 October 1934, the 20 competitors set off with many dramatic twists. Nearly all the competitors faced some adversity although the KLM crew flying an example of the new generation of American all-metal passenger transports, proved to be dependable, actually finishing second behind only the purpose-built

de Havilland DH.88 The de Havilland DH.88 Comet is a British two-seat, twin-engined aircraft built by the De Havilland, de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was developed specifically to participate in the 1934 England-Australia MacRobertson Air Race from the Unite ...

racer ''Grosvenor House'' (G-ACSS) flown by Campbell Black and Scott.

Cast

* Robert Reynolds as

Amy Johnson Amy Johnson (born 1 July 1903 – disappeared 5 January 1941) was a pioneering English pilot who was the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia. Flying solo or with her husband, Jim Mollison, she set many long-distance records duri ...

as Charles Scott *

Jim Mollison James Allan Mollison Order of the British Empire, MBE (19 April 1905 – 30 October 1959) was a Scottish pioneer aviator who, flying solo or with his wife, Amy Johnson, set many records during the rapid development of aviation in the 1930 ...

* Henk Johannes as Koene Dirk Parmentier * Burt Cooper as Jan Moll *

Gosia Dobrowolska Małgorzata Dobrowolska (born 2 June 1958, in Kamienna Góra), is a Polish-born Australian actress. Biography She has one brother, Janusz Dobrowolski, who also made a minor appearance in the 1984 film, '' Silver City''. After moving to Aust ...

as Thea Rasche * Gary Day as

Ray Parer Raymond John Paul Parer (18 February 1894 – 4 July 1967) was an Australian aviator. Parer was born in South Melbourne, Victoria, the second of nine children of a Spanish-born caterer, Michael Parer, and his Australian wife Myria (née Caro ...

Jeff Truman Jeffrey Maxwell Truman (4 November 1957 – 2 December 2014) was an Australian film and television screenwriter and actor. Career A member of the Australian Writer Guild for over 30 years, Truman's television credits include ''Rescue: Special ...

as Geoff Hemsworth *

Josephine Byrnes Josephine Byrnes (born 1966) is an Australian actress best known for her work in television, including a lead role in ''Brides of Christ'' for which she won a Logie Award The Logie Awards (officially the TV Week Logie Awards; colloquially k ...

Florence Desmond Florence Dawson (31 May 1905 – 16 January 1993), better known by her stage name Florence Desmond, was an English actress, comedian and impersonator. Biography Early life and career Born in London in 1905, Desmond was educated at the Dame A ...

Anthony Hawkins Anthony Hawkins (30 September 1932 – 23 September 2013), was an English-born, Australian-based television actor. He was best known for his roles as Detective Senior Sergeant Greg Smith in the police procedural ''Special Squad (1984)'' and Fr ...

as Thomas Perrin * Jim Holt as Harold Brook *

Rhys Muldoon Rhys Muldoon (born 17 October 1965) is an Australian actor, writer and director who has worked extensively in film, television, music, theatre and radio. Since 2012 he has starred as Mark Oliver in ''House Husbands''. Career Television Muldoon ...

Jimmy Melrose Charles James Melrose (13 September 1913 – 5 July 1936) was an Australian aviator who held a number of flying records, and was the youngest and only solo flier to finish the Melbourne (MacRobertson) Centenary Air Race in 1934. History Jimmy ...

* Robin Bowering as

James Condon James Thomas Condon (27 September 1923 – 14 February 2014) was an Australian actor of radio and stage, a scriptwriter and voice over, however best known for his numerous television roles in serials and television movies in Australia, particu ...

as Sir

* Kirk Alexander as RAF Officer (Karachi) * David Arnett as

* Tristan Arniel as French Butler * Duke Bannister as Wesley Smith * John Benton as Official (Baghdad) * Randall Berger as Film Director

Production

Although ''Half a World Away'' has a proviso in the end credits indicating that the story is fictionalized, the production closely replicated actual events and depicted individuals involved in MacRobertson Air Race. The aircraft in the film included a

North American AT-6 Texan The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and other air forces ...

(as a stand-in for the Granville R-6H "Q.E.D."),

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) a ...

(portraying the Pangborn/

Turner Turner may refer to: People and fictional characters *Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name *One who uses a lathe for turni ...

Boeing 247D),

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

(a lookalike for KLM DC-2), DH.83 Fox Moth, DH.82 Tiger Moth and

Boeing-Stearman Model 75 The Stearman (Boeing) Model 75 is a biplane formerly used as a military trainer aircraft, of which at least 10,626 were built in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s. Stearman Aircraft became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934. Widely known ...

. A pair of non-flying replica DH.88 Comets were also featured, with "G-ACSS" being taxiable, produced by Monty Armstrong and "G-ACSP", a ground running static created by Ashley Briggs.

Reception

Film Critic Hal Erickson noted: "Enhanced by the utilization of genuine vintage aircraft, 'Half a World Away' originally aired in Australia in May 1991. It has since been released to video as 'The Great Air Race'." In a similar review, Mark Deming commented: "The Great Air Race is a made-for-TV movie that presents a fictionalized version of this thrilling moment in the history of air travel ..." The film was released as ''The Great Air Race'' in a DVD format by BFS Entertainment on 8 August 2000."Releases: 'The 'Great Air Race'."
''AllMovie''. Retrieved: 21 May 2017.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Murray, Scott, ed. ''Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995: The Complete Guide to Tele-Features and Mini-Series''. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1996. .

External links

* * {{amg title, 205849, The Great Air Race 1990s Australian television miniseries 1991 Australian television series debuts 1991 Australian television series endings 1991 television films 1991 films Fiction set in 1934 Aviation television series English-language television shows Australian aviation films Cultural depictions of Amy Johnson