''The Hungry Ones'' was an Australian television mini-series. It was a period drama about a pair of husband and wife convicts trying to go straight, consisting of 10 30-minute black-and-white episodes, which aired on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

. Unlike previous serials it was videotaped rather than performed live to camera. Notably, the cast included

Leonard Teale Leonard George Thiele AO (26 September 192214 May 1994), professionally Leonard Teale, was a well-known Australian actor of radio, television and film and radio announcer, presenter and narrator known for his resonant baritone voice. He is be ...

and

Fay Kelton Fay Kelton (Born in Tasmania between 1940–41), is an Australian former actress radio, stage and television, she relocated to Melbourne in her teens. She was a regular performer on the ABC radio serial '' Blue Hills'' (1949-1976), and also a ...

. Also appearing were

Edward Hepple Edward Hepple (4 June 1914 – 3 September 2005) billed variously as Eddie Hepple and Ted Hepple, was an Australian actor, voice artist, producer, director, playwright and television scriptwriter, known for his roles in theatre, television seri ...

Nigel Lovell Nigel Tasman Lovell (27 January 1916 – 13 December 2001) was an Australian stage, radio, film and television actor, and producer of opera and both stage and radio drama. History Lovell was born in Sydney, a son of Tasman Lovell, Professor of ...

John Ewart Jon Ewart (06th May 1996) is a British television and film actor. Ewart attended the prestigious National Youth Theatre, Identity School of Acting and has appeared in many successful Television shows. Biography Career Ewart, who was born in M ...

, and Brigid Lenihan. The archival status of the series is not known. It was among a series of four historical mini-series broadcast by ABC in the early 1960s, which had proved successful enough to encourage commercial broadcaster

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

to produce their own such series, ''

Jonah Jonah or Jonas, ''Yōnā'', "dove"; gr, Ἰωνᾶς ''Iōnâs''; ar, يونس ' or '; Latin: ''Ionas'' Ben (Hebrew), son of Amittai, is a prophet in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran, from Gath-hepher of the northern Kingdom of Israel (Samaria ...

'', in 1962.

Cast

as Will Bryant *

as Mary Bryant *

as Governor Phillip *

* Brigid Lenihan *James Elliott *Neil Fitzpatrick *John Gray *Ronald Morse *Stan Polonsky *John Unicomb

Production

Rex Rienits, who had written ''Stormy Petrel'' and ''The Outcasts'' but not ''Patriots'', wrote episodes in London where he was living and sent them on. Filming started June 1963 at Gore Hill. It was an early TV role for Leonard Teale.

Episodes

*Ep 1–7 July (Syd), 21 July (Melb) - meet the Bryants in Cornwall in 1784 *Ep 2–14 July (Syd), 28 July (Melb) - "Bound for Botany Bay" *Ep 3–21 July (Syd), 4 Aug (Melb) *Ep 4–28 July (Syd), 11 Aug Melb) *Ep 5 - 4 Aug (Syd) 18 Aug (Melb) - "Days of Famine" *Ep 6 - 11 Aug (Syd) 25 Aug (Melb) *Ep 7 - 18 Aug (Syd) 1 Sept (Melb) *Ep 8 - 25 Aug (Syd) 8 Sept (Melb) - "The Escape" *Ep 9 - 1 Sept (Syd) 15 Sept (Melb) *Ep 10 - 8 Sept (Syd) 22 Sept (Melb) - final episode

Reception

An article in the 18 March 1964 edition of ''Australian Women's Weekly'' stated that the historical serials were "very good entertainment" with the exception of ''The Hungry Ones''

References

External links

* Australian drama television series 1963 Australian television series debuts 1963 Australian television series endings Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming Black-and-white Australian television shows English-language television shows Period television series Television shows set in colonial Australia {{Australia-tv-prog-stub