''The Last Resort'' was an Australian
television drama series
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
which originally screened by 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 ...
(ABC). The show premiered on 27 April 1988 and ended 13 December 1988 for a total of 30 weekly episodes of fifty minutes each. The series was created and co-written by
Louis Nowra
Mark Doyle, better known by his stage name Louis Nowra, (born 12 December 1950) is an Australian writer, playwright, screenwriter and librettist.
He is best known as one of Australia's leading playwrights. His works have been performed by all o ...
. The plot revolves around three adult sisters, Elizabeth Parker (
Kate Fitzpatrick
Kerry Kathleen Fitzpatrick (born 1 October 1947) known as Kate Fitzpatrick, is an Australian television, film, and theatre actress.
Early years
Kate grew up in the Adelaide suburb of Dover Gardens, and it was in Adelaide that her love for cl ...
), Jennifer Shannon (
Kris McQuade) and Louise Shannon (Nell Schofield), who attempt to live together and help in the management of the dilapidated sea-side Hotel Isis.
The series is set in Sydney's
Bondi area and was "part of the initiative to increase the network's Australian drama output to 100 hours for
he year"
It featured original music by
Martin Armiger
John Martin Armiger (10 June 1949 – 27 November 2019) was an Australian musician, record producer and composer. He was one of the singer-songwriters and guitarists with Melbourne-based rock band the Sports from August 1978 to late 1981, which ...
.
Contemporary reviews from ''
The Canberra Times
''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times.
History
''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...
'' in 1988 include David Vine's: "acclaimed almost universally as a disaster of epic proportions"
and Jeannie Zakharov's: "the national broadcaster did not have much luck with bomb's like ... the aptly named ''The Last Resort'', which finally ground to a halt last week."
More recent descriptions include ''
The Age
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...
''s Brenda Niall in 2004, who discussed Nowra's work "
tended badly ...
ebecame aggressive and abusive. The series was a disaster."
Also in 2004 Susan Lever of
National Centre for Australian Studies, "thought
t was
T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is deri ...
fascinating and found its very mix of styles led to almost obligatory viewing during its run" and that, "Critical damnation, final though it seems, really is as transient as television broadcasting itself."
Production
The series was created and written by
Louis Nowra
Mark Doyle, better known by his stage name Louis Nowra, (born 12 December 1950) is an Australian writer, playwright, screenwriter and librettist.
He is best known as one of Australia's leading playwrights. His works have been performed by all o ...
.
It was produced by
Jan Chapman
Jan Chapman (born 28 March 1950) is an Australian film producer. Films produced by Chapman include '' The Last Days of Chez Nous'' (1992), ''The Piano'' (1993), '' Love Serenade'' (1996), '' Holy Smoke!'' (1999), and ''Lantana'' (2001).
While ...
and Wayne Barry with
Bert Deling
Bert Deling is an Australian writer, script editor and director of film and TV best known for the cult classic ''Pure Shit'' (1975).
Select Credits
*'' Dalmas'' (1973)
*''Pure Shit
''Pure Shit'' (censored as ''Pure S'') is a 1975 Australian dra ...
, Tim Gooding,
Gabrielle Lord
Gabrielle Craig Lord (born 1946) is an Australian writer who has been described as Australia's first lady of crime.Pressley, Alison (2007) "Lord and lady" in ''Good Reading Magazine'', April 2007, pp. 22–23 She has published a wide range ...
and
Johanna Pigott
Johanna Paton Pigott (born ca. 1955) is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and screenwriter. Her best known hit songs are Dragon's "Rain" which peaked at No. 2 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart in 1983, Note: Used f ...
as scriptwriters; it was directed by Geoffrey Nottage, Ron Elliott,
Denny Lawrence
Denny Lawrence (born 1951 in Sydney) is an Australian actor, writer, producer and director of television, theatre and film.
He studied at National Institute of Dramatic Art, NIDA and the Australian Film, Television and Radio School. Among his mo ...
, Colin Englert and
Kate Woods
Kate Woods is an Australian film and television director who has directed and produced mini series, television shows, pilots and feature films.
Career
Woods made her feature film directorial debut with the film '' Looking for Alibrandi'' ( ...
.
It was filmed at Langley Place Studios, the former GIO building, which ''
The Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
''s Robin Oliver described as, "a building where the leaking roof is supported on a mass of internal columns – a nightmare for camera operators and set decorators – where the floor can be flooded in any decent rainstorm, where the ceiling is so low that the lighting can almost singe the hair of the actors, and where outside broadcast vans have had to be brought in."
Critical reception
In a contemporary review, David Vine of ''
The Canberra Times
''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times.
History
''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...
'' summarised, "If they handed out Golden Turkey awards for television in Australia, there is little doubt ''The Last Resort'' on the ABC would be up there with the best of them. Though acclaimed almost universally as a disaster of epic proportions. I heard it promoted, rather desperately, as a 'sensuous Australian drama'. There are many things ''The Last Resort'' is not - and sensuous is one of them."
Nowra's memoir, ''Shooting the Moon'' (2004), was reviewed by Brenda Niall of ''The Age'', and she describes how, "His work on ''The Last Resort'' with ABC producer Jan Chapman and writer Tim Gooding ended badly. Using cocaine and alcohol to keep up the pace of writing a 30-episode series, Nowra became aggressive and abusive. The series was a disaster."
''The Canberra Times'' Jeannie Zakharov reviewed ABC's shows for 1988 and concluded, "...the national broadcaster did not have much luck with bombs like the shortlived ''Gerry Connelly Show''... and the aptly named ''The Last Resort'', which finally ground to a halt last week..."
Susan Lever of National Centre for Australian Studies at
Monash University
Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university h ...
discussed the works of Nowra and addressed the criticism of ''The Last Resort'', "I was one of the viewers who thought
t was
T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is deri ...
fascinating and found its very mix of styles led to almost obligatory viewing during its run. I remember with particular fondness the scene in which the mother was struck by lightning while playing lawn bowls – a wonderful parody of the way characters are disposed of in conventional soaps.
he series
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
goes down in the annals as a failure not only because it did not win audiences... but because it also attracted critical damnation... Critical damnation, final though it seems, really is as transient as television broadcasting itself."
Cast
Credits:
*
Kate Fitzpatrick
Kerry Kathleen Fitzpatrick (born 1 October 1947) known as Kate Fitzpatrick, is an Australian television, film, and theatre actress.
Early years
Kate grew up in the Adelaide suburb of Dover Gardens, and it was in Adelaide that her love for cl ...
– Elizabeth Parker
*
Kris McQuade – Jennifer Shannon
*Nell Schofield – Louise Shannon
*
Paul Chubb
Paul Dunford (14 January 1949 – 9 June 2002), professionally billed as Paul Chubb, was an Australian film, television and stage actor and scriptwriter primarily in genres of comedy and drama.
Early life
He was born in Arncliffe, a suburb of S ...
– Hilary Davis
*Juliet Jordan – Ama
*
Wyn Roberts
Ieuan Wyn Pritchard Roberts, Baron Roberts of Conwy, PC (10 July 1930 – 13 December 2013) was a Welsh Conservative politician.
His father was a Minister in a chapel in Llansadwrn, Anglesey, and they lived in the schoolhouse.
He was Member of ...
*Les Foxcroft
*
Grigor Taylor
Grigor Weston Taylor also known as Greg Taylor, is an Australian former actor, best known for his parts in several television series including '' Matlock Police'' and ''Glenview High''.
Early life, education and teacher
Taylor was born in P ...
– Len
*
Clarissa Kaye-Mason
*
Claudia Karvan
Claudia Karvan (born 19 May 1972) is an Australian actress, producer and scriptwriter. As a child actor, she first appeared in the film, '' Molly'' (1983) and followed with an adolescent role in ''High Tide'' (1987). She portrayed a teacher in ...
– Emma Parker
*Joe Petruzzi
*
Betty Lucas
Betty Helen Lucas (31 May 1924 – 7 April 2015), also known as Betty Lucas Peterson, was an Australian character actress and theatre director, known for her numerous roles on stage and television, starting from the post-WWII years in 1945.
Biog ...
*
Christian Manon
Christian Manon (born 5 January 1950) is a French-Australian actor based in Sydney, best known for his work in theatre. His most notable film role was Mael in the film adaptation of the Anne Rice novel, ''Queen of the Damned''.
Credits
Manon i ...
* May Pusey
*
Wayne Pygram
Wayne Pigram (born 13 October 1959), better known by his stage name Wayne Pygram, is an Australian actor, known for his role as Scorpius in the science fiction series ''Farscape'' (2000–2003) and the miniseries that followed, '' Farscape: Th ...
*
Loene Carmen
Lo Carmen (also known by her full name Loene Carmen prior to 2012) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, author and actress. Carmen has independently released seven solo albums in the Americana alt-country indie rock vein. In February 20 ...
– Megan Small
* Rod Zuanic – Rod Hunter
* Yuko – Yukio
* Susan Deling
*
Ivar Kants
Ivar Kants (born 19 July 1949) (commonly credited as ''Ivor'' Kants or Ivar Kanz) is an Australian actor of Latvian descent who has played numerous roles in soap operas including ''A Country Practice'', ''G.P.'', '' All Saints'', '' Water Rats' ...
*
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 ...
Guest stars
*
Helen Scott
Episodes
# "Coming Home" (27 April 1988)
# "The First Day" (4 May 1988)
# "Winners & Grinners" (11 May 1988)
# "Ghosts" (18 May 1988)
# "An Absence of Love" (25 May 1988)
# Episode 6 (1 June 1988)
# "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" (8 June 1988)
# "Sayonara" (15 June 1988)
# "Noah's Ark" (29 June 1988)
# Episode 10 (6 July 1988)
# "Through a Crystal Darkly" (13 July 1988)
# "Ties that Bind" (20 July 1988)
# "Fire from the Sea" (27 July 1988)
# "Under the Volcano" (3 August 1988)
# Episode 15 (10 August 1988)
#
Episode 16 (17 August 1988)
# Episode 17 (24 August 1988)
# Episode 18 (31 August 1988)
# "Skeletons in the Cupboard" (7 September 1988)
# "Legal Niceties" (21 September 1988)
# "Castles in the Air" (28 September 1988)
# "Time of the Tiger" (11 October 1988)
[ Note: moved to Tuesday night slot.]
# "Rats in the Attic" (18 October 1988)
# "Suspicions" (25 October 1988)
# "Something Dead in the Tank" (1 November 1988)
# "Happy Families" (8 November 1988)
# Episode 27 (22 November 1988)
# Episode 28 (29 November 1988)
# "Wedding Bells" (6 December 1988)
# "Once Upon a Time" (13 December 1988)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Last Resort, The (1988 TV series)
1980s Australian drama television series
1988 Australian television series debuts
1988 Australian television series endings
Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming