''Willing and Abel'' is an Australian television comedy series which was made in 1987, about two handymen. The main cast were

Grant Dodwell Grant Radnor Dodwell (born 2 July 1952, in Sydney) is an Australian actor, producer, writer, director, voice artist, and drama teacher. He is a triple recipient of the Silver Logie for Most Popular Actor. He is best known for his roles in telev ...

as "Charles Willing",

Shane Withington Shane Withington (born 22 August 1958) is an Australian actor, currently best known for playing surf lifeguard John Palmer in ''Home and Away'' on the Seven Network; his former role as Brendan Jones in the television series ''A Country Practice ...

as "Abel Moore", and

Rebecca Rigg Rebecca Rigg is an Australian actress. She is known for her roles in television and film. She started out as a child actor in ''Fatty Finn'' (1980), before also being featured in the films ''Hunting'' (1991), ''Spotswood'' (1992) and ''Ellie ...

as "Angela Reddy". Their names ("Reddy", "Willing" and "Abel") were a pun on the saying: "Ready, Willing and Able". It had problems in attaining an audience. The show was produced as a "comedy drama" however some at the Nine Network wanted to steer it to be a heavier drama. There was much discussion between production executives and the Network and not much agreement. One episode scripted by Ted Roberts dealt with a hostage situation at a bank, the pathos being reinforced by series characters caught up in the action. The series dealt with contemporary issues in a subtle way, sometimes making observations through humour.

Cast

as Charles Willing *

as Abel Moore *

as Angela Reddy *

Simon Chilvers Simon Chilvers is an Australian actor. He won for the 1986 AFI Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Mini Series for his role in ''The Dunera Boys''. He was nominated for the same award in 1988 for '' True Believers'' and for the ...

as Pisani *

Martin Vaughan Martin Kevin Vaughan (5 June 1931 – October 2022) was an Australian stage, television and film actor and musician. He is best known for appearing in the film Phar Lap as trainer Harry Telford and the lead role in the award-winning 26-part 1976 ...

as "Just One" Moore *

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 ...

as Margaret Hill * Mark Mitchell as Sergeant Dobson * Alan David Lee as Gary Conway *

Susan Lyons Susan Lyons (born 1958, Sydney) is an Australian actress. Her television appearances include: ''A Country Practice'', ''Police Rescue'', ''Murder Call'', ''Farscape'', ''Something in the Air'' and '' All Saints''. Her film appearances includ ...

Judith McGrath Judith McGrath (21 April 1947 – 20 October 2017) was an Australian actress. McGrath was known for her television roles, including soap opera's ''Prisoner'' (1979–84), as Deputy Governor/Officer Colleen "Poface" Powell, ''A Country Pract ...

Melissa Jaffer Melissa Jaffer (born 1 December 1936) is an Australian actress. She is best known for her stage and television roles, but has also appeared in many films. Career Jaffer started her career in theatre productions in the mid 1950s has made many a ...

Lucius Borich Lucius Borich (born 1971) is an Australian musician, best known as the drummer for the band Cog, and previously the drummer in funk metal band Juice and in The Hanging Tree as well as Floating Me. He currently plays and is working on new rock ...

Deborah Kennedy :''This is an article about the actress. For the American eco artist and author, see Deborah Kennedy (artist)''. Deborah Kennedy is an Australian character actress recognised for several television and film roles, especially for her appearance ...

Maggie Dence Margaret Helen Dence (born 1 February 1942) is an Australian actress of stage and screen, with a career spanning some seven decades. She is equally at home in both comedy and drama roles, and is best known to early audiences for her roles in t ...

Simone Buchanan Simone Louise Buchanan is an Australian film and television actress, and television director. She is best known for her television roles as Debbie Kelly in the situation comedy '' Hey Dad..!'' and Samantha Fitzgerald in the soap opera ''Neighbou ...

Veronica Lang Veronica Lang is an Australian-born actress, who started her career in England in theatre and television, before working in her native country, she also briefly worked in America. She won the 1977 AFI Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role ...

Leslie Dayman Leslie Ernest Dayman (born 19 January 1938) credited variously as Les Dayman and Les Daymen, is an Australian retired actor best known for his performances on television (serials and telemovies) and film, major small screen roles including '' Ho ...

Broadcast

The series first aired in Australia on the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

and years later went onto air in a number of other countries such as South Africa and Indonesia.

References

* "''The Australian Film and Television Companion''" — compiled by Tony Harrison — Simon & Schuster Australia, 1994

External links

* Nine Network original programming Australian comedy television series 1987 Australian television series debuts 1987 Australian television series endings {{Australia-tv-prog-stub