''You Can't See 'Round Corners'' is an Australian drama and military TV series that aired on the

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

for 26 episodes from 28 June 1967 based on the 1947 novel by

Jon Cleary Jon Stephen Cleary (22 November 191719 July 2010) was an Australian writer and novelist. He wrote numerous books, including '' The Sundowners'' (1951), a portrait of a rural family in the 1920s as they move from one job to the next, and '' The ...

, updated to be set during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. It was directed by David Cahill and shot around

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

in black and white, and was adapted into a film version in 1969.

Cast

Main

Ken Shorter Kenneth Shorter (1945 – November 2024) was an Australian actor. Shorter's career spanned theatre, television and film, but he was best known for starring opposite Mick Jagger in a film adaptation of ''Ned Kelly'' (1970), as the title chara ...

as Frankie McCoy *

Lyndall Barbour Lyndall Harvey Barbour (19 May 1916 – 10 October 1986) was an Australian actress, primarily of radio, although she also added stage and television work (both series and made-for-television movies) to her repertoire. Born in Egypt to Australian ...

as Mrs. McCoy *

Rowena Wallace Rowena Wallace (born 23 August 1947) is an English-born Australian stage and screen actress, most especially in the genre of television soap opera. She is best known for her Gold Logie-winning role as conniving Patricia "Pat the Rat" Hamilton/ ...

as Margie Harris * Judith Fisher as Peg Clancy * Slim De Grey as Mick Patterson

Guest cast

* Aarne Neeme as Chopper (3 episodes) *

Alister Smart Alister Smart (born 1935)GILES, NIGEL "Number 96: Australia's Most Notorious Address" also credited as Alastair Smart, is an Australian retired television presenter, actor, television director and screenwriter. A staple of the small screen, he a ...

* Andrew Pappas as Dimitris (4 episodes) *

Carmen Duncan Carmen Joan Duncan (7 July 1942 – 3 February 2019) was an Australian-born stage and screen actress and activist, with a career locally and internationally in the United States that spanned over 50 years. She was nominated for the AFI Award ...

as Myra Neilson (4 episodes) *

Diana Perryman Diana Perryman (9 November 1924 – 10 January 1979) credited also as Diane Perryman, was an Australian actress, who appeared on stage, and in film and television. Early life Perryman was born in Melbourne in 1924 to father, Melbourne-born musi ...

(3 episodes) *

Garry McDonald Garry George McDonald AO (born 30 October 1948) is an Australian actor, satirist and comedian. In a career spanning five decades he has had many theatre, television and film roles, and has been listed as a National Living Treasure. He is bes ...

as Young Man (1 episode) * Harold Hopkins as Soldier at dance (uncredited) (1 episode) * John Norman as Danny (3 episodes) *

Les Foxcroft Clement Leslie Foxcroft (19 November 1918 – 24 June 2004) professionally known as Les Foxcroft and credited also as Lester Foxcroft was an Australian character actor with a career spanning over 50 years, working in all major facets of the ...

as Customer (1 episode) *

Michele Fawdon Michele Fawdon (1947–2011) was an English-born Australian actress and singer. She is known for her roles in TV serials ''Matlock Police'' (1971–1974), '' The Unisexers'' (1975) and '' A Country Practice'' (1980, 1985, 1992). In 1979 she won ...

(1 episode) *

Reg Evans Reginald Evans (27 March 1928 – 7 February 2009) was a British-born actor active in Australian radio, theatre, television and cinema from the 1960s, after having started his career in his native England. Early life Evans started drama while ...

as Ern McCauliffe (3 episodes) *

Roger Ward Roger Ward (born 24 July 1937)Wilmingham, Margot "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of. Australian Showbiz is an Australian actor and scriptwriter who has had a considerable career in film and television, noted for "tough guy" roles in which he of ...

as Punter (uncredited) (1 episode) *

Sheila Kennelly Sheila Kennelly (born 28 December 1937) also credited as Sheila Kenneally, is a British-born Australian retired character actress of theatre and music hall, television and film, with a career spanning over 50 years. From the late 1950s onward ...

as Linda (1 episode) *

Tom Oliver Tom Oliver (born 12 June 1938) is a British naturalised Australian retired actor. Oliver is best known locally and internationally for his long-running role in TV soap opera ''Neighbours'' as Lou Carpenter, a role he played for 25 years bec ...

(3 episodes) *

Valli Kemp Valli Kemp (born 19 November 1950) is an Australian former model, actress fashion designer, painter, teacher and beauty pageant titleholder. She is best known for her involvement in several high-profile beauty contests in the early 1970s, and fo ...

Vincent Gil Vincent Gil (1939 – 21 August 2022), also credited as Vince Gil (sometimes misspelled with double L), was an Australian film and television actor, Gil best known for his portrayal of the character ''Nightrider'' in the 1979 Mel Gibson film ...

as Terry Howlett

Film

Max Phipps Maxwell John Phipps (18 November 1939 – 6 August 2000) was an Australian actor, known for a number of roles in theatre, films and television during the 1960s until the end of the 1990s. Phipps' most notable roles included portraying Prime Mini ...

as Keith Greyson

Production

Jim Oswin of ATN-7 asked Richard Lane if he knew of an Australian novel to adapt. Lane suggested Jon Cleary's ''You Can't See Round Corners'' which was a favourite of Lane's wife, updated to the Vietnam War. Oswin agreed. The novel was set in Paddington but Lane thought that suburb had changed so much by the 1960s he relocated it to Newtown. Lane wrote the first 17 scripts and was consultant on the last nine. This was

's first professional dramatic TV series. She was recommended by

Barry Creyton Barry Creyton (born 1939) is an Australian actor, playwright, author, screenwriter, composer and director, he has also worked in the United Kingdom and the United States. He became best known nationally alongside Carol Raye and Gordon Chater, ...

who was originally going to play the role of Frankie McCoy, the role that went to

.Don Storey, 'Interview with Rowena Wallace', ''Classic Australian Television'', Oct 1994
/ref> The series garnered controversy on release because of a scene where Frankie, an army deserter, runs his hand up Margie's skirt. Wallace says she had no idea Shorter was going to do this, which is why her reaction was so authentic. Many stations around Australia cut the scene. The majority of episodes were written by Richard Lane. The theme and incidental music was composed by

Tommy Tycho Thomas Tycho AM MBE DMus (11 April 19284 April 2013) was a Hungarian-born Australian pianist, conductor, composer and arranger. He was active in both classical music and pop. He was associated with musical productions on Australian televisi ...

Peter Weir Peter Lindsay Weir ( ; born 21 August 1944) is a retired Australian film director. He is known for directing films crossing various genres over forty years with films such as '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975), '' Gallipoli'' (1981), '' The Y ...

worked on the show as a production assistant.

Reception

The show was generally well received.

References

External links

''You Can't See 'Round Corners (TV series)''
at

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

''You Can't See 'Round Corners'' (TV series)
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National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting, and providing access to a national c ...

''You Can't See 'Round Corners'' TV series
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AustLit AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource (also known as AustLit: Australian Literature Gateway; and AustLit: The Resource for Australian Literature) is a national bio-bibliographical database of Australian literature. It is an internet-based, ...

{{David Cahill Seven Network original programming 1960s Australian drama television series 1967 Australian television series debuts 1967 Australian television series endings Black-and-white Australian television shows Works by Richard Lane (writer) 1960s Australian mini-series