Kate Woods Movies
- 2002
While negotiating with traders for maps of Tormented Space, the Moya crew suddenly undergoes profound personality changes. Some of these alterations are for the good, notably the uncharacteristic generosity of the mercenary Rygel (Jonathan Hardy) -- but some may bode ill for the crew, especially an uneasy friendship between the mercurial Scorpius (Wayne Pygram) and soldier-of-fortune Sikozu (Raelee Hill). Can these metamorphoses be due to the influence of Talikaa (Paula Arundell), the slave girl whom Chiana (Gigi Edgley) has rescued from the map traders? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
One of the most expensive miniseres ever assembled for Australian television, Changi covered a time-span of nearly 60 years. The story was told in flashback as a group of six former POWs, arranging a reunion, recalled their experiences in a Singapore prison camp. Though all six suffered mightily at the hands of their Japanese captors, all managed to survive the ordeal and remain friends even after cessation of hostilities. Still, each man had retained a deleterious "side effect" from his imprisonment, which threatened to cast a tragic pall on their reunion. Running an exhaustive gamut from comedy to horror, Changi sustained its believability by having each of the main characters played by two actors -- one young for the WWII scenes, one old for the postwar scenes. Though critics and the general public were impressed when the series first aired on Australia's ABC network from October 14 to November 12, 2001, there were a number of real-life prison camp survivors who condemned the project as unrealistic and offensive (and never mind that at least one of the lead actors on the show had himself weathered six years in a Japanese stockade). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2001
The Australian miniseries The Farm was a stinging indictment of the irregularities and downright dishonesties of the Commonwealth Bank in the 1980s. Colin Friels and Greta Scacchi starred as Tom and Liz Curry, owners of a farm that had been in Tom's family for decades. Taking out a foreign loan from the Federal Development Bank, the Currys soon discovered that the loan wasn't worth the paper it was written on. The rest of the story dealt with the couple's frustration in trying to keep their debt-ridden farm out of receivership through months of inflation and drought. Presented in two 90-minute episodes, The Farm debuted over Australia's ABC network on March 18, 2001. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1994
Aimed at the ten- to 18-year-old demographic group, the Australian-Japanese science fiction series Escape From Jupiter actually began on the Jupiterian moon of Io, where a mining colony of Earthlings was located. Forced by a series of devastating volcanic eruptions to vacate Io immediately, a group of young people, accompanied by a handful of surviving adults, piled into the derelict space station KL5. The rest of the series detailed the escapees' various adventures while agonizingly trying to make their way back to their home planet. Created by Martin Daley, David Ogilby, and John Patterson, the series represented a collaboration between Japan's NHK and Australia's ABC network. Thirteen 25-minute episodes of Escape From Jupiter were produced in all, beginning in 1994. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
The Australian The Feds was not so much a TV series as an anthology of TV movies which happened to star the same people on each occasion (together with a collection of glittering guest stars). Based on actual case histories from the files of the Australian Federal Police, the program covered the "beat" from Australia to Hong Kong and back again. Many of the stories focused on the families of the cops, who though not always in imminent danger were usually affected adversely by the case at hand. Produced by Crawford Television, the 15 90-minute installments of The Feds were broadcast irregularly by the Seven Network from 1993 to 1995. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
