The Sullivans

The Sullivans is an Australian drama television series produced by Crawford Productions which ran from 1976 until 1983. The series told the story of an average middle-class Melbourne family and the effect World War II had on their lives. It was a consistent ratings success in Australia, and also became popular in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Ireland and New Zealand.

Pre-production
The show was purchased by Channel Nine without a pilot programme being produced. They commissioned 34 hours with a view to extension. Fourteen writers were assigned to the thirteen plot lines which had been devised.

The cast hadn't even been established when they started writing the series and even three months later they still only had two cast members. They were Vikki Hammond and Noni Hazelhurst.

When researching the time period, the set designer Nick Rossedale said at the time "when you are dealing with a period of time that is well within living memory, you have to watch things very carefully". Hence, the painstaking research into the reality of the show.

In 1976, the show was regarded as an ambitious project with the biggest budget ever for a commercial network series. It reputedly cost one million dollars to set up.

Story and setting
The story began in 1939, with the declaration of war against Germany. From the outset the series focused on the Sullivan family of 7 Gordon Street, Camberwell, Victoria, along with neighbourhood friends, relatives, and associates. The majority of show's storylines related to the war, focussing on either the fighting itself or its effect on the Sullivan family. Scenes of battles in northern Africa, Greece, Crete, the Netherlands, England, New Guinea and Malaya were all filmed in or around Melbourne.

The Sullivans was renowned for its high production standards. The programme's researchers went to great lengths to ensure both historical and cultural accuracy. Many scenes were timestamped and the scripts referenced actual military developments and events of the time, such discussion of specific battles, sporting results and cinematic releases. For instance, this even went down to the weather, where the researchers checked through back copies of newspapers. Authentic 1930s furniture was located and used on sets, while kitchen pantries and the corner store were stocked with packaged goods of the era.

The set designer Nick Rossendale said it was a "fascinating job" to find these items. He went on to say that the big companies would say to him they didn't have anything for him but he persisted by asking if he could look through their warehouses. "When I got in, I usually found something," he said. "It's amazing what a bit of research and looking around will dig up. The forgotten stuff that was lying around was unbelievable.  No one knew it was there."

For instance, he found "hundreds of old pub mirrors labels, completely clean and unused" with every one of them "for a certain period of time". He said "to reproduce these would have cost a fortune but we can now label any product - can or bottle - with a real label so it won't be a reproduction at all."

Main characters
Grace Sullivan (Lorraine Bayly) was the Sullivan matriarch. The daughter of a doctor, she was intelligent, rational and greatly respected by her family. Although opposed to her sons enlisting to fight, she eventually came to terms with this. Grace was a devout Catholic, which sometimes created tension with husband Dave, who was a non-practising Anglican. Later in the series she flew to London at the request of the War Office, to assist with the recovery of her son John. There she was killed when a German rocket struck the hospital.

Dave Sullivan (Paul Cronin) was an upright, hard-working and somewhat old-fashioned patriarch. He was a foreman at a small engineering firm and a veteran of World War I, serving in the cavalry in the Middle East. At the outbreak of war in 1939 Dave encouraged his sons to fight; later in the series he eventually enlisted himself, reaching the rank of major in the engineering corps. Dave was hit and killed by a car in 1948, an event that marked the final scenes of the entire series.

John (Andrew McFarlane) was Dave and Grace's eldest child. A medical student in 1939, he was vehemently opposed to the war, leading to many confrontations with his more traditionalist father. John's relationship with German-born Anna Kaufman also caused complications. After her death, John relented and joined the medical corps before being lost at sea and, for two years, presumed dead. His return to the series prompted Grace Sullivan to fly to England where John was convalescing; it was there she was killed during a German air raid.

Tom (Steven Tandy) was the second Sullivan child, an engineering student who, unlike his brother John, was keen to sign up and fight for his country. Tom served the duration of the series in the military, serving missions in north Africa, Greece, Crete, Holland and Malaya and eventually reaching officer rank. Late in the series he returned to civilian life, took up university studies and married an American lawyer, Patty Spencer (Penny Downie), though it was not a successful marriage.

Terry (Richard Morgan) was the third and youngest Sullivan son. A scampish schoolboy at the beginning of the series, as he matured he harboured dreams of joining the air force, however inner ear problems prevented this and he instead joined the army. He later married Caroline Geneviève Picot, however the war took a greater psychological toll on Terry than his brothers, and he struggled both with his marriage and his readjustment to civilian life. Terry was indirectly responsible for the death of his father Dave at the conclusion of the series.

The youngest Sullivan child and the only girl was Kitty (Susan Hannaford). Shy, sensitive and conscientious, Kitty was upset by the war early in the series, and was prone to outbursts of emotion. Her character strengthened as the series progressed, and by the end of the war she was employed as a nurse. Kitty married war correspondent Robbie McGovern (Graham Harvey) who, affected by his experiences, later committed suicide.

Uncle Harry (Michael Caton) was Dave's younger brother, a wise-cracking larrikin with a fondness for goods of dubious origin ('fallen from the back of a truck'). His syrupy wife Rose (Maggie Dence) suffered depression and drowned in the Yarra River during a picnic. This had a devastating impact on Harry and his final scenes in the series showed him beginning a long sentence in prison.

Maggie Hayward (Vikki Hammond) was the divorced owner of the local pub The Great Southern, and Jack (Reg Gorman) her barman. Both were well-known to Dave Sullivan, Maggie as a former girlfriend and Jack through military service together during World War I. The bar of the Great Southern was a common setting throughout the series.

Norm Baker (Norman Yemm) was another of Dave Sullivan's army comrades from the previous war and a close family friend. Like Dave he was old-fashioned, straight-talking and fond of a beer. He enlisted with Tom Sullivan at the beginning of the series and served the entire war, becoming a captain. His first wife, Melina (Chantal Contouri), was a Cretan who was executed by a Nazi officer. He later returned to Australia and married Maggie Hayward.

Ida Jessup (Vivean Gray) was the Sullivans' English-born next-door neighbour. Raised in Battersea, her late husband had served in World War I before being gassed and invalided back to England. At times prone to meddling and puritantical gossip, Mrs Jessup's character mellowed to show great strength and understanding as the series progressed. Later in the series she married Englishman Arthur Pike (Wallace Eaton).

Bert Duggan (Peter Hehir) and his neglected wife Lil (Noni Hazlehurst) appeared in the early seasons as lodgers taken in by Mrs Jessup. Bert, a devious womaniser, enlisted to escape arrest for illegal bookmaking; he was unable to cope with the rigours of war and was later killed in action in north Africa.

The Kaufmans, father Hans (Leon Lissek), mother Lottie (Marcella Burgoyne) and daughter Anna (Ingrid Mason) were German-born immigrants who owned the local shop, The Universal Store. Although they opposed the Nazi regime their German status created problems for them at the outbreak of war, and Hans and Lottie were eventually interned as enemy aliens. Anna was saved from this fate by hastily marrying John Sullivan, however she later fell ill and died.

Critical and popular reception
The Sullivans attracted critical acclaim and was also one of Australia's most popular drama series, screening in half-hour episodes at 7.00 pm.

The show's popularity waned somewhat after 1979 following the departure of Lorraine Bayly. When she asked to leave the series the show's producers instead offered her six months leave. Her character Grace was sent to London to care for her injured son John, and a series of pre-taped segments were used in her absence to maintain her presence. The London scenes featured actors imported from New Zealand so Australian viewers would not recognise familiar actors. When Bayly refused to return after six months, she was written out of the series and Grace was killed by a V1 bomb during a London air raid.

Despite Bayly's departure ratings remained high enough for the series to remain in production. In 1982 the war ended in the storyline and there were plans for the series to continue with examinations of elements of post-War Australian history such as the Snowy River hydro-electric scheme. However, the decision of Paul Cronin to leave the series at this time prompted the show's cancellation before any of this could come to fruition.

Logie Awards
In the first full year of production, the Sullivans walked away with five Logies in 1978. Paul Cronin was Most Popular Australian Actor, Lorraine Bayly was Most Popular Australian Actress, Michael Caton won for Best Sustained Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, Vivean Gray won for Best Sustained Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role and, finally, the show won Most Popular Australian Drama. The latter it would win for the next two years' running.

International success
The series enjoyed success outside Australia when it was broadcast by networks in Britain and continental Europe, usually as a daytime filler. The series was sold to over 45 country worldwide.


 * 🇬🇧 The Sullivans started on the ITV network on 18 October 1977, less than a year after its debut in Australia and was initially networked by Thames Television to all 15 ITV companies in the midweek Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 15.50 afternoon slot. Over the next 18 months or so, broadcasts were reduced to twice-weekly, and then only once a week, normally on Fridays.  ATV were the first region to break away from the networked episodes, and as early as January 1978 they were scheduling the programme earlier in the afternoon, and began falling behind the rest of the country.  When networked repeats of the ATV drama serial The Cedar Tree ended in June 1979, The Sullivans briefly took its place in the 12.30 lunchtime slot and was stripped five days a week, but this new timelsot lasted only a matter of weeks and it was moved back to the weekly Friday afternoon slot in July.  By the end of the year, The Sullivans was once again being shown in the 12.30 lunchtime slot, initially four days a week, but reduced to three and then two episodes per week during 1980, on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  It was around this time that most ITV regions began breaking away from the networked episodes from Thames and scheduling The Sullivans on different days and times, some regions dropping the series from their schedules altogether for some months.  Although many regions still favoured the 12.30 lunchtime slot, some showed the programme less often than Thames and rapidly began falling behind in the storyline. In 1981 ATV finally cancelled the series altogether, and Yorkshire Television followed suit in December 1982, opting for local programming instead. Border Television, Tyne Tees Television, and Ulster Television continued to screen their episodes via the Thames Television feed throughout the series's entire run, and these regions were the first to complete the series, broadcasting the final episode on Wednesday 5 October 1988.  Nearly all the remaining ITV companies completed the series in late 1988 or early 1989 except for HTV, TSW and Scottish Television which took until 1993 to complete the series.   When Westcountry Television took over from TSW, they initially dropped The Sullivans from their schedule, only to bring it back a while later due to popular demand. The was short-lived, however, and Westcountry then dropped the series completely, meaning that viewers in Yorkshire, the Midlands and the South West never saw the entire series.


 * The Sullivans has also had a lengthy run on satellite and cable television in the UK. The series was screened on Sky Channel in the mid-to-late 1980s, before it became Sky One, and aired at 11.30am every weekday morning. In the mid 1990s, it enjoyed another repeat run on satellite channel UK Gold. Again, it was broadcast at 11.30am from 1994 to 1999.


 * 🇮🇪 The show was aired on RTÉ One


 * 🇬🇮 The series was a Sunday night TV staple on GBC TV in Gibraltar, where The Sullivans aired as double episodes every Sunday night from 8.45pm throughout the 1980s. The series was amongst the most popular programmes in Gibraltar at the time.


 * 🇺🇸 In the early 1980s, the series was syndicated in North America. Stations included WLVI Boston and CKRD Red Deer.

The Sullivans employed scores of actors in short-term and supporting roles, so becoming something of a proving ground for young Australasian talent. Many of the young actors who worked on the series during its run would later enjoy successful careers, such as Mel Gibson, Kerry Armstrong, Kylie Minogue, Dannii Minogue, Sam Neill, Gary Sweet and Sigrid Thornton. The series also employed many already-prominent actors, including John Orcsik, Gus Mercurio, Charles Tingwell, John Waters, Maurie Fields and Vincent Ball.

UK ITV regional scheduling

 * All ITV regions screening in 1988 take a two week break from the week commencing 19 September to accommodate the Olympics.

Scheduling
The Young Doctors (under the title "Jeunes Docteurs") was scheduled in France, on the second national-wide channel Antenne 2, at 8.30, from March 21 1986.

The Young Doctors was also one of three Australian soap operas screened in the mid to late 1980s on Sky Channel before it became Sky1 in 1989 (the others being A Country Practice and The Sullivans). During the mid-to-late 1980s, it was transmitted at 17:00. From 1989 until 1992, The Young Doctors screened at 10:00. When Sky purchased newer Australian soap E Street in 1992, they dropped The Young Doctors to accommodate an afternoon repeat of E Street.

Remake
In November 2007, the Nine Network announced plans to remake the series in conjunction with FremantleMedia. Originally, it was set to be broadcast in 2008, but due to script delays, the premiere date had been pushed back to 2009. The remake was set to be named Young Doctors. However, at the end of 2008, the Nine Network officially passed on the idea. The network decided against the remake, instead confirming a second series of the popular Australian drama Underbelly. FremantleMedia is currently searching for another television station to contract the program.

DVD releases
The first 26 episodes of the series were initially released on DVD in the Netherlands. The DVD audio is in English with removable Dutch subtitles. The first 200 episodes are now available through Crawfords DVD in Australia (Region 4). Volume 1 (episodes 1-50) were released in the UK (Region 2) on 12 March 2012. Volume 2 (episodes 51-100) were released on 30 July 2012.