|
|
CLASS OF ‘74 |
||||
|
- 1974-1975 - 290 x 30 minute episodes - |
|||||
Contents |
Having packaged quiz
shows for Australian TV for the previous twenty years, the Reg Grundy Organisation went into soap operas with this school-based
serial which began on air in March 1974. Class of ‘74
was seen by many as Channel Seven’s answer to Number 96. That show had proved that major success
could be had with a nightly serial that emphasised sexual situations. By late 1973 Number 96 had already prompted the creation of Ten’s second raunchy strip
serial, The Box, and Class of ‘74
had been quick to follow. Class of ‘74 was devised by John Edwards who previously
worked at Crawford’s, and it was developed and overseen by Alan Coleman. The
show’s producer was Peter Maxwell, who also directed many episodes. With Class of ‘74 Grundy’s recognised that older children and teenagers were a
vital component of a soap opera’s audience. Certainly many teens wanted to
watch Number 96, but most were forbidden by their parents
from viewing the sometimes naughty The series was set
in Waratah
High School and examined the relationships of and between the teachers and
other adult figures, and the students. It was definitely a commercial soap
which hinted at sex and titillation, but little was ever shown and the show
was never explicit. For the second and
final year the series was renamed Class
of ‘75 and increasingly
diverged from the original concept. Less of a success this time, the show
failed to graduate to a third year. CLASS
COMMENCES
The first episode
began with the various staff and students arriving for school in the morning,
with these scenes featuring a disproportionately large amount of location
filming. Quickly introduced was the show’s central character, Charles Olgilvy, played by long running Homicide lead Leonard Teale. Olgilvy
was the newly appointed school principal. Deputy Principal Donald Blair (John
Hamblin) had been passed over for this position, and was clearly resentful of
the fact, something his bitter wife, the neurotic alcoholic Maureen (Janet
Kingsbury), gleefully points out. Donald is an officious and frequently
tetchy teacher disliked by students and who clashes frequently with his work colleagues,
and has a fraught relationship with Maureen. The new teacher at Waratah High is Mary Dunstan
(Jeanie Drynan). She is quickly given a tour by
friendly American teacher Glen Turner (Chuck Danskin).
Hubbard (Gordon Glenright) is the school’s gruff janitor
and handyman who, rather improbably, is on a first
name basis with most of the students, frequently chiding them for such
infractions as running in the corridors or being late for classes. Popular
young teacher Gary Evans (Vince Martin) is in love with one of his students,
Julie Armstrong (Carla Hoogeveen). During an
expedition to check on some local caves they share a kiss. This rather
shocking incident occurs before the episode’s first commercial break, however
scandal is averted when soon afterwards Gary asks Julie to marry him, making
everything seem much more respectable. During her
introduction to the staff and students Mary is introduced to promising pupil
and star athlete John Ward (Kevin Wilson), who is sparring with his boxing
coach, the handsome Paul Kennedy (Alan Lander). Even though Paul is sweating
it out in an old track suit, Mary notices a strong attraction to him,
apparently assuming that Paul is another teacher. Mary later calls into the
local coffee shop, run by young Evie
(Gaynor Sterling), who is single, and pregnant.
When Paul drops in Mary is horrified to discover that he is a priest. There is more drama
as a rather melodramatic parent, Joan Whitmore, visits Charles Ogilvy to
report that students at his school are practicing “witchcraft, sorcery and
black magic… devil worship!” Despite Ogilvy’s doubt that these claims have
much veracity a locker search is conducted, which uncovers a Playboy magazine in the locker of Barry Collins (John Dietrich), the eager
school newspaper editor. The magazine is confiscated while the entire
incident provokes Barry and thoughtful prefect Sue Taylor (Joanne Samuel) to
try and organise a debate on the hot topic of
censorship. An outsider to much of the student
activities is pretty blond student Peggy Richardson (Anne Lambert), who comes from a wealthy family. Peggy is
dubbed “The Iceberg” by other students due to her prim and proper ways while
the show’s publicity hinted at her future transformation into a swinging
good-time girl. Meanwhile Ann Watson (Megan Williams) was a bright and
vivacious student heavily involved with the school newspaper. Further story
tensions erupt as the biology lab is found to have been ransacked, while
teacher Glen Turner has an angry outburst over a careless remark about the
Vietnam War. Then Gary Evans takes a group of students to the caves where
they examine aboriginal artefacts. Also part of this expedition are students
Nora Hayes (Barbara Llewellyn) and Greg Simpson (Christopher Cummins). Naive
Nora thinks that Greg is “far out!” so she accepts his invitation to ride to
the cave with him on his motorcycle, and to spend the night with him in his
tent. However Nora and Greg don’t make it to the cave instead setting up a cosy private camp in the bush. Meanwhile Gary and his
students become trapped in the cave by a rock fall. The trapped students realise that no one
knows where they are; to ease their nerves they begin a rendition of
children’s rhyme Alouette.
Elsewhere, Greg and Nora are oblivious to their classmates’ predicament and
are seen bunking down together in his tent. The series premiered
on the Seven Network on TURMOIL
BEHIND THE SCENES
The show’s first
episode was written by busy actor and scriptwriter Ted Hepple,
perhaps best remembered amongst soap fans today as Lizzie’s suitor Sid in Prisoner, and the show was an instant ratings hit.
That first episode rated 37, the highest ever for a 7.00 PM show since the
introduction of a third commercial network in 1965, but on its third night
the series was shifted to 7.30 PM due to its controversial elements. The
Broadcasting Control Board had a strict no-sex-before Long before the
premiere episode had even been shot publicity around the series highlighted a
“no nude scenes” edict issued by the network in light of the show’s proposed
early evening timeslot before With all this
advance warning coupled with its teenage characters, the high school setting
and an early evening timeslot, the Broadcasting Control Board seemed to pay
special attention to the content of the series. The Control Board began
vetting scripts and the original plans for a series that pushed boundaries
were jettisoned, with the series soon shifting to more standard soap opera
stories. Indeed a scene from one of the opening episodes had been judged so
risqué that it was cut before broadcast. The scene involved students Nora and
Chris who were spending the night together in a tent. Originally Chris
climbed into the sleeping bag with Nora, but in the cut version viewers only
saw them entering the tent together. Llewellyn had viewed the original cut of
the episode and was surprised to later find that it had been censored. The actor reasoned that the scene was true to life and that high
school students do think about and sometimes engage in sexual
activities. “I believe we are presenting a fairly accurate portrayal of
school life” Llewellyn told TV
Week. She continued that
“Most of the cast members aren’t long out of school, and they see it as being
very realistic. I guess that actually seeing us in the sleeping-bag together
was just too explicit for that timeslot.” Indeed the Seven Network played it
safe and opted to excise the scene fearing the possibility of external
censorship. [4] The opening
storyline moves along very quickly. A worried Charles, after a tip from
Hubbard (and some stunt driving in his Leyland P76) finally locates the cave
and the rescue begins. Tragically Julie’s love, teacher Gary Evans, is killed
by a falling boulder. Back at Waratah, Nora and
Greg successfully cover-up the fact that they weren’t with the cave party,
while Barry and Sue are still pushing for the censorship debate. In new
developments, Charles finds that nitric acid has been poured onto his car,
the mystery of the wrecked science lab remains unresolved, and Charles
receives hate mail featuring “Die Charles Die” and a diabolical drawing
scrawled across the page. Julie is in hospital in a coma after the cave in;
later she awakes from the coma but is confined to a wheel chair. None of this
dampens Sue’s eagerness for the debate. To liven it up she agrees to pose
nude with male student, smiling jokester Peter Cooper (Jeremy Chance), atop
Charles’s desk. The scene as shown keeps the actual nude display safely off
camera; though 1970s porno film music plays over the scene of the photograph
being taken, viewers see only a flash of Sue’s white knickers as she dresses
herself after the session. Both models had worn only novelty masks to hide
their identities, but Sue is later identified by her ring and is expelled
from school. Shortly after the
series premiered the racy elements were still being showcased in the show’s
publicity. A spread in TV Week magazine titled “Schoolroom Scandals Shock
the Censor!” described “the girl who is having an affair with a master, the
student who takes porno pictures and the virgin and the bikie spending the night
alone in a tent.” Alongside one picture of Leonard Teale
were pictures of three of the young female cast members in bikinis, and
another of the girls in their short-skirt hockey uniforms, clearly emphasising the sex
and titillation angle. In the article itself series star Leonard Teale defended the soap’s sexual content, most of which
was only spoken about rather than shown, reasoning that sexual situations in
the show are handled like any other problems in schools. “Sex is not the
reason for the show. It is a genuine problem in some schools and Class of ‘74 deals with it as it would with other
problems such as drugs, if they should arise,” he said. Of the series Teale said that “technically I feel that the show is
better than Number 96 and as good as The Box. I
think there are areas where it is superior to all the successful shows and I
think it will be a big hit. The kids are fresh, vital and loveable, really
great to work with. Now that the censor problems are sorted out the show will
settle down and win a lot of viewers.” [5] According to Leonard
Teale, Class
of ‘74 had been
singled-out by the Broadcasting Control Board; he believed that they applied
double standards by strictly monitoring the show’s content while allowing
contemporary advertisements that in Teale’s opinion
featured “tasteless and even grubby pieces of television in family viewing
time”. As a critique of the censorship imposed on the series Teale quipped that “According to the Control Board’s
thinking, 17 and 18 year olds in school don’t even think about sex. We know
this is ridiculous and it makes it very difficult to write a series of this
sort without at least something more than a guarded reference to sexual
matters.” [6] Ensuing weeks would
explore Nora’s mystery illness, which seemed to suggest a pregnancy scare,
along with her loneliness after being abruptly dumped by Greg, who has now
taken up with Julie. A scene featuring a heartbroken Nora’s description of
their union is effective, while still keeping the censors happy. She expresses
her mistaken assumption that the gift of his own
necklace constituted their “engagement”. Of their night together she recalled
that “He seemed to know I was scared and set out to be kind to me.” Meanwhile
the latest subject of debate is “The Liberated Woman.” As students and
teachers react to this topic various ideas are explored, with even Hubbard
weighing in to the argument. ANALYSIS
Overall the series
presented a well-balanced mix of characters and storylines explored their
various interactions, while the convenient school debates and articles for
the school newspaper provoke discussions about contemporary issues that would
interest a range of viewers. The discussions presented a range of viewpoints
but were never long or laboured and were well integrated into the drama.
Many of the show’s characters seemed well-rounded and so seemed realistic and
believable. By presenting, at times, the thoughtful, sensitive, caring and
intelligent aspects of both teacher and student
personalities, the serial’s characters seemed believable. And these
depictions of the student characters doubtless made the series appealing to
younger viewers. Likewise when the youngsters managed to respond in a mature
and thoughtful manner to a teacher who was mindlessly threatening detention
over a minor infraction, high school students in the audience were probably
cheering. Yet the older
characters were never just one-note figures either. Despite his nickname “The
Ogre”, Charles Ogilvy was presented as a dedicated and respected educator.
The usually testy Donald Blair would soon find his officious ways sent-up in
comedy moments that crept into the script. In later storylines, such as his
friendship with intimidated student teacher Barbara Young (Carol Vincent-Smythe), his more caring side would emerge. There was
never a single viewpoint and later the popular and charismatic new teacher
David Willard (Phillip Ross) would openly antagonise the officious Donald while presenting
vibrant lessons that keep his students enthralled. Unfortunately the
show’s technical standard sometimes left much to be desired. No one expects
breathtaking cinematography, amazing sets or dazzling camera work from an
early 1970s black and white videotaped soap opera, but highly audible clicks
on the soundtrack when the shot switches from one camera to another ruins
several scenes. This clicking problem still seemed to be an occasional
recurring problem many months into the show’s run. Given the show’s overall
technical standard and status as Grundy’s first ever drama production it does
not seem unacceptable that there is the odd boom shadow in some scenes, but
when the shadow falls across a lead actor’s face it destroys any credibility
the scene might have had. Aside from these problems the program generally
employed the standard visual grammar of a studio-based series, with a fairly
predictable formula of establishing shots followed by crosscutting between
over-the-shoulder shots with the odd close-up for dramatic denouements. And
of course that favourite soap opera time saver of
the two-shot covering both participants in a conversation without any
switching was frequently employed. The main standout visual flourish was the
quick cut-in shot on the occasional dramatic line, employed in a minority of
episodes. NEW
DEVELOPMENTS
Ten weeks into the
show’s run the understated romance storyline between Father Paul and teacher
Mary Dunstan began to be developed. Paul soon
confessed that he believed he was falling in love with Mary, and was granted
a leave of absence from the church to sort out his crisis of faith. In a
series of well written and acted scenes Paul navigates finding his own
accommodation away from the church, and he even accepts dating advice from
student Peter Cooper. However the suggestion of a love affair for the Roman
Catholic priest provoked a storm of controversy. There was a public outcry
and the Broadcasting Control Board eventually stepped-in, ordering that the
offending scenes could never be broadcast. The makers of
the series were forced to terminate the storyline, and in a shock move actor
Alan Lander who portrayed Paul Kennedy was abruptly dropped from the
series with just 24 hours notice. In fact he was busy rehearsing for a taping
when he received the news he was to be paid off. Lander was disappointed
at the turn of events, telling TV
Week that “The most
annoying thing for me is that in no way was the romance offensive. It was all
implied - we never even touched hands.” Despite his shock axing Lander noted
that the Grundy Organisation was extremely good in honouring all
financial contracts. “But I still think it’s scandalous that several episodes
I have made will never be seen,” he said. A spokesman for the Reg Grundy Organisation said that the dropping of the character was
a mutual decision reached between themselves and Channel Seven. “If we had
left Father Paul in the series it would have meant drastic re-writing of
scripts and a whole change in the trend of the storyline,” he said. “As we
had to terminate the romance, we had to drop one of the characters and Father
Paul seemed the more suitable.” [7] This seems rather
unfortunate given that this storyline was probably the most compelling and
effective of the series, helped by the good acting of Alan Lander and Jeanie Drynan who had an appealing screen presence and strong
chemistry together. Actor Janet
Kingsbury also found her role in the series modified after the Broadcasting
Control Board stepped-in, however in this instance it resulted in the
character’s time in the show being extended. Kingsbury’s character Maureen
Blair, wife of assistant principal Donald Blair, was devised as a neurotic
alcoholic to appear briefly in the show’s earliest episodes, engage in an
affair with student Tony Bianco (Adrian Bernotti) and then disappear. However after the brief
meeting of Maureen and Tony in the program’s premiere episode where he drops
off some groceries the Broadcasting Control Board stopped the formation of
the character; the love affair idea was dropped and the whole concept of the
character was suddenly changed. Kingsbury told TV Week that
“Since then, nobody really knows what Maureen is supposed to be like. We have
four or five writers on the series, and each one sees the role in a different
way.” One consequence of
this was that rather than making a quick exit, Maureen stuck around for most
of the first year. Kingsbury never knew from week to week what Maureen would
be doing next. “For instance, for two days I’m all lovey
dovey with my husband,” Kingsbury told TV Week, “then the following day, out of the blue, they’ve got me packing my
bags to leave him for no rhyme or reason. I’m waiting for my next script to
see what happens. Having no continuity makes a character very hard to
portray. It would be very frustrating if you took the part too seriously,” she
said. At the time of Class of ‘74 English-born Kingsbury said of the
Australian acting scene that “I must admit I do feel we are not as far ahead
as we should be in the TV field. There doesn’t seem to be enough drive in the
media and many of the directors and actors are too complacent.” Kingsbury
felt at the time she had become typecast as a TV actor. She would go on to
appear in The
Restless Years,
and become an enduring presence on the Playschool
children’s series alongside her onscreen husband John Hamblin. One show she
never appeared in was Number 96. Despite being approached on a couple of
occasions to appear in that series, she always refused due to its nudity
clause. “I have done a couple
of bare top scenes in Spyforce
and Love Story, and hated doing them. But at the same time
I knew they would be handled tastefully - that’s why I broke my golden rule
about not stripping,” she said. “Another point of course is that every
actress reaches a certain point in her career when she has to decide on her
priorities - whether she will make a concession to strip or never get the
chance to play a good part. To me, stripping seems unnecessary. Besides, I
feel I’ve got nothing worth showing and it would only humiliate me to show my
body.” [8] Clearly, with the
close scrutiny of Class of ‘74, such concerns would never arise for Janet
Kingsbury, or any of the other cast members. The racy plotlines had caused
the Broadcasting Control Board to come down hard on the series, and the
storylines moved more in the direction of a traditional school yard drama
examining standard soap opera problems of the staff and the students. Charles had a
romance with movie star Janet Henderson (Margo Lee), provoking outrage from
his adult daughter Jill (Jennifer Cluff), and from
Janet’s estranged husband and manager Clyde (Robert Quilter) who sees dollar
signs and pressures her into making one last film. Perhaps inspired by these
tense filmic negotiations, Waratah class mates became
rivals when the students began organising the production of a historical documentary
film. Student Barry Collins struggles to write the script while Ann Watson
insists the story should be an old-fashioned romance in which she plays the
female lead. When Peggy manages to arrange finance for the film through a
relative she naturally assumes that this will secure her the female lead,
leading to much resentment and many arguments. A class room audition reveals
Ann as the better actor, much to Peggy’s shame. Now running the coffee shop
was the warm and chirpy Rene (Joan Dalgliesh),
always lending a caring ear as her glum customers discuss their problems over
a nice cuppa. Meanwhile new teacher David Willard abused his status of
an old personal friend of Charles’ and delighted in baiting Donald. US actor
Peter Graves of the Mission:
Impossible series even
made a guest appearance as himself in one 1974 episode. [9] ‘74
REVAMP
After a few months
there was a drastic cast revamp. New students included Mike Woods (Terry
Peck) and later, Patti (Margaret Nelson), and they would be cast members in a
school play where students portrayed thinly veiled versions of the Waratah High staff members. Teacher James Findlay (Edward
Howell) showed up to work out his last few months before retirement. Mr Findlay quietly despaired at the prospect of leaving a
beloved profession for an idle and unfulfilling future. At Waratah he eagerly tried to inspire his students,
sometimes having his efforts go unappreciated. Still more teachers showed up
later in the year, including Elena Kyriacos (Derani Scarr), and Ruth Howard
(Judy Ferris) who had two children attending Waratah
High: fifth-formers Jackie (Sharon Higgins) and Dean (Greg Bepper). Actor Vince Martin, whose character Gary Evans
had been killed in episode two, returned playing another teacher, Jack
Christianson, a persistent womaniser who went out on dates with each of his
female co-workers. These later episodes
are far less compelling than the show’s early scenes, and the cast changes
seemed to upset the flow of the series. Amongst the students to leave were
Peggy, Julie and Barry. Some of the actors became recurring players in a
three-months-on, three-months-off type pattern, with Peggy and Julie later
returning to the show. The various cast changes overall resulted in a larger
proportion of teachers in the cast, a change that yielded comparatively dull
results. At the time, cast member Joanne Samuel recounted her experiences
working on the show. Of the initial censorship she recalled that “We had to
make three cuts in the very first episode because the control board stepped
in and ordered them. Virtually all the scripts we had in hand had to be
rewritten and for a while things were pretty chaotic. But it has been marvellous the way the
series has settled down and improved out of sight. We have been getting
probably the highest ever Though viewing
figures had dropped by the end of the year, the ratings were strong enough to
warrant the renewal of the series; it was to return the following year, with
its title naturally updated to become Class of ‘75. CLASS
OF ‘75
When the serial
resumed for its second year there were several major changes apparent. First,
the show was now in colour. For the only time the
episode starts with a pre-titles recap, showing the closing scene from the
previous installment - the last episode from 1974. As that episode had been
in black and white, the recap – showing Charles Ogilvy piloting a small plane
as it begins a crash dive – is tinted red. The show’s new opening titles
sequence shows stock footage film of young men riding the high surf, and
shots of youngsters playing tennis and competing in swimming events. The
episode itself opens with an extended outdoors sequence with breezy music
which quickly telegraphs the show’s new slapstick comedy tone. A Volkswagen Kombi
van arrives in the school car park and when the beleaguered young delivery
driver, Tom Carter (Marty Rhone), opens the doors we see that the van is
totally filled with suitcases which tumble out comically as he attempts to
unload them. Snooty new student Jane Potter (Angela Punch-McGregor) is
chauffeured in, and a bumbling Donald Blair drives in while dodging Luigi, a
comedy gangster ducking in and out of the bushes. Interior scenes are
conducted on modern-looking new sets, although much of the action seems to
take place on the same small stairway landing where the new students and the
new teachers all cross paths to introduce themselves. We quickly learn that Waratah is now a coeducational boarding school, and a new
stream of oddball students and some attractive young teachers show up looking
for their quarters. The school apparently doesn’t have a reception area;
everyone just walks up to the staircase and asks directions from whoever else
is standing there. Rick Harris (Peter Flett) is the
new maths
teacher with a penchant for wisecracks and parachuting, while Jorja Jones (Briony Behets) is the bubbly new physical education instructor
whose first move at her new school is to slip into her bikini and try out the
swimming pool (off camera). Tetchy and officious
Donald Blair is now presented as a figure of fun, his pompous ways used for
comedy to a greater extent than ever before. On meeting Jorja
in her short robe he notes “You look fit”. When he expresses doubt that
Rick’s parachute will get much use as “I don’t think we’re having parachuting
this term”, the funky mathematician shoots back with “Why not? Too many drop
outs?!” And just in case viewers don’t get the jokes, the soundtrack trumpets
“Mwah mwah mwah mwah” after the gags are
delivered. New student Loretta
Day (Bronwyn Winter) is allergic to everything,
and despite her huge unflattering spectacles and prim and proper plaited
hairstyle is convinced she is irresistible to men. “There’s a man following
me!” she frequently exclaims, even if it is just Luigi staking out the
corridors. She quickly finds a kindred spirit in milquetoast Dennis
Braithwaite (Peter Bensley), a snivelling mummy’s
boy. He has a letter from his mother that provides an excuse for every
occasion and his catch phrase “I’ve got a letter from my mother!” is
frequently repeated. These students join several holdovers from Class of ‘74, all now attired in funky new beige and
mission brown school uniforms. Also making her
debut is character Angelique Dupree, a comedy caricature of a strict and censorious
senior mistress, with a thick French accent to boot. Looking slick and
officious in smart suit, coke bottle horn-rim spectacles and with her black
hair pulled into a neat and conservative style, Angelique stumbles into the
chaos insisting she is the new senior mistress filling-in for the missing
Charles Ogilvy, even if Donald Blair knows nothing of this appointment.
Reporting to Donald’s office Angelique finds him chatting to Jorja who is fresh, and still dripping, from her
introductory dip. Angelique remarks that “When the cat’s away the mice get
very wet!” before criticising the overall level of professionalism of the
school and its staff. She is further outraged when Luigi later pulls out a
gun and chases a bunch of students through her quarters, even if he later
admits “I don’t put bullets in guns: someone might get hurt!” Angrily sending
them all out of her apartment, Angelique retires to her bedroom where she
slips off the glasses, jacket and shoes to relax. Then, in the show’s first
big cliff-hanger, off comes the wig and revealed under the disguise is sex
symbol Abigail.
She shakes out her trademark extra long blond hair and, dropping the
ridiculous French accent, triumphantly declares to herself “Well I’m in! And
it looks as though it’s going to be a cinch!” The following
episode focused on the eagerly awaited entrance of film star and owner of all
those suitcases Gina Ferrari, played by Peta Toppano as a stereotypically fiery and temperamental
Italian diva. Luigi, it is revealed, is merely her overzealous minder.
Meanwhile another of her minders who is escorting her to the school is played
by Harry Michaels, later to play Giovanni, another stereotypically
hyperactive Italian, in Number 96. There’s more slapstick humour
as yet more comedy gangsters show up with a replica of Gina’s welcome to Waratah cake but with drugged icing, and much mirth
ensues as they attempt to switch the cakes before her welcome party. The Marx
Brothers this isn’t. Meanwhile young Tom Carter who had delivered Gina’s suitcases
reveals himself as a frustrated scholar who would love to attend the school;
he quickly switches identities with a real student who would much rather stay
out watching surfing movies. Finally actor Philip Ross, previously Class of ‘74 teacher Mr David
Willard, shows up as a new character, the eccentric Professor Grimble. Few of the show’s
unsubtle attempts at broad comedy seem successful. Only Beryl Cheers as
Madge, the school’s no-nonsense Matron, seems able to pull off her comedy
scenes with aplomb. Madge and Hubbard are now married and the Scottish
pipe-smoking handyman and his warm but straight-talking wife seem like
watered-down clones of Les and Norma from Number 96.
Nevertheless they emerge as the characters probably best suited to the show’s
new slapstick style. TV Week hopefully reported that Abigail’s role in
the series would see a “drastic change of pace for viewers familiar with
Abigail disrobing in Number 96” noting that this time she will stay
dressed. Of the role Abigail herself explained that it is “entirely different
and very welcome. I have wanted to show that I can do something other than
take my clothes off for a long while. Anyone with a good figure can stand
around looking alluring. If the script and the situation doesn’t call for anything
more that’s easy to do. The test comes for such an actress when she has to
intelligently interpret the role and I know I can do that.” [11] Unfortunately the silly new lightweight
format of the show hardly presented a viable vehicle for Abigail to demonstrate
her flair for comedy. Even if her portrayal of the strict senior mistress did
not really work, her cliffhanger unveiling was still the highlight of the
episode. In any event her role in the series would amount to little and she
was out after just three weeks. CLASS
DISMISSED!
As early as March
1975 the writing was on the wall when Channel Seven in Melbourne moved the
series out of its prime time slot, replacing it with repeats of US situation
comedy series Bewitched. A spokesman for Channel Seven Melbourne
said the move was prompted by “failing ratings towards the end of 1974 and
early this year. In such an important timeslot we were forced to make the
decision in favour of repeat episodes of Bewitched. Class of ‘75 started off well last year, but
unfortunately it didn’t take off like we had anticipated and there wasn’t
enough interest to warrant keeping it in its present timeslot. When changes
in the format of the series also failed to gain viewers we had no option but
to use up our existing 36 contracted episodes in a less-important area.”
Indeed the show was unceremoniously consigned to Though this was
encouraging news the Seven network issued the series
with an ultimatum - improve or be axed. The series was given just 12 weeks to
institute the changes and improve in the ratings. [13] The revamped series remained in production
until mid 1975, but ultimately the ratings were not strong enough for the
series to be renewed after that. The final episode
hurriedly attempts to tie up the show’s various storylines. Charles Ogilvy is
back after several absences where he announces his plans to marry teacher
Ruth Howard, though Ruth’s son Dean is unhappy with the news. Donald Blair
decides to resign in light of the mess he made of the job while filling in
for Charles. Also in tatters is his romance with Charles’ secretary Alison
Woods (Jennifer de Greenlaw), a statuesque beauty
dubbed “The Towering Inferno” by the students. She also announces her
resignation and plans to leave the school that same day. Hubbard, who had convinced
Madge to move with him to Scotland, finally admits to himself that she will
never be happy there and he decides they should remain in Australia. She is
overjoyed to learn of Hubbard’s decision to stay and become a naturalised
Australian, and triumphantly announces that they will be travelling to
Scotland together “for a holiday!” Dean’s objections to Ruth and Charles’
planned marriage are suddenly dropped after one quick phone call to Ruth’s
former suitor. Dennis, heartbroken after Jackie resumed her romance with
student Archie (Stephen McDonald), is talked out of quitting school.
Meanwhile Tom Carter does decide to leave school; he plans to pursue a pop
music career and gives a rendition of the song Denim and Lace
to the assembled staff and students involved in rehearsals for Gina’s cabaret
show. (The song Denim and Lace was released as a single by Tom’s portrayer,
singer and actor Marty Rhone, and it became a real life hit in late 1975.)
Still in the rehearsal room Madge then leads the throng, which includes
returned original student Nora Hayes, in a rendition of Auld Lang Syne. The episode ends with the credits and theme
song running over a shot of the entire cast happily milling about the
rehearsal room as Charles makes his way through the crowd followed by the
panning camera and briefly chatting with each person present. Things finally
come to a close with a zoom in on a smiling Charles. This final scene has
the odd effect of appearing to show the actors slipping out of character and
apparently gearing up for the wrap party. After all the tensions of the
episode, many of which hardly seem to have been properly resolved, everyone
seems uncharacteristically happy, all showing a carefree attitude and wide
smiles. Then there was the rendition of Auld Lang Syne,
a song that frequently represents farewell, when - aside from a spate of
departures that the majority of characters were not even aware of - there was
no real reason in the story for it to be sung. FINAL
SUMMATION
Reg Grundy later described to TV Week the disastrous turn taken by the series for its second year on-air,
laying the blame for the show’s ultimate failure with the Broadcasting
Control Board. “They’d got it into their heads that Class of ‘74 was a dirty show. They were watching us
every minute and demanding all sorts of cuts and editing. It made it
impossible. We had to change the next series into more a comedy show - and it
failed. It was totally ridiculous when you look back on it. I remember one
particular scene that they objected to where a priest and a woman were doing
nothing but talking to each other. They claimed there was an inference of
something else going on. They ended up gutting the show and killing it.” [14] There was a total of 290 thirty-minute episodes of the series
produced over its two year run. Class
of ‘74 began in black and
white, switching to colour with episode 192.
Despite being dated by the title and the black and white episodes, the show
was repeated by Channel 7 Melbourne in the early 1980s allowing young teens
of the day to see how much the technical standards of television had improved
over the previous decade. Despite its patchy
technical quality, the chequered ratings, and the disastrous rebirth as Class of ‘75, the show has a couple of claims to fame.
While Number 96 had revolutionised television serials in Australia, Class of ‘74 had invented the night time teen soap. The series demonstrated that lightweight half-hour soaps
stripped in early evening timeslot and largely concerning younger characters
were a viable proposition. And the show was the Reg
Grundy Organisation’s first drama, establishing the
company as a as a successful producer of drama serials. Soon they would be
Australia’s chief producer of television serials and the production company
would in the next five years launch such successful serials as The Young Doctors, also produced by Alan Coleman, and The Restless Years. Both these serials would again primarily
focus on younger characters. Grundy’s then matured with the rather more
dramatic Prisoner which emerged as an even greater success,
and with the melodramatic Sons and Daughters, which still relied heavily on attractive
youngsters in the cast. This of course all leads up to Neighbours, the ultimate teen soap, and a massive international success still
running today. |
||||
|
|
Originally uploaded May 2000 Last updated 12 July 2008 |
||||
