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E STREET |
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- 1989-1993 - 404 X 60 minute episodes - produced by Westside Television Productions for Network Ten - |
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Contents |
E Street began life in January 1989 as an urban-based
soap opera that explored social issues but with a hip and trendy slant. Much
like Richmond Hill - the rather bland series it effectively
replaced on Channel Ten - it examined the lives of a broad range of community
figures in a working-class milieu. An important change was that E Street was set in a tough inner
city area. However in
many other respects E Street also closely resembled the era’s more popular
rural based drama series A Country
Practice. E Street was created by Forrest Redlich
who had previously served as script editor and then producer of A Country Practice and, particularly with its sustained habit
of casting former A Country
Practice actors in keys roles, it exhibited many similarities to that show which was at the time still
running. However as E Street progressed it would diverge sharply from its
original style making such comparisons less meaningful in the show’s later
years. PREMISE
Set in inner city
Westside, a tough area with lots of street cred, E Street was ostensibly a come-back vehicle for actress Penny Cook, well known
for her long running role in A
Country Practice. Penny
played Westside’s local GP, Dr Elly
Fielding. She was surrounded such civic types as the local police force, most
notably the bombastic but fair older cop Sergeant George Sullivan (Les Dayman), a local legal aid lawyer Sarah McKillop (Katrina Sedgewick),
social worker Martha O’Dare (Cecily Polson) who was
also romantically involved with George, gruff publican Ernie Patchett (Vic Rooney) and the very hip Reverend Bob Brown
(Tony Martin). Storylines revolved
around the aforementioned characters and their various social and civic
escapades. Ernie’s son Chris (Paul Kelman) was
forced to marry his pregnant high-society girlfriend Megan Bromley (Lizbeth Kennally) causing no
end of drama, while heroine for the younger viewers, trendy teenager Lisa
Bennett (Alyssa-Jane Cook) added the soapier dimensions. Particularly popular
was the Levi-wearing and ever-wise Reverend Bob roaring around town in a cool
1960s Ford convertible and romancing Dr Elly. Through the show’s
run Ernie’s pub, Patchett’s Pacific,
remained a primary meeting place for the show’s characters. Many of the
regulars were incorporated into the series by their working at Patchett’s, and with its dining area serving meals from
morning to night some characters seemed to never leave! Other high-traffic
locations were Bob’s manse and the GP’s rooms. While like all soaps it was
mainly studio shot, the series did also feature a considerable amount of location
shooting in Sydney’s then rather rustic Balmain, a harbour-side inner-city and former working class area but
quickly going through a process of gentrification. To further open out the
feel of the series the “breakers”, the brief piece of footage shown as the
show resumes after an advertisement break, would feature establishing-shot
style images of the more picturesque or bustling areas of Balmain. The series immediately
garnered a few favourable reviews from critics, and
while initial ratings looked promising after six months on-air viewer
interest was only lukewarm. Thus began a bumpy ride for the residents of Westside as they
begin a four year journey down a slippery soapy path. MAJOR
REVAMPS
The turning point
came with the shocking murder of key character Sarah McKillop
only six months in, a move very unlike the storylines that had gone on
before. Replacement lawyer Jennifer St James, played by former model Virginia
Hey, was notably sexier and more wicked than her
predecessor. George Sullivan got free-spirited teenage daughter Alice
Sullivan (Marianne Howard) who worked at the pub and became Lisa’s flatmate, and Bob got a rebellious teenage son Harley
(Malcolm Kennard) who enjoyed a turbulent romance with teenager Toni Windsor
(Toni Pearen). The staid constabulary was joined by
bumbling though beguiling police recruit Max Simmons (Bruce Samazan) who would live upstairs at Patchett’s
Pacific. Further cast additions were Nikki Spencer (Melissa Tkautz) and her younger brother Zac
(Daniel Knight), squabbling siblings who came to live with George and their
aunt Martha, and television producer Michael Sturgess
(Graham Harvey) the black sheep from a wealthy family. Michael would embark
on an on-again off-again romance with Lisa. Ernie Patchett
got a sexy American mistress Abby Rossiter (Chelsea
Brown) while his gruff Auntie Vi (Bunney Brooke)
joined him at the pub. Lisa got a menacing and evil brother, Sonny Bennett
(Richard Huggett), and a provocative new lover, the
wheelchair bound rock singer Wheels (Marcus Graham). The series was decidedly
livelier and the initial serious drama style would ever so slowly give way to
lighter comedy storylines, more of a youth focus, and trendy gimmicks. Even with these
changes ratings glory did not eventuate and the series faced the axe. At the
last minute came the reprieve though only with the sacrificial demise of
several major characters who were callously disposed
of in a shocking Number 96 style bomb-blast episode. This suspense
storyline had Sonny planting a time bomb in Bob’s temporary replacement car
(not the yellow convertible!) but a last minute change in plan on the way to
a family gathering placed Chris, Megan and Abby in the car. During a stop to
view some land they had bought the bomb went off and all were killed. Soon
afterwards, during a confrontation with Bob, Sonny would commit suicide in a
jump from a high bridge. In addition to this
exodus this period of the series is marked by further cast instability. Ernie
Patchett left Westside leaving Auntie Vi in charge
of the pub, but it was the loss of Dr Elly Fielding
- played the show’s initial big-name star Penny Cook - that was the most
noticeable loss. After recovering from the injuries that resulted from
earlier being shot by Sonny, she and Bob planned to marry. However Bob then
became involved in the case of abused and mistreated child Dylan Molloy (Adam
Lloyd) who was kept chained-up by his father. When Bob attempted to protect
Dylan by taking the blame for the accidental homicide of his cruel father -
actually committed by Dylan trying to protect Bob during an attack by the
father - Elly felt betrayed by Bob’s willingness to
throw away their future. She left Westside, their marriage plans in tatters.
To cover the loss (another) former A Country Practice cast member Kate Raison came in as sexy rich bitch Sheridan Sturgess, Michael’s sister. Sheridan emerged as one of
the more memorable characters in the series and would become the focus of
many major storylines. MIDDLE
PERIOD
Sheridan brought
wealth and glamour to Westside; as owner of television station WTV8 she hired Lisa as top reporter on her early evening
current affairs program The 5.30
Report (hardly a top
timeslot) allowing the characters to strut around playing ladies in a series
of big collared power suits. Meanwhile Bob’s son Harley was employed as her
personal assistant and WTV8 camera operator. Sheridan
ran a series of inflammatory stories about confessed murderer Bob on her
show, leading to her arrest after breaking an injunction to cease
broadcasting the stories. After the truth of the case emerged Bob was
released and Sheridan sentenced to community service - to be supervised by
Bob. A rather improbable conclusion to a rather unpopular storyline. The community
service required Sheridan to coach struggling basketball team The Homeboys
which included Max, CJ (Adrian Lee) who was by now working at Patchett’s Pacific, and Zac as
team members, a storyline that saw her more sympathetic side emerge. Sheridan
would later rehire her brother Michael as a producer on The 5.30 Report where he would clash with Harley, and would
revive his romantic involvement with Lisa. The younger characters were not
left out in the romance department with Nikki and CJ joining Max and Toni for
a series of mix and match romantic tangles. Meanwhile when Sheridan arranged
a new secretary for Michael, she hired her old friend - and Michael’s former fiancé -
the hedonistic Fiona (Gabrielle Fitzpatrick). Fast-living Fiona soon embarked
on an ill-fated cocaine-dusted lust affair with an obedient Harley, who
battled to keep his promise to Bob and Sheridan to stay away from the drug.
Eventually he weakened and in a drug-crazed romp with Fiona, Harley suffered
an overdose. He was last seen in a coma being sent to the U.S. for specialist
care. In a bid to
recapture the more stable footing of the earlier episodes the character of
the local GP had been reinstated. The new doctor was Virginia Travis, an old friend of Elly’s
played by one-time The Restless Years favourite Julieanne Newbould. The
character was warm and sympathetic and she fitted-in well in the series and
was popular with the other characters. It seemed she was being groomed as a
permanent fixture in the show, and with her slowly emerging back story
involving a husband who had left her and disappeared with their son, she seemed destined for big things. However this did
not eventuate and Virginia met a shocking demise after only a few months in Westside.
By the time of Virginia’s departure Dr Elly had
been returned to the series but with new actor - well-known film and television
performer Diane Craig - taking over the role. This potentially problematic
recast ultimately proved successful and Craig would portray Elly until the end of the series. Auntie Vi had also
left the show. On hearing that Ernie planned to remain in England and sell
the pub she had decided to leave Patchett’s and
return to the country. When her old suitor Johnny Little (Johnny Lockwood)
whisked into town with a marriage proposal she quickly accepted, promptly
leaving Westside with Johnny. The pub briefly fell on hard times, with CJ
reduced to offering rooms at drastically reduced rates to a bunch of European
backpackers who soon turned the place into an antipodean German beer hall.
The regulars returned when Ernie’s cousin, the formidable Mary (played by yet another
former A Country Practice star, Joan Sydney), arrived to take charge
of the pub just as it was learned that Sheridan planned to become its new
owner. Sheridan’s initial announcement that she would demolish the pub in favour of the more lucrative option of building an office
block on the site horrified the staff and regulars, prompting various
campaigns to avert the sale and a startling 5.30 Report
exposé by Michael and Lisa that a sly Sheridan quickly sabotaged. Finally the
day of the auction arrived. During the auction, a last-minute phone call to
Ernie saw him change his mind: he would retain the business that with Mary as
manager was sure to soon show a profit. The warm but no-nonsense Mary stayed
on for several months as manager until Ernie’s eventual return. Meanwhile Alice had
not been so concerned about losing her job at Patchett’s.
She was at this time more focused on her turbulent romance with her creative
writing teacher, cynical alcoholic and one-time playwright Adam Lucas (Mark
Owen-Taylor). She had weaned him off the bottle and helped him to write
another play, but was shocked by the return of his estranged wife and two
children. Adam’s play attracted the interest of a New York-based producer and
while Alice and Adam were both to travel to New York indefinitely to put on
the play, Alice pulled-out at the last minute believing that she was
breaking-up a family. This at least meant she could attend the wedding of her
best friend and flatmate Lisa to Michael Sturgess, that occurred a
short time after. Alice would later find that she was pregnant to Adam, who
never returned from overseas. Alice chose to not inform Adam of the pregnancy
and raised the child single handed. More upbeat storylines
ensued as Wheels returned (now fully upright with no need for the
wheelchair), along with his former singer, the chirpy Jo-Jo (Kelley Abbey).
Jo-Jo would this time become a permanent fixture in the show. Wheels and
Jo-Jo moved in with Westside’s resident busker Joey Valentine (Lorry D’ercole)
who had mysteriously decided to stop speaking at age fifteen. Joey became the
deepest character in the series. Despite his ideological decision to never
speak, he communicated through his music, while his earnest looks and pained
facial expressions were accepted as important advice by the other characters. The series
had increasingly become an unashamed vehicle for clothing fashions and
commercial-dance singing groups such as Euphoria,
girl-group The Teen Queens and dance singles recorded by cast member
Melissa Tkautz (as “Melissa”). Music videos and
musical performances were incorporated into episodes of the series. Two of
Melissa’s videos (Read My Lips, and later Sexy Is The Word)
popped up in convenient fantasy sequences where her character dreams of
becoming a singing star. Love You
Right by Euphoria was
seen where Wheels watches a music video on TV and is shocked to discover
Jo-Jo doing back-up vocals. The
Teen Queens were often
mentioned as Max’s favourite group and finally
performed in person as entertainment in a wedding reception sequence. Fairy-tale
storylines such as the rocky romance of CJ and Toni were added. This happy
romance was, (of course) complicated by a lengthy stint were CJ goes blind. Naturally his
sight is miraculously restored on their wedding day as he casts his glassy
eyes toward his blushing high-fashion, hot-pants-wearing bride during the
ceremony. Neither the
characters nor the viewers at home were the least surprised by this
development as it is totally in keeping of the E Street of
this period. MR BAD
Alongside these
changes emerged one of E Street’s most memorable (and long running)
storylines: the mysterious and complicated serial killer Mr
Bad, who we quickly realised
was the evil alternate personality of nice-guy karate instructor Stephen
Richardson (Vince Martin). The storyline saw
the occasional flashy murder interspersed with dream sequences and
flashbacks, and an involved (and lengthy) interlude where the charismatic (if somewhat
creepy) Stephen enshrines a brain-washed Sheridan in a fantasy of domestic
bliss where she loses her free will and becomes a passive Stepford
Wife. Various characters would slowly learn the truth only to be knocked off
by the cunning killer. Finally, after
stretching this storyline to breaking point Stephen finally had his face shot
off by a gun wielding Sheridan. He survived his severe injuries but
thereafter spent most of his time in a hospital bed with his face bandaged
(which was convenient as it allowed the character go on with a different
actor in the part.) We meet his devoted
nurse, Amy Preston (Rebecca Rigg), who is also the
girlfriend of new cop Sam Farrell. This new policeman was played by Simon
Baker, credited here as Simon Baker Denny. Baker, Rigg’s
husband in real-life, had already been seen in E Street
having appeared in both the Read
My Lips and Love You Right music videos shown during earlier episodes.
After some brief introductory scenes where it is indicated the romance
between Sam and Amy is definitely kaput she gets involved in a haunting
storyline, reminiscent of Australian shock film Patrick (1978)
where she becomes slowly influenced by the increasingly psychic Mr Bad. Naturally the atmospherically shot storylines
that follow result in several more chilling sequences and a few more murders.
Then, to gild the lily, when we meet Amy’s mother Julia, another nurse, the
part is played by none other than Chantal Contouri
who had enacted the key role of nurse Tracey Wilson in the famous Number 96 Pantyhose Murderer storyline many years earlier. THE LATER
STAGES
After Mr Bad departed the series there was a return to the
lighter teen romance storylines typical of the earlier part of the series. A
fun storyline was the staging of The
Mikado by the residents
of Westside, followed by the rocky relationship between Max and the
rebellious and defiant teenage rich girl Bonnie Tate (Melissa Bell) he was
hired to protect. Wheels would meanwhile engage in a lengthy love affair with
sexy Sheridan, one of the more interesting plot twists, while bookish young
lawyer Jamie Newman (Scott McRae) arrived to reopen the legal centre. Finally Josephine Mitchell
came in as vivacious Penny O’Brien, single mother of cute daughter Charlie (Pru McGuire). Penny would endure the sort of turmoil
previously suffered by Alice, and would move in to Lisa and Alice’s flat. Things got a bit
silly with Jamie romancing total opposite Jo-Jo, while Max turned into a
were-wolf (don’t ask) and anonymous unseen radio announcer Dr Rock became a
leading character in voice-over. Many Westside residents quickly became fans
of this announcer’s thoughtful ponderings, yet his identity would be kept
secret from the characters and viewers of the show for some time (think about
it). Things went serious again with Max’s ward Bonnie paralysed in a car
accident and her frustrating attempts at learning life in a wheelchair while
romance with thoroughly decent Max blossoms. Another thoughtful storyline
involved the breast cancer dramas of Ernie’s new girlfriend, played by
well-known actress Joanna Lockwood. Eventually the axe
fell on the series, though not before Bob’s mysterious, whiskey swilling
brother Jack Brown (Andrew Williams) turned up for another way-out storyline,
a completely clichéd fable involving an organised crime mob which ended with a major gun
battle and the (surprise!) deaths of a couple of major characters. Leading characters
Reverend Bob, Lisa Bennett and Alice Sullivan had all made a hasty exit just
prior to the series demise, while Wheels and Sheridan had departed for a life
of domestic bliss together. CJ and Toni also departed prior to the end of the
series. After some hurdles after their wedding they finally patched things up and had happily
settled on a rural farm together. At the end Martha O’Dare
and her copper boyfriend George, Ernie Patchett,
Nikki, Jo-Jo and the recast Elly remained. Max and
Bonnie became engaged and the final episode, number 404, ended with an
effective montage of some of the major events over the run of the series. EVALUATION
E Street was certainly quite an interesting pop
phenomenon with an eccentric and erratic nature borne of its fluctuating
fortunes: though not a complete failure it was nonetheless never the
blockbuster that Channel Ten wanted. This meant the writers were constantly
striving for the big sensational storyline to grab the spotlight. Unhindered
by constraints on successful series to maintain the successful formula by
trying not to rock the happily sailing boat too much, E Street had no
qualms about regularly knocking off major characters or throwing in
unashamedly commercial and gimmicky ideas - anything to pull the viewers. E Street’s shaky success meant it could have been axed at any time (and came
very close after the first two years) so the writers didn’t need to worry
about building a strongly based soap with deep characters and long term
stability or credibility. There was a good
mixture of comedy, romance and drama, and a nice mix of brief stories
sometimes lasting just two episodes, with much longer, slowly building story
arcs. Importantly the series largely managed to sustain its slightly
fantastic, fairy-tale tone. This meant that when stereotypes (and there were
many), such as the character of alcoholic and embittered playwright Adam Lucas appeared, the clichéd
elements of the character and the portrayal seemed acceptable. Then when he
embarked on a turbulent love affair with hopeless romantic Alice Sullivan,
again the clichés did not seem out-of-place. Same goes for the comedy
mobsters sometimes seen in the show, such as the Fischer brothers in the
comical tale of Nikki’s cash-filled briefcase. Because the show never made
the mistake of acknowledging its artifice or of taking itself too seriously,
these fairy-tale storylines succeeded. The series also
managed to handle some serious issues in a mature and thoughtful way.
Harley’s cocaine habit was one instance of this, as was another storyline
from the same period where Max attempts to help homeless heroin addict Laurel
Ferguson (Melissa Kounnas). Resisting efforts of
Max and Virginia to help her and desperately seeking drugs she held up
Virginia with a blood-filled syringe, an incident that left Max with a needle
stick injury. In a storyline that eschewed moralising and pat clichés, the HIV positive Melissa
died of a heroin overdose while Max endured the terrifying ordeal of awaiting
the result of his HIV test. Of course this was soap opera
so a quick story resolution was required; Laurel’s discarded syringe would be
located and its contents quickly revealed as animal blood. Nevertheless the
intervening scenes had been well-handled. THE LEGACY
E Street was for many years the final Australian soap opera to be broadcast in the format of two one hour episodes a week. This format had become common for Australian serials in the late 1970s when The Box and Number 96 switched to this format in their later years, and the format was used for many new shows in the late 1970s and the 1980s. In November 2005 new Network Seven serial headLand premiered with the two one hour episodes a week format. However the show attracted low ratings and after only a few weeks it was reformatted as five half hours a week and moved into the timeslot vacated by the popular Home and Away when that serial went into its summer hiatus. In 2003 E Street was repeated by Channel Ten in Australia at
1.30 p.m. weekday afternoons, until being taken off in December as the school
holidays commenced. Stephen Richardson (the friendly alter ego of Mr Bad) had
just entered the storyline when repeats ended. In 2007 there were two DVD releases of episodes of E Street, covering the Mr Bad storyline. The Best Of Mr Bad: Part 1 features 20 consecutive episodes on five disks. Volume two features the next 20 episodes, also on five disks. Volume two takes things up to episode 292 and the end of the Mr Bad storyline. With these releases Umbrella Entertainment invite feedback as to which E Street DVDs viewers would like to see next. Email them your ideas at info@umbrellaent.com.au |
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Originally uploaded May 2000 Last updated 28 June 2008 |
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