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form y separately published work icon Departmental single work   film/TV  
Adaptation of Departmental Mervyn Rutherford , 1979 single work drama
Issue Details: First known date: 1980... 1980 Departmental
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Departmental is the story of a theft of money in a police station and the interrogation of two uniformed policemen. (The playwright is a policeman turned barrister.)

'There are only four characters in the play. Ray Barrett plays Superintendent Spartan, the officer leading the inquiry into the theft. Martin Vaughan (known for his mammoth role in Frank Hardy's Power Without Glory) plays Inspector Cook, assisting Spartan in the interrogation.

'The two uniformed police who are suspected of taking the money are played by Gary Day as Constable Mcllveney and Rod Williams as Constable Pyers.'

Source:

'Tough Roles Because I'm Ugly: Barrett', Australian Women's Weekly, 6 August 1980, p.125S. (Via Trove.)

Notes

  • Television play.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • c
      Australia,
      c
      :       ABC Television ,       1980 .
      Extent: 70 min.p.
      Description: Colour
      Note/s:
      • Although not sighted, several sources strongly suggest that this production was a part of the Australian Theatre Festival series.
      Series: form y separately published work icon Australian Theatre Festival ABC Television (publisher), ABC Television , 1980 Z1754637 1980 series - publisher film/TV 'In 1979/1980 a festival of classic Australian theatrical plays was produced under the name Australian Theatre Festival...This included such well-known plays as Coralie Landsdowne Says No, The Department, and A Toast to Melba. In spite of starring actors who would have been well known to theatre-goers...the series was a failure with audiences.'

      'There were six plays adapted for this series... reputed to have been very unimaginatively directed... This could have had something to do with the tiny cash budgets (around $5000 an episode) that they were allocated. The programs went to air on Sunday nights...'
      Source: Jacka, Elizabeth. The ABC of Drama : 1975-1990. Sydney: AFTRS, 1991, p.48, 78
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Last amended 11 Dec 2014 15:26:07
Keith Wilkes
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