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ANZACs on FOX Classics

A rare chance to see the excellent 1985 miniseries with Paul Hogan, Andrew Clarke, Tony Bonner, Megan Williams and Jon Blake.

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Beginning tonight FOX Classics will replay the 1985 miniseries ANZACs, set during World War I.

The Logie-winning series follows the lives of a group of young Australian men who enlist in the Australian army in 1914, fighting first at Gallipoli in 1915, and then on the Western Front for the remainder of the war.

Made during the glory days of Channel Nine, the cast includes Paul Hogan, Andrew Clarke, Tony Bonner and Megan Williams. It also featured Jon Blake.

Co-written by John Clarke and co-directed by George Miller, this was a five-part series but will air across three nights, at 8:30pm Monday-Wednesday.

The other excellent drama made around the same time was the ABC’s 1915, featuring Scott Burgess, Scott McGregor and Lorraine Bayly. It was made in 1982.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPbLg9T9wso[/youtube]

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  1. David@, Seeing this great series on TV is rare. I remember at least a twelve year gap from 1986 to 1998 when it was not seen, and I wore my VCR copies out!
    Hell, the first Video tape release of this series did not happen till 1999.
    IMHO This should be played on Free to Air TV every year, so the deeds of these Great Men and Women, both at home and on the front lines, are Never forgotten.

    FYI (yes this might be long, but its something I’ve told people for years, and maybe you might be interested to know what effect this series had on the Australian people)

    This mini series saved ANZAC Day. In the years before ANZAC’s was shown, interest in ANZAC Day had declined to such a point, that, in Perth at least, less than a thousand people attended the Dawn Service and the March.
    This series was the first to show the effect that Aussie Diggers had in France, not just Gallipoli, including the facts that the 1st AIF was one of the finest armies in WWI, and that AIF General Sir John Monash was the man that led the Allies to important victories in 1918 that won the war, not the British, whose failiures led to the disasters at the Somme, Posiers, and Ypres.
    But after Nine showed the series, and it was the first to show most of the ANZAC story from WWI (The Lighthorsemen showed some of the middle east campaign), interest in Australia about our WWI Diggers grew to the levels they are now. Now 40,000+ attend the Dawn Service here in Perth, and nearly the same number attend the march, as well as those that attend the service at ANZAC Cove.
    All Australians IMHO owe a debt of gratitude to John Clarke, George Miller and those involved in the making of ANZAC’s for ensuring that this part of our history is never forgotten.

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