Sunday Night: Sept 25

This weekend Sunday Night looks at the death of a lifesaver, a chimpanzee raised by humans and a backstage visit at Graeme Muphy’s Romeo and Juliet.

Saxon Bird
Saxon Bird was a super fit teenage lifesaver and a champion ironman. His death at the Australian Life Saving Titles on the Gold Coast in March last year should never have happened. Officials at Surf Lifesaving Australia let down one of their own the day they ordered Saxon out to compete in cyclonic conditions. The reality is they sent this brave young man to his death when he was hit by an unmanned ski in huge seas. Afterwards, it emerged officials had received and ignored numerous warnings about the worsening weather, and the need to call off the competition. Now in this exclusive Sunday Night investigation, Saxon’s devastated parents speak out for the first time about who they believe is responsible for their “perfect” son’s death. Guest reporter Robert Ovadia, from Seven News, presents a powerful story that asks who should be held accountable for the death of Saxon Bird.

Project Nim
Could humans and chimpanzee’s hold a conversation? In the early 1970s, a remarkable scientific experiment in the US set out to prove if this was possible. Sunday Night reporter Rahni Sadler brings to life the amazing story of a baby chimp named Nim, taken from his mother and raised as a human child. He was dressed in clothes, toilet-trained, given his own bedroom and even breastfed by his human mother. Learning a few words but unable to learn sentences, Nim could only communicate what he wanted, not what others needed. He was retired to the primate centre where he had been born – but he didn’t know how to communicate with fellow chimps after being raised in a human world. In this special report, Rahni speaks with Nim’s first ‘mother’ Stephanie about her shame at agreeing to the experiment in the first place.

Romeo and Juliet
The world’s most enduring love story….now told in the biggest ballet production ever staged in Australia. Between the injuries and chronic exhaustion, the life of a dancer is never as effortless as it appears on stage. Battling blisters and low pay –they perform with hopes of wowing both audiences and the critics. Ballet demands patience and resilience, and rarely is the public given an access all area pass to the real life of a professional ballerina. This week Sunday Night takes you backstage at Romeo and Juliet. World renowned choreographer Graeme Murphy, who created this masterpiece, says the ballet is gladiatorial. “The stamina, the cruelty of the profession is legendary”.

Sunday September 25 at 6.30pm on Channel 7.