Friday Flashback: The Flying Doctors
Before there was RFDS there was The Flying Doctors -and a final year rebranded as RFDS.
- Published by David Knox
- on
Memories of Crawfords’ The Flying Doctors which ran from 1986 to 1992, preceded by a mini-series in 1985.
Much of the series was filmed in outer Melbourne and Minyip township in north-west Victoria as Cooper’s Crossing. The show sold in multiple territories around the world.
One Minyip resident Corinne Heintze recalled one storyline in the show’s mini-series involving a parade in Minyip’s main street.
“The scene had to look like it was a really stinking hot, dusty outback day, but they were actually filming between showers of hail,” she told The Wimmera Mail-Times.
“It was probably about 10 or 11 degrees.
“Rebecca Gibney had to get on the back of a truck and be paraded down the street. In between takes she was in a cafe with a pile of blankets, then she’d have to jump out on the back of the truck.
“This went on for about two hours and I thought, ‘You poor woman – you must be freezing’.
“But scene came out looking amazing.”
But by 1993 the show went “gritty” with RFDS filmed in Broken Hill for one season.
This week Seven announced a new RFDS (working title) drama to be filmed in Broken Hill based around real case stories.
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- Tagged with RFDS, The Flying Doctors
11 Responses
Huge investment from regional tv at the time as well
Production Companies
Crawford Productions
Nine Network Australia
Distributors
Nine Network Australia (1986-1992) (Australia) (TV)
As far as I recall, the only investment was when WIN4 (as it was then) bought the show from Nine.
..and of course other regionals who also bought the show from Nine.
Was also invested money in the series towards the end. Company was RTA regional television Australia
This was one of my favourite shows at the time, hopefully the new one is good.
Excellent series…I loved it…superb casting….and music Garry McDonald?…Norman Gunston or just the same name?
You get the The Flying Doctor DVD at crawfords Dvd website
If I were Crawford Productions/WIN I’d be watching this very closely and having the lawyers on speed dial.
Umm why?
I agree with you that the show should be screened again, but I think that it would have to be re formatted for our wide screen TV. You could zoom in but you lose some of the top and bottom of the screen.
It would be great if WIN played the original series again. I lived in the bush and we didn’t get it in the 80’s. The Fying Doctors was a great show. Give it a second life on TV (not dvd).