Why Betoota Advocate knocked back TV offers

Betoota Advocate editors Clancy Overell and Errol Parker have had their share of offers for a TV show, but have finally settled on a four part ‘modern history’ doco series for Paramount+.

“There’s always been a lot of interest in the way we do things with The Betoota Advocate, particularly the way we tell the news,” Clancy reveals.

“For many years there were people coming along asking us if we’d like to have a panel show. The tried-and-true Australian news entertainment format, which we weren’t that interested in because it had been done. When they were asking, we were probably at peak panel shows, absolutely saturated, whether it’s Tonightly, The Weekly, Micallef, Have You Been Paying Attention? There was something on every night…. it’s all good TV, but we thought it was saturated and we’d get lost in an environment surrounded by TV professionals.”

“We tried to think outside the box,” Errol insists. “I wanted to pitch a hunting show where me and Glenn McGrath would go out into the bush. We didn’t have the budget to go to Africa to shoot a giraffe or something like that. This was more or less heading out to Bourke and getting some pigs and kangaroos. But there was no network that was really interested in that for some reason, so it’s in the bottom drawer.”

In case you hadn’t worked out, ‘Clancy Overell and Errol Parker’ are the pen-names of journalists Archer Hamilton and Charles Single, who only give interviews as Betoota characters.

Their online satire website has been operating since 2014, taking potshots at news, media, celebrity, politics and more. Wryly named after the tiny deserted town of Betoota, western Queensland, the brand -apparently- moved from print to online.

“Mate, we’ve been obviously a print circulation for quite some time before that. With metropolitan interest south of the border, we reluctantly made the transition online due to an intern who was speaking way out of school by suggesting that we innovate and adapt the way we deliver news,” Clancy continues.

“We nearly fired her but she was a good source, so we ended up listening to her and changed the way we do things.

“We didn’t think we’d see ourselves positioning from print to online to screen. That’s just kind of how it goes. We’re small town journalists who are navigating a globalisation of media.”

There have also been podcasts.

Errol says, “We also did an eight hour long podcast with Bob Katter. They’re coming out soon. It’s two times as long as The Lord of the Rings.

“He said he was going to retire to focus more on his enemies. So we asked him his 8 most-hated enemies and did an episode on each.”

For Paramount+ the 4 part series looks at events in modern Australian history, kicking off by investigating the downfall of the Hillsong church and Brian Houston.

“There was a fall from grace even within their own brand of religion. People don’t want to talk about it. Of the happy clappers now they are the the fallen angel,” says Clancy.

“Having grown up in a deeply Catholic household, I could see the attraction of Hillsong because their hymns were a lot more interesting than ours,” Errol explains. “They could go to church in their Mufti clothes, but we had to wear robes and carry on going through all these prayers … I can see how Hillsong was so much more fun, but at the same time, because neither of us have been associated in that evangelical Pentecostalism-type stuff we could look at it without any bias.”

“As Queenslanders, we’re well aware of different brands of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism,” Clancy continues. “Just in our town we’ve got Methodists, Presbyterians, Brethren, we’ve got all of them.

“The media and the politicians are well aware of what Hillsong is because our media, politics and certainly our music industry are very intertwined with Pentecostalism. But the punter doesn’t have the assumed knowledge that most people do in high places. So we’re explaining it to your auntie that lives on the coast.

“Certainly we’ve been able to dig up a lot, particularly when they go overseas and make an aggressive expansion on Los Angeles and New York.”

Errol adds, “The entire episode is full of scoops, and things like that. Unfortunately, the only way to know what they are is to watch.”

On screen the editors link between interviews, animations and archival footage to tell their stories. But don’t expect to see them fronting interviews, nodding to camera.

“We’ve never been too interested in the self indulgence of ‘noddies.’ Because you’re never ever gonna record the exact reaction you’re having to someone you’re interviewing at the same time. The only reason you do that is because you want to remind people that you’re the journalist on the story.”

Errol observes, “There’s only room for one Danny Weidler in this country. We only had a certain amount of time for these interviews. So rather than have us on camera, there are people who are more important than us in every story.”

Other episodes span the Super League war with media moguls Murdoch and Packer, the heat and violence of the Cronulla Riots and the Fine Cotton affair, one of the strangest racehorse controversies in our nation’s history.

“We’re happy with the finished product. We didn’t pull any punches. We certainly threw a few punches that could have broken ribs if we’s pushed a bit harder.

“We’ve gotten people to speak that would only do it because they are readers of the Betoota Advocate. Bob Katter, artists, ex-coppers, we’ve got strappers, stewards, we’ve got people that were there that haven’t spoken until now,” claims Clancy.

“We’ve got Ray Martin as a contributor, Sandra Sully, Chris Bath, veterans of Australian media helping us with timelines and explaining some of the stories.

“I really wanted to get Kerry Packer,” adds Errol.

In true Betoota style, the editors are looking forward to a formal premiere in their hometown, with a screening at the Afghan Theatre.

“It’s named in honour of the pioneers of Betoota -the Afghan Cameleers,” says Errol.

“They were real clowns apparently,” adds Clancy.

The Betoota Advocate premieres Wednesday on Paramount+.