Australian Epic: Nov 29
A musical mayhem tale of Melbourne's wheel, as a symbol of corporate folly and misguided private sector development.
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under Programming
Tonight Australian Epic revolves around Melbourne’s so-sad-it’s-funny story of the world’s most unfortunate Ferris wheel.
When private developers invited a Japanese team to build a giant Ferris wheel to help put Melbourne’s new Docklands precinct on the map, they could never have envisaged the chaos that unfolded.
The first wheel was full of cracks and had to be scrapped. The second wheel was even more prone to mishaps and delays.
But eventually in 2013 – nearly eight years after the intended grand opening – Melbourne finally got the giant Ferris wheel of its dreams… until 2021, when Covid brutally put an end to the wheel again.
In this documentary-meets-musical interpretation of the events, the wheel becomes a symbol of corporate folly and misguided private sector development.
But at its heart, it’s also a story of quiet perseverance: a modern example of Australia’s never-saydie spirit in the face of mounting scepticism, ridicule and one very cursed wheel.
9pm tonight on ABC.
Share
- Tagged with Australian Epic
2 Responses
I watched a little bit of Pistol and Boo last week which didn’t grab me at all but The Wheel was the first Epic I’ve watched in full and I really enjoyed it. There’s a lot of production in it, and it was interesting to see they got full access to the now dormant wheel to film. I wonder if or when it will ever come down.
Back in the day I used to work in the Docklands … I saw the wheel go up and I saw it go down & eventually back up again. I had retired by the time COVID arrived to put an end to the wheel for good. TBH, it should never had been built in the 1st place but I sort of understand why. That part of Docklands was a planning disaster from the beginning. I did get 12 months free Costco membership though since I worked in the area.