Bellbird (TV series)

The series was screened from 28 August 1967 to 23 December 1977. Although Bellbird was not Australia's first television serial (the first was Network Seven's Autumn Affair), it was the first successful soap opera and even spawned a feature film and tie-in novel. The show's ratings were modest but it had a devoted following, especially in rural Australia. During most of its 10-year production run, 15-minute episodes of Bellbird screened from Monday to Thursday nights during the lead in to the 7:00 pm evening news bulletin. In 1976, the series was screened as a single one-hour episode each week, before switching to three half-hour instalments per week during its final season.[3]

The show's storylines followed the lives of the residents of the small fictional country town that gave the show its title.

Bellbird would feature a regular cast of 46 actors over its ten year run. See links, for actor information. Principal cast members included:

Episodes of Bellbird were screened in the UK in 1972. After the initial 52 episodes had been screened, Actors Equity in Australia insisted the ABC increase the price of the episodes so as to pay the actors more. As a result of the price increase, the UK broadcaster purchased no further episodes.[4]

In 2004 it was reported that the ABC taped over the master tapes of the series,[4] something which series cast member Alan Hopgood had complained about in a TV Times article in 1976: "They are just wiped off and another episode run over them ... This failure to preserve the program is criminal, to my way of thinking".[5]

An extensive selection of surviving episodes, apparently found during the closure of the ABC's Gore Hill studios, is stored in the National Archives of Australia.

One complete black-and-white episode is available to be viewed at the Australian Mediatheque at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne, while several colour episodes are known to exist in the hands of private collectors.

The series was the first soap opera in Australia to spin-off into a feature film version and tie-in novel, entitled Country Town (1971). It focused on Bellbird's problems during a severe drought. Many future soaps followed suit, spawning their own film versions, including Number 96 and The Sullivans.

In 1971, Bellbird was the fifteenth most popular show in the country.[6]

• List of Australian television series
• List of Australian Broadcasting Corporation programs

• Aussie Soap Archive: Bellbird – Overview and review
• Bellbird at IMDb
• Bellbird at the National Film and Sound Archive