Chances (TV series)

The show aired on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, but early ratings proved disappointing, resulting in several cast purges that saw most of the original 17 characters written out of the series, reducing the core cast to six, and now focusing mainly on guest characters. First to go were Yvonne Lawley (who played Heather McGlashen), Kimberley Davenport (Charlie Gibson), Anne Grigg (Sarah Taylor), and Cathy Godbold (Nikki Taylor). By the end of the year, Natalie McCurry (who played Rebecca Taylor) was axed for refusing to sign a nudity clause in her contract; at the start of the second season in 1992, Connie Reynolds (Deborah Kennedy) and her family (Mark Kounnas; Simon Grey) were also written-out; Jack Taylor (played by Tim Robertson) was killed-off, so his remaining family (Rhys Muldoon and Leverne McDonnell) moved away. This left hardly any of the original cast, although Barbara and Dan Taylor (Brenda Addie and John Sheerin) were retained, as were the characters Bill Anderson (Michael Caton) and Sharon Taylor (Mercia Deane-Johns), but the new 'star' of the show was Alex Taylor, played by Jeremy Sims. New 'guest' actors were brought in, including Stephen Whittaker, Gerard Sont, Danielle Fairclough, Ciri Thompson, Kevin J. Wilson, Abigail, Lynda Stoner and Patsy Stephen.[4] Attempts to boost the ratings saw a major increase in sex and nudity, including storylines involving bondage and lesbianism.[5] These sexual elements provoked considerable controversy, with some TV watchdogs attacking Chances as "teleporn".[5] The program's storylines also became increasingly bizarre and fantasy-oriented, with new stories involving the Asian Triads, ghosts, an angel on a Harley Davidson motorcycle, an Egyptian Sun Goddess, laser-wielding vampires, man-eating plants, and neo-Nazis hunting valuable Third Reich artifacts (in Melbourne, bizarrely).[6] The Age noted that Chances became "notorious" because of these elements.[2] These changes provoked much discussion and comment within the press and the public; however, they did not lead to a strong increase in ratings. Because of its "camp" elements, Chances did gain a small but devoted audience.[6]

Eventually, low ratings saw the show moved to a late-night slot, and the production rate reduced from two to one episode a week from episode 61. With the reduced output, the size of the cast needed to be reduced, so further drastic cast purges occurred. In the later episodes, much of the Taylor clan had departed, and Alex Taylor became the focal point of many of the storylines.[6] In "the final episode, God made an appearance, speaking to Alex in the Melbourne library".[6] The series ended in 1992, and has never been repeated on Australian television. Selected episodes have subsequently been released on DVD in Australia.

In the United Kingdom, Chances launched in February 1992 on Sky One, a year after its Australian debut and was initially screened at 9 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays.[7] Like in Australia, Sky's promotion of the show centred heavily on the sexual aspects of the show. This failed to achieve high ratings. The Sunday Times media correspondent noted that Chances, along with Sky One's other heavily promoted imports, Studs and E Street, "all did poorly with UK viewers".[7] Eventually, as the series moved on and dropped to one episode a week, Chances was then screened on Thursday nights at 10 p.m. and ended in early 1993. A late-night repeat was screened during the early hours of the morning during 1995. Notably, the last 19 episodes of Chances were never aired by Sky One and both runs ended at episode 107.

Chances was also shown on Russian television. However, the series ceased being broadcast there after members of the Russian Orthodox Church objected to a scene showing a naked woman saluting a swastika.[8]

In New Zealand, the show was screened on Channel 2 for around 12 months, but was dropped due to low ratings.

Bayonas also tried to sell Chances to US broadcasters. However, the only interested network was the Playboy Channel, which made several offers for the show; Bayonas declined, stating the channel would be an inappropriate broadcaster for the show.[6]

1991 TV series cast:

• Chances at IMDb
• Aussie Soap Archive: Chances
• Chances at the National Film and Sound Archive