In the annals of Australian television, Anzacs has a place right near the top.
The sweeping 1985 mini series starring Paul Hogan (in his first dramatic role), Andrew Clarke, Megan Williams and the young, rising star, Jon Blake, spared no expense in creating a realistic and uniquely Australian production that has rightly been lauded in the 38 (!!) years since it's release.
The series follows a group of men from Victoria who enlist in the Australian Imperial Force at the outset of World War One, right through to after the November 11 1918 Armistice. Yes, it skips over training in Egypt but takes in the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign and then the ghastly Western Front battles that Australians were involved in: Pozieres, Passchendaele, and Australian actions during the German Spring Offensive of 1918.
Setting aside the impressive battle scenes and the many storylines true to the experiences of Australian volunteers in the First World War, the characters are what make this show so completely compelling and unforgettable: Hogan as the larrikin Pat Cleary, Clarke as the educated, high-born Martin Barrington, Williams as Sister Kate Baker, a nurse attached to Australian forces, Jon Blake as the first-nameless Flangan, a Gallipoli reinforcement who becomes the centre of the show in it's later episodes. And more: Dingo Gordon, Sergeant McArthur, Pudden Parsons, Roly Collins, Lieutenant Armstrong, Bill Hars, and Kaiser Schmidt.
Wonderfully conceived and written, you feel great empathy for the entire ensemble cast, and watching their individual fates play out against the backdrop of a war of wholesale death and destruction. True to the carnage of that conflict, not all their stories have a happy ending.
You'll laugh and cry, smile and frown. From Australia 1914 to Australia in 1919, it is a memorable ride. No wonder Anzacs is still spoken about as the gold-standard of miniseries in Australia today.
No weak episodes. No weak storylines. No weak characters. Absolutely brilliant.
The sweeping 1985 mini series starring Paul Hogan (in his first dramatic role), Andrew Clarke, Megan Williams and the young, rising star, Jon Blake, spared no expense in creating a realistic and uniquely Australian production that has rightly been lauded in the 38 (!!) years since it's release.
The series follows a group of men from Victoria who enlist in the Australian Imperial Force at the outset of World War One, right through to after the November 11 1918 Armistice. Yes, it skips over training in Egypt but takes in the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign and then the ghastly Western Front battles that Australians were involved in: Pozieres, Passchendaele, and Australian actions during the German Spring Offensive of 1918.
Setting aside the impressive battle scenes and the many storylines true to the experiences of Australian volunteers in the First World War, the characters are what make this show so completely compelling and unforgettable: Hogan as the larrikin Pat Cleary, Clarke as the educated, high-born Martin Barrington, Williams as Sister Kate Baker, a nurse attached to Australian forces, Jon Blake as the first-nameless Flangan, a Gallipoli reinforcement who becomes the centre of the show in it's later episodes. And more: Dingo Gordon, Sergeant McArthur, Pudden Parsons, Roly Collins, Lieutenant Armstrong, Bill Hars, and Kaiser Schmidt.
Wonderfully conceived and written, you feel great empathy for the entire ensemble cast, and watching their individual fates play out against the backdrop of a war of wholesale death and destruction. True to the carnage of that conflict, not all their stories have a happy ending.
You'll laugh and cry, smile and frown. From Australia 1914 to Australia in 1919, it is a memorable ride. No wonder Anzacs is still spoken about as the gold-standard of miniseries in Australia today.
No weak episodes. No weak storylines. No weak characters. Absolutely brilliant.