Against the Wind is a 1978 Australian television miniseries. It is a historical drama portraying both the British rule of Ireland, and the development of New South Wales and Australia.
Jon English won the Logie Award in 1979 for "Best New Talent" for his role in the miniseries as "Jonathan Garrett". It was the first major Australian TV production to be broadcast in the United States.Terrace, Vincent (1981). Television 1970–1980. San Diego: A.S. Barnes and Company. .
A soundtrack was also released, topping the charts in Norway and reaching the top 10 in Australia and Sweden.
Plot Set during Australia's colonial era over the period 1798–1812, the series follows the life of Mary Mulvane, a daughter of an Irish school master. At 18, she is transported to New South Wales for a term of seven years after attempting to take back her family's milk cow which had been seized by the British "in lieu of tithes" to the local proctor. She endures the trial of a convict sea journey to New South Wales and years of service as a convict before her emancipation and life as a free citizen. During the journey out she makes a lifelong friend of fellow Irish convict, Polly, and in the course of the series we see their friendship continue, Polly's relationship and life with taverner Will Price develop, and Mary's relationship with Jonathan Garrett grows, leading to eventual marriage when both have served their term. Together they face the difficulties of establishing a farm and a young family in the new country, and must deal with the tyranny of the corrupt military running the colony. It is based on factual events of the Garrett Family (as stated in every episode) and the last episode recites what became of the Garretts: they had 5 children and now have many descendants.
Cast Major cast members
Supporting cast members
Episodes Date Aired Episode Name Directed by Written by 1 12 September 12 1978 The Seeds of Fire Simon Wincer Ian Jones & Bronwyn Binns 2 The Wild Geese 3 19 September 1978 A Question of Guilt 4 The Flogging Parson George T. Miller Peter Kinloch 5 3 October 1978 An Agreement Between Officers and Others Simon Wincer 6 A House on the Hill George T. Miller Tony Morphett 7 10 October 1978 The Tree of Liberty Simon Wincer Paul Davies 8 When Kings Go Forth to Battle George T. Miller Ian Jones & Bronwyn Binns 9 17 October 1978 The Farmer's Friend Cliff Green 10 A Matter of Life and Death Simon Wincer Tony Morphett 11 24 October 1978 The Spirit of Enterprise George T. Miller Cliff Green 12 The Whip Hand Tony Hegarty 13 31 October 1978 The Windfall Summer Ian Jones & Bronwyn Binns
Production The series was the idea of Bronwyn Binns (née Fackerell), who grew up in President Road, Kellyville, New South Wales, where she found old convict remnants on the family land.Personal recollection of the contributor whose family were neighbours during Bronwyn's early years. Kellyville is not far from the site of the colonial Vinegar Hill uprising also known as the Castle Hill convict rebellion. Bronwyn worked as a researcher at Crawford Productions and developed the project over a number of months, She teamed up with Crawford's colleague Ian Jones and presented it to Channel Seven, who agreed to finance a series.
The series was filmed at Old Sydney Town (near Gosford), and at Belgrave Heights, Warrandyte, Colac, Geelong and Emu Bottom. It had a budget of over a million dollars and was the first Australian mini series.Albert Moran, Moran's Guide to Australian TV Series, AFTRS 1993 p 46
Broadcast Mini-series were broadcast in the United States by the Metromedia television stations (WNEW, KTTV, WTTG, KRIV, WXIX) in 1979.
Reception The series was a large ratings success, being the second most popular show on Australia that year, being seen by 2,174,000 people in four cities. The series got a 45% viewing share.
It ushered in the cycle of Australian mini series.
It was also broadcast and very popular in Czechoslovakia under the name Proti větru (Against the Wind) with dubbing in Czech. The series was broadcast in Iran as well, where it was dubbed in Persian with the title "Dar barabar-e bad" (در برابر باد) (Against the Wind) and became very popular.
Music
A soundtrack was released by Polydor Records. "Six Ribbons" was released as a single, peaking at number one on the Norwegian charts in 1981.
Other media The complete series is now available on DVD in Australia, Norway, Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands in PAL format. It is also available in North American format.
Episodes 1, 8, and 13 were published in book form in 1978.
Notes
References
Bibliography "The Dictionary of Performing Arts in Australia — Theatre . Film . Radio . Television — Volume 1" — Ann Atkinson, Linsay Knight, Margaret McPhee — Allen & Unwin Pty. Ltd., 1996 "The Australian Film and Television Companion" — compiled by Tony Harrison — Simon & Schuster Australia, 1994
External links