The Astronauts (film)

1960 Australian TV series or program

The Astronauts

Advertisement in The Age 18 May 1960

Written by| Don Houghton
Directed by| Christopher Muir
Country of origin| Australia
Original language| English
Production
Running time| 60 minutes
Production company| ABC
Original release
Release| 18 May 1960 (1960-05-18) (Melbourne - live)
Release| 27 July 1960 (1960-07-27) (Sydney)

The Astronauts is a television film, or rather a live television play, which aired in Australia during 1960 on ABC. Broadcast originally in Melbourne on 18 May 1960, a kinescope recording was made of the broadcast and shown in Sydney on 27 July 1960 (it is not known if it was also shown on ABC's stations in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth).[1][2][3] FilmInk magazine said it may be the only Australian drama about the space race[4] and "the first (to my knowledge) locally written Australian sci-fi drama for the small screen."[5]

## Plot

[edit]

Four men (two Americans, an Englishman and an Australian) are training in Australia to become astronauts, and are preparing for the first manned space launch, for which only one of the men will be selected.

Medical officers think the men are mentally and physically perfect. However, one of them has a physical defect.[6]

## Cast

[edit]

* Alan Hopgood as Dave Armstrong, the Australian astronaut
* David Mitchell as Len Cassidy
* Mark Kelly as Jeff Burrows
* Tony Brown as Flight Lieutenant Peter Corbitt, the English astronaut
* Keith Eden as Dr. Vaughan
* Kurt Ludescher as a German scientist
* Kendrick Hudson as a U.S. Air Force general
* Marie Redshaw as Jill Corbitt, Peter's wife
* Anne Harvey as Del Armstrong, Dave's wife
* Collins Hilton as a steward

## Production

[edit]

Don Houghton, a Sydney writer, was prompted to write the drama after the announcement of the Mercury Seven. Houghton said "For the sake of the play I hope any attempt to put a man in space will not be made before May 18," when the show was being broadcast.[7] He wrote the play in late 1959 and was worried "that my play will become a piece of history first -not a projection of the future as it is now." It was bought by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.[8]

Houghton said the drama was not science fiction, but rather highlighted the short step ahead of what was actually happening with space exploration. The play posed the question, "what sort of man is an astronaut?"[7]

During the broadcast on 18 May a conversation between two ABC employees was picked up accidentally; it was about the marriage between Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones. The ABC said the wrong switch was turned on, saying it was "a human error for which the ABC offers its apology for any inconvenience."[9]

## Reception

[edit]

Filmink, reviewing the thirty minutes of the play that survive, wrote "the concept of an Australian space program is instantly likeable, to me at any rate, and the story was progressing logically, with strong stakes and interesting characters. When the men sit around joking, trying not to talk about death, it even had slight Only Angels Have Wings vibes."[5]

The production sold to US television.[5]

## See also

[edit]

* The End Begins (1961)
* The Road (1964)
* The Stranger (1964–65)
* Campaign for One (1965)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "TV Guide". The Age. 12 May 1960. p. 35 - via Newspapers.com.
2. ^ "Television Guide". Sydney Morning Herald. 25 July 1960. p. 14 - via Newspapers.com.
3. ^ "Astronauts on TV". The Age. 12 May 1960. p. 3. Retrieved 21 May 2022 - via Google News.
4. ^ Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". FilmInk.
5. ^ a b c Vagg, Stephen (2021). "Forgotten Australian TV plays: The Astronauts". Filmink. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
6. ^ "Wednesday Television". The Age. 12 May 1960. p. TV Guide Supplement. Retrieved 21 May 2022 - via Google News.
7. ^ a b "TV Drama About Men in Space". The Age. 21 April 1960. p. 15. Retrieved 21 May 2022 - via Google News.
8. ^ "News of the day". The Age. 18 May 1960. p. 2 - via Newspapers.com.
9. ^ "Viewers React to Incidents". The Age. 28 May 1960. p. 25 - via Newspapers.com.

## External links

[edit]

* The Astronauts at IMDb

* v
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TV productions of Christopher Muir

TV plays|

* The Proposal (1957)
* Dark Brown (1957)
* Killer in Close-Up (1957)
* The Duke in Darkness (1957)
* Last Call (1958)
* Outpost (1959)
* Black Chiffon (1959)
* Antony and Cleopatra (1959)
* Till Death Do Us Part (1959)
* Dinner with the Family (1959)
* The Astronauts (1960)
* Uncle Martino (1960)
* Eye of the Night (1960)
* It's the Geography That Counts (1960)
* Waters of the Moon (1961)
* The First Joanna (1961)
* The Rivals (1961)
* Quiet Night (1961)
* Marriage Lines (1962)
* Martine (1961)
* Boy Round the Corner (1962)
* Fury in Petticoats (1962)
* The Teeth of the Wind (1962)
* She'll Be Right (1962)
* Man of Destiny (1963)
* A Piece of Ribbon (1963)
* The White Carnation (1963)
* The Physicists (1964)
* Six Characters in Search of an Author (1964)
* Luther (1964)
* Nude with Violin (1964)
* Everyman (1964)
* The Tower (1965)
* Boy with Banner (1966) (not screened)
* Topaze (1966)
* A Ride on the Big Dipper (1967)
* Shadow on the Wall (1968)
* The Party (1969)

Operas|

* Amahl and the Night Visitors (1957)
* Fidelo (1958)
* Albert Herring (1959)
* The Bartered Bride (1960)
* The Secret of Susannah (1961)
* Il Tabarro (1961)
* The Ambitious Servant Girl (1962)
* The Prodigal Son (1962)
* The Consul (1962)
* Bastien and Bastienne (1963)
* Simone Boccanegra (1963)
* Peter Grimes (1964)
* The Bloodless Sand (1964)
* Martha (1964)
* Carmen (1965)

Ballets|

* Giselle (1959)
* Ballet Studio (1959)
* The Nutcracker (1960)
* Coppelia (1960)
* The Bloodless Sand (1961)
* Sylvia (1961)
* Caranval (1961)
* The Spider's Banquet (1963)
* One in Five (1963)
* Robert Pomie Ballet (1963)
* Hans Christian Anderson (1963)
* The New Horizon (1964)
* The Fir Tree (1964)
* Seven Deadly Sins (1965)
* She (1967)

Feature film|

* Libido (1973)

TV series|

* Lucky Colour Blue (1975) (TV series)
* Andra (1976) (TV series)
* Golden Pennies (1985) (TV mini series)
* Great Expectations: The Untold Story (1988)

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