Done Away with It

"Done Away With It" is the 16th television play episode of the first season of the Australian anthology television series Australian Playhouse. "Done Away With It" was written by Pat Flower and directed by Henri Safran and originally aired on ABC on 1 August 1966.[1]

"Done Away with It"
Australian Playhouse episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 16
Directed byHenri Safran
Teleplay byPat Flower
Original air date1 August 1966 (1966-08-01)
Running time30 mins

Flower wrote the episode in a weekend.[2][3]

Plot

A man (Alexander Hay) plans to murder his rich wife Rosa (Irene Sims). He winds up killing three others instead before his wife turns the tables.

Cast

Production

Pat Flower wrote Easy Terms and The Lace Counter for theatre. They were recommended to the ABC's Australian Playhouse. Flower wrote them this play in a weekend.[5]

It was shot on location in Sydney and at the ABC Gore Hill Studios.[6] During filming armed guards were needed to watch a scene involving $70,000 worth of jewels.[7]

Reception

The Sydney Morning Herald said there was "originality in the presentation of the play... and for that reason it can be counted among the more interesting" of the series, saying "the conception of combining a technique reminiscent of the old silent films with that of contemporary television production was cleverly contrived.... This story, banal and completely improbable in itself, was acceptable owing to the slick production in the hands of Henri Safran. some effective photography and not least Miss Flower's constructive ability."[8]

Another critic from the same paper praised Flower for "her clever bit of something-out-of-nothing" but most of all Safran "for easily the year's most inventive production work. With a tongue-in-cheek combination of stills and action, he made this lightweight piece into a halfhour comedy gem."[9]

The Canberra Times praised the "taut writing... and fast and furious directing... Using The Avengers technique of whirling cameras, flash backs, stills and exotic means of destruction such as perfume containers loaded with a poison dart and exploding chrysanthemums, the play certainly made the grade in technique. The ABC obviously let its head go with this one 011 sets, scenery and props."[10]

Another critic called it "a shocker".[11]

The Age said "the theme is amusingly clever" and praised the direction.[12]

The same paper at the end of the year called it "a witty bit of nonsense" adding it was one of the best TV plays of the year.[13]

References
  1. Vagg, Stephen (19 May 2021). "Forgotten Australian TV Plays: Done Away With". Filmink.
  2. John Haynes; J.F. Archibald. "Vol. 88 No. 4526 (3 Dec 1966)". The Bulletin. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  3. Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
  4. "TV Not all the way". The Canberra Times. Vol. 40, no. 11, 533. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 29 July 1966. p. 11. Retrieved 28 February 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. John Haynes; J.F. Archibald. "Vol. 88 No. 4526 (3 Dec 1966)". The Bulletin. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  6. "Play by Australian author". The Canberra Times. Vol. 40, no. 11, 535. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 1 August 1966. p. 15. Retrieved 28 February 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. "Murder? Whose?". The Age. 28 July 1966. p. 12.
  8. Darlington, Dorothy (2 August 1966). "Murder with skill". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 11.
  9. "Another Bob Hope Special". The Sydney Morning Herald. 7 August 1966. p. 84.
  10. "TELEVISION Air-cooled Summer". The Canberra Times. Vol. 40, no. 11, 452. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 9 August 1966. p. 11. Retrieved 28 February 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. "Special an the making of a movie". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 34, no. 12. Australia. 17 August 1966. p. 15. Retrieved 28 February 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. Monitor (5 August 1966). "Graphic arts and the TV Screen". The Age. p. 23.
  13. Televiewer (29 December 1966). "Staying true to one's viewing". The Age. p. 9.


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