Lynn Bayonas

Lynnette Margaret Bayonas (11 April 1943 – 25 January 2010)[1] was an Australian television producer and writer. Her sister was Neighbours executive producer Susan Bower.

Lynn Bayonas
Born
Lynette Margaret Bower

(1943-04-11)11 April 1943
Died25 January 2010(2010-01-25) (aged 66)
Daylesford, Victoria, Australia
Occupation(s)Television producer, television writer
Years active1964–2008
SpouseLuis Bayonas
RelativesSusan Bower

Personal life

Bower was 18 years old and living in London when she got her breakthrough into television. She was an assistant to the general manager of The Australian Ballet who were then travelling through Europe and were due to travel on to the United States, somewhere that Bayonas didn't want to go.[2]

Whilst working in London, Bayonas heard of a job coming up with Citizen Kane creator Orson Welles. She agreed to meet Welles when he was making Casino Royale with Peter Sellers, Bayonas told him how she wasn't enjoying her job at the Australian Ballet and Welles invited her to Spain immediately.[2] While working in Spain she met her future husband, Luis Bayonas, a writer, art director and assistant director.[2]

Career

Bayonas' first job was taking notes for the film that Welles was working on at the time. Bayonas admitted that working with Welles taught her about flexibility in storytelling and turned her against many writing courses that she felt were structured.

After meeting her husband in Spain, Bayonas wanted to return to Australia, and Crawford Productions allowed her to do that by appointing her as script editor and writer on shows Homicide,[3] Division 4,[3] The Box and The Sullivans.[4] In the 1980s she started work on A Country Practice, the programme that later allowed her sister Susan Bower to break into television writing. Whilst working for Nine Network, she created and worked as the creative consultant on the cult serial, Chances, which had a two-year run from 1991-92. All 126 episodes of this series were released on DVD and Blueray in August 2021.

Beginning in 1994, Bayonas lived in Los Angeles, California for six years, writing for Paramount Pictures. During her time in Los Angeles, she worked on programmes such as Sunset Beach and Prime Time. In 2000, Bayonas decided to return to Australia and began work on television programmes such as The Saddle Club,[5] The Secret Life of Us[6] and Lawrence of Arabia. In 2008, just as the third series of The Saddle Club finished production, cancer took hold of Bayonas[1] meaning that this was Bayonas' last work before her death from cancer in January 2010.

She was also head of her own production company, Lynn Bayonas Productions, based in Preston, Victoria[7]

Filmography

Television
RoleProductionDuration
WriterHomicide1964
WriterDivision 41969
Writer/Script EditorHomicide1971–72
WriterThe Box1974
WriterQuality of Mercy1975
WriterThe Sullivans1976
WriterSkyways1979
ProducerThe Nargun and the Stars1980
WriterHoliday Island1981
Script ConsultantHector's Bunyip1986
Writer/CreatorWilling and Abel1987
ProducerRaw Silk1988
WriterChances1991
Producer/WriterGood Vibrations1992
WriterA Country Practice1994
ProducerThe Saddle Club2001–08
ProducerGuinevere Jones2002
WriterParallax2004

Death

It was announced on 25 January 2010 that Bayonas had died following a long battle with cancer.[8] She was 66 years old. The Australian soap opera Neighbours, of which Bayonas's sister Susan Bower is an executive producer, marked Bayonas's death at the end of their episode broadcast on 25 January 2010 with a title card as the credits rolled.[8]

References
  1. Davern, James (2 February 2010). "All-rounder gave TV audiences much pleasure". Australia: The Age. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
  2. Courtis, Brian (20 June 2002). "Taking the Reins". The Age. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  3. Rogers, Margaret (25 June 2009). "Refractory: The Bill". Refractory: The Bill. ISSN 1447-4905.
  4. "Crawford Productions Names A–F". Crawford TV Productions. Archived from the original on 21 January 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  5. Hudson, Sarah (1 April 2009). "Join The Saddle Club". The Weekly Times. Archived from the original on 19 April 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  6. McManus, Bridget (10 April 2008). "Dark City". The Age. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  7. "Writer/producer Lynn Bayonas passes away". Australia: Encore Magazine. 27 January 2010. Archived from the original on 30 January 2010. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
  8. Knox, David (26 January 2010). "Vale: Lynn Bayonas". TV Tonight. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
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