The Leaving of Liverpool (TV series)

The Leaving of Liverpool is a 1992 television drama, an Australian–British co-production between the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The series was about the Home Children, the migration scheme which saw over 100,000 British children sent to Commonwealth realms such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa.

For the folk ballad, see The Leaving of Liverpool.

The Leaving of Liverpool
GenreDrama
Written byJohn Alsop (part 1)
Sue Smith (part 2)
Directed byMichael Jenkins
StarringChristine Tremarco
Kevin Jones
Theme music composerPeter Best
Country of originAustralia
United Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes2
Production
ProducerSteve Knapman
EditorMike Honey
Running time205 mins
BudgetA$5.5 million[1]
Release
Original networkABC TV (Australia)
BBC1 (UK)
Original release
  • Australia:
    8 July 1992 (1992-07-08) - 9 July 1992 (1992-07-09)
  • UK:
    15 July 1993 (1993-07-15) - 16 July 1993 (1993-07-16)

Plot

The series follows two children—Lily (played by Christine Tremarco) and Bert (Kevin Jones)—who meet at the Star of the Sea Orphanage in Liverpool, England in the early 1950s. They go to Australia as child migrants where they are separated and are ill-treated. Lily is eventually reunited with her mother and returns to Britain with her but Bert is sent to a young offenders institution.

Cast

Production

The screenplay was written by writing partners John Alsop and Sue Smith who were working together on the miniseries Brides of Christ. Alsop read a review of a book about the child migration scheme, Lost Children of the Empire. Although the scheme had continued until 1967 and had affected thousands of children, little was known about it. Alsop approached Penny Chapman, head of drama at the ABC, with the idea for the story and she approved the funding. Michael Wearing, head of drama serials at the BBC, also agreed to fund and produce the drama.[2]

Broadcast

The Leaving of Liverpool first went to air over two nights, 8 and 9 July 1992, in Australia on ABC TV.

The series was not shown in the UK until over a year later, when it was shown on BBC1 on 15 and 16 July 1993. The Child Migrants Trust, a charity representing child migrants, criticised the BBC for refusing to display a helpline number for the Trust, as the ABC had. The BBC responded that the series was a drama, not a documentary, and the corporation did not publicise helplines after drama programmes.[3]

Awards

In the Logie Awards of 1993, The Leaving of Liverpool was nominated for Most Popular Telemovie or Mini Series, and won the award for Most Outstanding Telemovie or Mini Series.

References
  1. Ed. Scott Murray, Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995, Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p210
  2. Bell, Janet: Curator's Notes: The Leaving of Liverpool (1992), National Film and Sound Archive.
  3. Braid, Mary: BBC refuses 'orphan' trust helpline, The Independent, 13 July 1993.
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