Check out the subtle newspaper headline in a Division 4 episode, from actors with a not-so-subtle cause.
The late Terence Donovan was one of several advocacy actors who rallied to Make it Australian in the 1970s, by carrying a coffin through Melbourne streets representing the future of local drama unless quotas were put in place by the Whitlam government.
He was joined by Ted Hamilton, who was instrumental in its staging, Gerard Kennedy, Patsy King, Chuck Faulkner, Gary Day and more. It was a pioneering protest which continues to this day, given recent industry moves to seek the same from streaming platforms. Their chief target was Doug McClelland, the minister for a newly-created Media portfolio.
But it came at a personal price too, seen to be biting the hand that feeds them.
TV executives were aghast that actors from Crawfords cop shows had protested. Suspiciously -or not- Homicide, Division 4 and Matlock Pollice were all axed within a few months of each other.
Check out this image from a Division 4 episode with Terry Donovan’s character Sen. Det. Mick Peters reading a newspaper headline reads “TV Unions Torpedo McLelland.”
In the end the government did enforce strict quotas. Thanks Terry.
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