Chances (TV series)

Chances
Chances Australian DVD release.
Genre	Drama, Erotica
Written by	Lynn Bayonas
Directed by	Helen Gaynor
Starring	John Sheerin Brenda Addie Michael Caton Jeremy Sims Deborah Kennedy Patsy Stephen Abigail Mouche Phillips
Country of origin	Australia
Original language(s)	English
No. of episodes	126
Production company(s)	Beyond Productions
Release
Original network	Nine Network
Original release	29 January 1991 – 3 April 1992

Chances was an Australian evening soap opera, produced from 1991 to 1992. It initially told the story of the average middle-class Taylor family whose lives are transformed by winning $3 million in the lottery. Later episodes however diverged considerably away from the series original premise. Chances was commissioned and broadcast by the Nine Network.

An original two hour pilot was made in 1989 but was not aired. It took a further two years before Chances was given the green light and went into production as a two-hour a week series. As a result of this, many of the 16 roles in the series had to be recast due to the unavailability of the original actors who played them. Principal cast members included John Sheerin and Brenda Addie as lead characters Dan and Barbara Taylor and Jeremy Sims as their mischievous son Alex. Deborah Kennedy was Dan's divorcee sister Connie Reynolds, Tim Robertson played Dan's shady brother Jack, Anne Grigg was his bored house-wife Sarah, and Michael Caton was the family neighbourhood friend Bill Anderson. There were also many other members of the extended Taylor family making up the large ensemble contract cast including Cathy Godbold as Dan and Barbara's rebellious youngest daughter Nicki, Mark Kounnas and Simon Grey as Connie's teenage sons, and Rhys Muldoon and Leverne McDonnell played Jack's elder children respectively.

Originally, creator Lynn Bayonas pitched the show as a family-oriented drama; however to help ensure the program's success, Channel Nine asked for nude scenes and risqué elements to also be included in the series. Initial publicity for the show focused on the sex angle, and it was for this that Chances was chiefly known.

The show's early ratings proved disappointing, resulting in several cast re-shuffles that saw most of the original characters written out of the series, and new actors brought in, including Stephen Whittaker, Gerard Sont, Danielle Fairclough, Ciri Thompson, Kevin J. Wilson, Abigail, Lynda Stoner and Patsy Stephen. Attempts to boost the ratings saw an increase in sex and nudity, including storylines involving bondage and lesbianism. These sexual elements provoked considerable controversy, with some TV watchdogs attacking Chances as "teleporn". The program's storylines also became increasingly bizarre and fantasy-oriented, with new stories involving the Asian Triads, ghosts, an angel on a Harley Davidson motorcycle, an Egyptian Sun Goddess, laser-wielding vampires, man-eating plants, and neo-Nazis hunting valuable Third Reich artifacts (in Melbourne, bizarrely).The Age noted that Chances became "notorious" because of these elements. These changes provoked much discussion and comment within the press and the public; however, they did not lead to a strong increase in ratings. Because of its "camp" elements, Chances did gain a small but devoted audience.