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Changi (television)

Changi
Genre Drama / war
Created by John Doyle
Developed by Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Directed by Kate Woods
Starring Stephen Curry
Leon Ford
Matthew Newton
Mark Priestley
Country of origin Australia
Original language(s) English / Japanese
No. of episodes 6
Production
Producer(s) Bill Hughes
Tim Pye
Running time 6 X 1hr episodes
Release
Original network ABC Television
Picture format 16:9
First shown in 2001
Original release 14 October – 18 November 2001
External links
Website www.abc.net.au/changi/about/default.htm

Changi is a six-part Australian television miniseries broadcast by ABC TV in 2001. It originally aired from 14 October 2001 to 18 November 2001.

The series follows the trials and tribulations of six fictional Australian soldiers interned at the Changi prisoner of war camp in Singapore during World War II.

Changi is presented as a frame story, with six older war veterans reuniting in 1999 to share their experiences and memories of their time as young men at the camp. The series is also notable for featuring scenes of toilet humour and black comedy in an otherwise serious production, a deliberate inclusion on the part of writer John Doyle, better known for his comedic alter-ego Rampaging Roy Slaven.

Doyle originally envisaged the series as a sitcom with the working title of Worn Out & Weary and he first pitched the idea to the ABC as such. It was only later in the writing phase that he decided to switch to drama, albeit with elements of humour remaining as a prominent feature.

A total of 53 sets had to be built for the miniseries, standing in for the camp, parts of Singapore and the Malayan jungle. The series was shot in four locations and in studio sets around Sydney. The ABC invested $A6 million on the production, a figure representing one-sixth of the ABC's annual drama budget.

Two cast members portraying the older versions of the main characters previously served in World War II. Bud Tingwell served as a fighter pilot while Slim DeGrey was actually imprisoned as a POW at the Changi camp after the fall of Singapore to the Japanese.


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