Pardon Miss Westcott
| "Pardon Miss Westcott" | |
|---|---|
| Shell Presents episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 10 |
| Directed by | David Cahill |
| Teleplay by | Peter Benjamin Alan Burke |
| Featured music | Peter Stannard |
| Original air date | 12 December 1959 |
| Running time | 75 mins |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
Pardon Miss Westcott is a 1959 Australian TV play as part of the ATN-7 show, Shell Presents. It was a musical set in colonial Australia and was broadcast live. It was Australia's first television musical comedy.
In 1809, shortly after the Rum Rebellion, Elizabeth Westcott is transported to Botany Bay for stealing a pig. On the boat over she meets Richard Soames, an army officer being transferred to the NSW Corps.
She is assigned to work at Government House.
She later is granted a ticket of leave and opens an inn, The Silver Bottle, in Pitt Street, while romancing Soames.
The film was commissioned by ATN-7 from the writers of the musical Lola Montez, which had enjoyed a successful run on stage. The brief was to create a family musical for Christmas. The budget was £5,000
The book was by Alan Burke, the music by Peter Stannard, and the lyrics were by Peter Benjamin. It was broadcast live from ATN-7 studios in Epping, Sydney. The music was conducted by Tommy Tycho.
Michael Cole had been fired from Lola Montez. He was hired by the writers for this to make it up to him.
1. 'Overture' (Orchestra);
2. 'Heigh Ho, You'll Never Go Back' (male chorus);
3. 'Send For Me' (Elizabeth, Mansfield, Harbutt, and Snark);
4. 'You Walk By' (Richard);
5. 'The Whole Shebang' (Mansfield, Harbutt, and Snark);
6. 'I'm On My Way' (Elizabeth);
7. 'Grog Song' (chorus);
8. 'So Much More' (Elizabeth and Richard);
9. Our Own Bare Hands (Lydia);
10. 'The Argument' (Elizabeth, Richard, Mansfield, Harbutt, and Snark);
11. 'Sometimes' (Richard);12. 'Finale' (Elizabeth, Richard, and Chorus).
The critic from the Sydney Morning Herald wrote the musical "had an entertaining and beguilingly tuneful premiere in a smoothly organised live production" despite "the lack of colour and space in which create spectacle and the effects which properly, and uniquely-belong to the stage." However:
Nine numbers in a 75-minute show is pretty fair value, and the... tunes and lyrics were fluent, neatly turned and literate. Equally important. they arose naturally from the situations arranged by the... book, and always took the story-line, and characterisation, a step further. And at least one song, "Bells Suddenly Ring" is a possible hit tune. Moreover, the show proved that for those who are willing yo use their imagination, there is plenty of theatrical material in our early history... Michael Cole acted and sang very attractively indeed: Wendy Blacklock brought the proper strength of character... but was not entirely at ease with her songs. Nigel Lovell.. was engaging and sympathetic, and Queenie Ashton, his snooty hypochondriac wife, was nicely acid. Chris Christiansen, Nat Levispn and Michael Walshe made a usefully funny convict trio, and Joy Hill danced with considerable verve and enthusiasm.
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