Brian Hill, the British television producer who caused uproar in Australia and Britain with his real-life "soapie" Sylvania Waters, is out here making another series.
It’s working title is Brits in Oz, but if anybody can come up with a better one and he uses it, he’ll donate a good bottle of wine.
Sylvania Waters controversial? Hill mused. ‘Well...yes. A lot of Australians thought it was wrong that such a family - with some of the worst aspects of family relationship - should give the impression they represented Australian family life. But it was a case of cultural cringe, really. We never said they were a typical family and that they represented average Australia. They had flash clothes, flash cars and they swore a lot and had big arguments. All I was saying was - that their type exists.’
For readers hazy about the 1991 BBC-TV/ABC production starring Noelene, her de facto, Laurie, and their outspoken offspring, Brian recalls: ‘They were an extended family. Noelene had a son from a previous marriage and Laurie had a son from a previous marriage. Her son and his girl got married and were filmed as part of the series. But they later split up. There was no suggestion,’ Brian emphasises, ‘that this happened as a result of the series.’
The producers had chosen the family after more than 100 others volunteered to take part in the project. They had to agree to have a television crew as part of their lives for six months, except when the family were using the bathroom or making love.
The disputes, tears and divided loyalties kept viewers in both countries taking sides and arguing about the 12 episodes.
But now that’s behind him, and Brian, sitting in his Balmain, Sydney, apartment wants to talk now about the 700 British migrants he’s enticed out of the woodwork to help make Brits in Oz, a three-part series of one hour each, to go out on Channel 4. So far he and his crew have scoured Perth, the Kimberleys, Darwin, Sydney and Alice Springs to prove to the people back home that "Australians take you the way you are."
He has no idea how many British migrants will appear on each show. If he finds somebody "who is absolutely fascinating", he might well devote a whole hour to him or her. So far he’s excited by a Scot who stowed away in Glasgow on a ship bound for Australia when he was 15 - and who has never looked, or been back. And two lads from Liverpool and Newcastle he unearthed in Darwin. ‘They are working-class lads who, in their own words, were destined for the scrap-heap; a life of petty crime, drugs.
‘They said they didn’t have the right fathers, the right accent or the right schooling to get on in England. They say that doesn’t matter here. Here, they were given opportunities they say they could never have found at home; they believe Australia was more tolerant and has made them better people.’
When Brian was interviewed in Perth for Australia’s national radio and he asked for contacts, the lines ran hot. He tried to explain: he didn’t want migrants (like jailed housepainter, Alan Bond), who’d come out here with nothing and made a million. ‘I want the series to destroy some of the myths about Australia that British people have; that the sun is always shining. I want to present the real Australian lifestyle and how the Brits fit in.’
When he made Sylvania Waters he spent most of his time in Sydney with one jaunt down to Tasmania. He vows now to be back every year to do a series to show the true Australia. Channel 4, which makes no programs of its own, finances him as an independent producer. He had two researchers fly out with him from the UK and soon an editor, cameraman and cameraman’s assistant will be on their way. He will hire an Australian sound recordist. Viewers can expect the series not to be boring...
