Local independent filmmaker Bob Fitzgerald and director Stephan Wellink will present a special screening of their award winning documentary Pushing The Boundaries: The Mavis Bramston Show at Avoca Beach Theatre on Sunday, October 22, at 3.30pm.
Immediately following the screening, TV historian Andrew Mercado will moderate a Q&A with the two men and special guests.
At the conclusion of the film, TV and Film historian Andrew Mercado will moderate a Q&A with a panel of:
Maggie Dence AM who was Mavis Bramston from 1965 to 1968:
Lucky Starr ( a regular guest on the Bramston Show in 1965);
Bill Harding, writer (Mavis Bramston, Norman Gunston, and Paul Hogan show);
Richard Walsh, co-founder of OZ Magazine Australia and a writer on the Mavis Bramston Show;
Patrick Condon, (a producer at Channel 9 when Graham Kennedy was Bramston’s major competitor);
the documentary’s writer, producer & director, Stephan Wellink and cinematographer, editor, executive producer – and Central Coast local, Bob Fitzgerald.
The Mavis Bramston Show (1964-1968) was a sensation from the very first episode, which aired on November 11, 1964.
Controversies abounded especially in the first two years of the show when it was at its satirical best.
The bastions of virtue such as the Catholic Church, the RSL, royalty and politicians were targets of satirical sketches as every week,the show held up a mirror to Australians who, for the first time, saw who they were and what Australia stood for.
Nothing was sacred.
Mavis Bramston was the mother of all Australian television comedy, and the standard by which it is judged, even today.
Further details and tickets for the event are available at avocabeachtheatre.com.au
Bryan Hall