The General Motors Hour
The General Motors Hour was an Australian radio and television drama series.
Radio
[edit]The radio series was a regular one hour drama broadcast over the Macquarie Radio Network at 8 pm on Thursdays.[1] It is believed to have commenced in the late 1940s and lasted into the early 1960s. Producers included Robert Peach[2] and Harry Dearth.[3] The announcer was John Dease. 15 episodes are available on the RadioEchoes website.[4]
Television
[edit]The television version of The General Motors Hour was a loosely scheduled occasional series which aired on Australian television from 1960 to 1962. The series aired on ATN-7 in Sydney and GTV-9 in Melbourne, as well as on other affiliated stations across Australia. The presentations ranged from adaptations of overseas stage plays and anthology episodes, to locally-written drama and a documentary.
Its first show was a production of The Grey Nurse Said Nothing.[5]
Three of the TV episodes - Suspect, Candida, and Shadow Of The Vine - had been produced by English producer Peter Cotes for HSV-7 in 1961, but were shelved due to lack of sponsorship. Sponsorship was provided by GM-H in 1962, and plays were run on HSV-7 and TCN-9 under the "General Motors Hour" title.[6][7]
List of known TV episodes
[edit]- The Grey Nurse Said Nothing (1960, drama)
- This Is Television (1960, variety, documentary)[8]
- Thunder on Sycamore Street (1960, drama)
- You, Too, Can Have a Body (1960, drama)
- Shadow of a Pale Horse (1960, drama)[9]
- The Concert (1961, drama)[10]
- Long Distance (1961)
- Suspect (1961, drama)
- Mystery of a Hansom Cab (1962, melodrama)[11][12]
- The One Day of the Year (1962, drama)
- Candida (1961, comedy)
- Manhaul (1962, drama)
- Shadow of the Vine (1962, drama)[13]
See also
[edit]- Shell Presents - 1959-1960 occasional series
- Killer in Close-Up - 1957-1958 anthology of four half-hour plays on ABC
References
[edit]- ^ "[Title not known]". The Listener In TV. 21–27 May 1960.
- ^ "Radio star in tune with the times". The Sydney Morning Herald. 28 January 2004. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
- ^ Combe, Diana R. (1993). "Henry Alan (Harry) Dearth (1908–1964)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 13. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
- ^ "General Motors Hour". RadioEchoes. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
- ^ Vagg, Stephen (17 November 2020). "Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Grey Nurse Said Nothing". Filmink. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
- ^ "Peter Cotes Dramas Out Of Storage". TV & Radio Guide. The Age. 31 May 1962. p. 3. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
- ^ "Australian Drama on Two Channels". TV & Radio Guide. The Age. 26 April 1962. p. 1. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
- ^ Musgrove, Nan (20 July 1960). "Dreams for winners and losers". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 28, no. 7. Australia. p. 55. Retrieved 6 September 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Vagg, Stephen (13 September 2023). "Forgotten Australian Television Plays: Shadow of a Pale Horse". Filmink. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
- ^ "TV Programmes". TV & Radio Guide. The Age. 1 June 1961. p. 7. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
- ^ "Author, 23 in Rare Double". TV & Radio Guide. The Age. 17 August 1961. p. 2. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
- ^ "TV Programmes". TV & Radio Guide. The Age. 17 August 1961. p. 7. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
- ^ "TV Programmes". TV & Radio Guide. The Age. 5 October 1962. p. 8. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
