Something in the Air is an Australian television soap opera that was broadcast on ABC TV from 17 January 2000 until 2 May 2002. It was one of the first programs in Australia to be filmed in widescreen. It won the AACTA Award for Best Television Drama Series in 2001.
Contents
Production
Something in the Air was the first nightly soap opera to be created and shown on ABC in over 30 years. The network had wanted to revamp its 6:30 pm timeslot and contacted several production companies and producers in a bid to find a show that would be the new lead-in to the flagship news bulletin at 7pm. ABC's head of drama Sue Masters thought a "locally made serial" would work particularly well and found the concept from writer-producers Roger Simpson and Roger Le Mesurier (Halifax f.p) was the right fit. Masters stated "What sold the show was its freshness, veracity and unembarrassed humanity. It was warm and funny with clear appeal to the broad demographic we hoped to attract, yet it threw in some truly bold shocks and played with such unexpected characters and storytelling we knew it would engage an audience." The network commissioned 160 episodes, hoping that it would be as successful as radio serial Blue Hills and television drama Bellbird.
Something in the Air takes place in the fictional Emu Springs, a struggling former gold-mining town. Storylines are "woven" around the local radio station and its announcers, including a football player, priest and socialite. The town is changed by the chaos caused by the arrival of "dethroned Sydney talkback-radio king" Tom Dooley, played by Colin Moody.
Broadcast and cancellation
The series initially screened four episodes weekly, Monday to Thursday at 6:30 pm, and was a moderate success. Ratings began to drop after the show was moved to Saturday evenings, and was cut down to two episodes shown in a one-hour block. It later resumed its four-episode weekly run, but it was screened in a 6:00 pm timeslot, putting it up against the high-rating Seven and Nine news bulletins, and that ultimately led to its cancellation.
The series was repeated on the-then ABC2 from 11 February 2008.
Season 1:
Monday to Thursdays, 6:30 pm (25 minutes x 160 episodes)
Season 2:
Saturdays, 7:30pm (2 episodes in a 60 minute block; first 44 episodes only)
Monday to Thursdays, 6:00 pm (25 minutes x 68 episodes)
Season 3:
Monday to Thursdays, 6:00 pm (25 minutes x 48 episodes)
Cast
Main
Eric Bana as Joe Sabatini (2000–01)
Ray Barrett as Len Taylor
Ulli Birvé as Helen Virtue
Alan Brough as Warren Brown (2000)
Danielle Carter as Sally Sabatini
Vince Colosimo as Joe Sabatini (2001), replaced Eric Bana
Kate Fitzpatrick as Julia Rutherford
Frankie J. Holden as Stuart McGregor
Melita Jurisic as Dr. Eva Petrovska
Colin Moody as Tom Dooley
Roger Oakley as Doug Rutherford
Anne Phelan as Monica Taylor
Jeremy Lindsay Taylor as Ryan Cassidy
Steve Adams as Father Brian
Tony Bonner as Bill Mackay
Nina Liu as Dr Annie Young
Recurring / guests
Matt King as Rolo (14 episodes)
Arianthe Galani as Nanny Sophia
Alan Hopgood as Bill Mackay
Andrew Curry as Shaun Graves (3 episodes)
Benjamin McNair as Ron Thomas (2 episodes)
Bernard Curry as Sean Wright (3 episodes)
Brett Climo as Steve Saks (3 episodes)
Bud Tingwell as William Brown (7 episodes)
Carmen Duncan as Margaret Jenkins (3 episodes)
Christine Stephen-Daly as Stephanie Bennett (4 episodes)
Eddie Baroo as Dingo / Skid Lightfoot / Entrant A (6 episodes)
Elena Mandalis as Cheryl Stephanopoulas (2 episodes)
Georgina Naidu as Ms Gibbs (1 episode)
James Condon
Jane Hall as Janine Baker (2 episodes)
John McTernan as Owen Young (5 episodes)
Kristy Wright as Lisa Cambridge (13 episodes)
Mark Mitchell as Neville McGregor (5 episodes)
Martin Copping as Jimmy Hibberd (4 episodes)
Michael Veitch as Ralph Dewey (3 episodes)
Accolades
The cast and crew of Something in the Air won two Australian Film Institute Awards and were nominated for seven more.