This World War II drama series, set in Melbourne, had warmth and charm, and Aussies loved the Sullivan family’s trials and triumphs.
The Sullivans begins on the eve of the Second World War, and its six years on air roughly coincided with the duration of the war. The action was set on two fronts, which helped disguise the soap opera nature of the serial.
The war front followed family friend Norm Baker (Norman Yemm), son Tom Sullivan (Steven Tandy), and other soldiers through scenes of action, physical suffering, moral dilemmas, and more.
The home front in Australia followed Dave and Grace Sullivan (Paul Cronin and Lorraine Bayly) and their younger children as they struggled to keep the cycle of family and neighbourhood life in place.
Helping to populate their community were voluptuous Maggie in the pub (Vicki Hammond), the humble German family running the local shop, and the busybody neighbour, Mrs Jessop (Vivean Gray).
Although the show also featured some younger characters, most notably youngest daughter Kitty Sullivan (Susan Hannaford), it was definitely skewed towards older viewers, even though it screened in the evening soon after the main news bulletin.
Eldest son John (Andrew McFarlane), missing in action, was eventually found safe and sound in London, but Uncle Harry’s love, Rose (Maggie Dence), drowned in the Yarra River.
The adored star of the show was former Play School host Lorraine Bayly as Grace. As a quiet, highly principled Catholic mother who supported her husband, she radiated warmth and stability.
Lorraine Bayly decided to leave and soon received her own series, Carson’s Law.
The viewing audience became so attached to strong, proud matriarch Grace that her on-screen death at the hands of a V-bomb in London was something the programme never recovered from, and this, as well as the fictional end of the war, led to the show’s demise.
Some of the most original and affecting stories, however, concerned events after the war. Kitty Sullivan, only 13 at the opening, married a photographer and went with him to Hiroshima.
She was so horrified by the aftermath of the atomic explosion that she killed herself.
Terry (Richard Morgan), her freckle-faced brother, could not adjust to peace and turned to petty crime. His young wife, Caroline, gainfully employed before the war, struggled to find work on the land but was sacked to make way for a newly returned soldier, in keeping with the law of the day.
More than any other Australian TV show, The Sullivans helped create the British appetite for Australian soaps.
Slow and sentimental at times, The Sullivans bravely faced the issues of war while examining the morality of the 1940s.
It offered romance, stock surprises, episodes to cry over, and characters viewers cared about deeply.
The series was cancelled in 1982 to make way for a show about hard-nosed businessmen, Taurus Rising. Young audiences, in particular, had apparently decided that six years of their parents’ war was enough.
Grace Sullivan
Lorraine Bayly
Dave Sullivan
Paul Cronin
John Sullivan
Andrew McFarlane
Kitty Sullivan
Susan Hannaford
Tom Sullivan
Steven Tandy
Norm Baker
Norman Yemm
Uncle Harry
Michael Caton
Aunt Rose
Maggie Dence
Terry Sullivan
Richard Morgan
Laura Watkins
Myra De Groot
Alice Watkins Sullivan
Megan Williams
Jimmy Sullivan
Andy Anderson
Mrs Ida Jessup
Vivean Gray
Maureen Sullivan
Fiona Paul
Marjorie Fulton
Jacqui Gordon
Jack Fletcher
Reg Gorman
Buffy
Sigrid Thornton
Sally
Lisa Crittenden
Ray Kirk
Alistair Browning
Maggie Baker
Vicki Hammond
Geoff Sullivan
Jamie Higgins Anna Kauffman
Ingrid Mason Hans Kauffman Leon Lissek Lottie Kauffman
Marcella Burgoyne Bert Duggan
Peter Hehir Lil Duggan
Noni Hazlehurst Maggie Hayward
Vikki Hammond Elizabeth Bradley
Maggie Millar Jack Fletcher Reg Gorman Carla
Kylie Minogue
Leslie ‘Magpie’ Maddern
Gary Sweet
Horace ‘Horrible’ Brown
Nick Waters Mr Jarvis
Fred Parslow Melina
Chantal Contouri SC Smith
John Bowman
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The war front followed family friend Norm Baker (Norman Yemm), son Tom Sullivan (Steven Tandy), and other soldiers through scenes of action, physical suffering, moral dilemmas, and more.
The adored star of the show was former Play School host Lorraine Bayly as Grace. As a quiet, highly principled Catholic mother who supported her husband, she radiated warmth and stability.
Terry (Richard Morgan), her freckle-faced brother, could not adjust to peace and turned to petty crime. His young wife, Caroline, gainfully employed before the war, struggled to find work on the land but was sacked to make way for a newly returned soldier, in keeping with the law of the day.
