Seventy pounds of gelignite ripped through the apartment block at No. 96 Lindsay Street on 8 September 1975 in an attempt to win back viewers of the failing adult soap opera Number 96.
The explosion not only ripped away the facade of the block of flats and its first two floors, but it took with it four of the main characters of Channel 10’s nightly series. The bomb wiped out delicatessen owners Aldo (Johnny Lockwood) and Roma (Phillippa Baker) Godolfus, madcap inventor Les Whittaker (Gordon McDougall) and Miles Cooper (Scott Lambert).
It also wiped out storylines that were becoming tedious.
Filming the explosion caused problems at Channel 10’s Sydney studios. The air conditioning was unable to cope with the resultant smoke and recycled it into the newsroom. Fortunately, it was a Saturday, and the few staff in there had to take up their writing positions on the lawns at the Ryde studios.