1 9 7 1 – 1 9 7 2Β (Australia)
39 x 30 minute episodes
Live-action adventures with the five-man crew of the 200-ton windjammerΒ EndeavourΒ on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, with marine biologist Joe Francis (Richard Melkle), Captain Chet King (Joe James), DrΒ Hanna (Ihab Nafa) and Chet’s son Kip (Ken James).
This series – made by Fauna Productions after the company finished shootingΒ SkippyΒ – was made for the Australian 0-10 network.
It was much likeΒ The RoversΒ from two years earlier (which had also starred Rowena Wallace).
However, while the company was intent on using its old formula of working with familiar stories and genres,Β Barrier ReefΒ was overly complicated, with theΒ EndeavourΒ having been fitted out as a floating scientific laboratory.
The series also suffered from having too many regular characters without any of the actors staying in place for the whole series – although spunk rat Rowena Wallace was already well on the way to becoming one of the most ubiquitous faces on Australian television.
Despite drawbacks in the area of narrative,Β Barrier ReefΒ had excellent locations and some really superb underwater photography filmed by the husband and wife team of Ron and Valerie Taylor, the renowned underwater experts who also worked onΒ JawsΒ (1975).
The series was pleasant to look at and never too taxing on the mind. With its inbuilt Australian ingredients, it sold well enough overseas so that, although it never was the profit bonanza thatΒ SkippyΒ had been, it did return a modest profit on its investment.
The original working title forΒ The Barrier ReefΒ wasΒ Minus 5.
Joe FrancisΒ
Richard Melkle
Chet KingΒ
Joe James
Kip YoungΒ
Ken James
Steve GaboΒ
Harold Hopkins
Dr Paul HannaΒ
Ihab Nafa
Jack MeuraukiΒ
George Assang
Elizabeth GrantΒ
Susannah Brett
Tracey DeaneΒ
Rowena Wallace
Diana ParkerΒ
Elli Maclure