Oracle, The

1 9 7 9 (Australia)
12 x 50 minute episodes

This 12-part drama series from the Australian Broadcasting Commission starred John Gregg as top-rating Sydney radio announcer Steve Black – known to his devoted listeners as “The Oracle” – who ruled the airwaves from 9:00 am to midday at 2KX.

Pamela Gibbons was his beautiful wife Suzanne. Julie Hamilton played Tommy, Black’s secretary at the radio station.

The fast-talking, acid-mouthed Black would flit from altruist to cynic with barely a flicker of an eyelid, with his moods directed by the type of calls he received on his radio show. In the opening episode, we found him sympathising with a 17-year-old who was pregnant to her uncle, ridiculing a caller who believed in reincarnation, and helping a homeless family. His patter was believable and his eccentricities acceptable.

“Anyone out there with an IQ of over 50?” he asked Tommy as he coolly threw the switch on yet another telephone disaster from the organised chaos of his studio cocoon.

Each of the 12 fifty-minute episodes was self-contained but there was an underlying theme running through the stories dealing with Suzanne, who wanted to throw off the shackles of being a housewife and return to her former career in show business (she was once a successful singer).

Many viewers believed the lead character was modelled on Sydney radio personality John Laws, but John Gregg stated quite emphatically that he had not based the character of Steve Black on anyone.

Steve Black
John Gregg
Suzanne Black
Pamela Gibbons
Tommy
Julie Hamilton

Episodes

Incest to Income Tax | A Smack in the Mouth | All That’s Left of the Song | Everything’s Coming Up Roses | You & the Night & the Muzak | Time Wounds All Heels | Six O’clock High | Win a Few, Lose a Few | Take a Side, Any Side | Fresh Out of Miracles |  Black on the Line | Live from Las Vegas