Pig in a Poke

1 9 7 7 (Australia)
3 x 75 minute episodes

Well-bred Melbourne General Practitioner Dr Peter Reynolds (Paul Mason) decides in a fit of pique to quit his comfortable life in Toorak under the wing of his wealthy doctor father and buy a practice in the overcrowded, multi-racial inner-city Sydney suburb of Redfern.

His aim is to build the practice up to something substantial so he can sell it off.

Instead, his involvement in the area blossoms into something more than purely medical as he reluctantly gets caught up – with some nudging from his altruistic nurse/receptionist, Maureen (Justine Saunders) – in the personal problems of his patients.

There’s Mary (Julie Dawson), the battered wife of a drunk (Tony Barry) who moves with her three children to a women’s refuge called Ginny’s; there’s a transvestite named Lisa (Holly Brown) who is in anguish resulting from the rejection of her father (Gordon Glenwright, pictured above) and a mother who still uses her given name, Rodney; two episodes highlight the pressures of living within the Greek community, and Dr Reynolds is introduced to the hardships of the suburb’s large black population who suffer under white man’s law.

Written by husband-and-wife team John Dingwall and Margaret Kelly, Pig in a Poke (the successor to a one-off drama shown in October 1974) aired on Sundays between 24 July and 21 August 1977.

The series won widespread acclaim.

Dr Peter Reynolds
Paul Mason
Maureen
Justine Saunders
Christina Moustakas
Tessa Mallos
Mary
Julie Dawson
Therese
Samantha Cox
Diane
Jill Howard
Peg
Maree D’Arcy
Kate
Vicki Batesse
Lisa
Holly Brown
Mr McGrath
Gordon Glenwright
Mandy
Eve Summers
Des
Neil Fitzpatrick

Episodes

The Ginny’s Story | Theo’s Story | Christina’s Story | Ray’s Story | Lisa’s Story