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    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Television»Drama
    Drama TV Shows - 1980s 4 Mins Read

    Last Bastion, The

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    1 9 8 4Β (Australia)
    3 x 120 minute episodes)

    In 1939, at the outbreak of World War II, Australia’s then Prime Minister Robert Menzies (John Wood) was still looking traditionally to Britain for advice and assistance, dealing with Winston Churchill (Timothy West), who regarded Australian troops as being there to help Britain, rather than the other way round.

    Little more than three years later, when Australian and American troops stopped the flow of Japanese invaders along the Kokoda Trail, the axis had shifted. This miniseries from Channel 10 (Australia)Β – subtitled “Australia Under Siege” – told the story of those three years.

    Where Menzies regarded Australia as being a sort of offshore British Isle, John Curtin (Michael Blakemore) took a more realistic view when it came to enlisting aid. Curtin, the leader of the Labor Party, succeeded to the Prime Ministership on 3 October 1941, following Menzies who was forced to stand down, and the brief tenure of Arthur Fadden (John Clayton).

    It was Curtin who realised it was no good relying on British support when Britain herself had enough problems. It was also Curtin who finally succeeded in bringing America to Australia’s aid, as he said in his 1942 broadcast to the US: “We are the last bastion between the Japanese and the west coast of America. If you let us fail, America itself is in danger”.

    Finally, Franklin D Roosevelt (Warren Mitchell) sent General Douglas MacArthur (Robert Vaughn), whom Curtin appointed Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in the Pacific. Despite their mutual antagonism, MacArthur and the Australian commander, General Thomas Blamey (Ray Barrett), finally halted the Japanese advance in New Guinea.

    The action ofΒ The Last BastionΒ is divided mainly between Canberra, Washington and London: each place providing its own particular share of tension: In Canberra, there is Curtin facing not only the Japanese threat but opposition from within his own party on such matters as conscription; In Washington, there is Roosevelt wondering whether or not to commit troops so far out of America’s defence perimeter; and in London, the cigar-chomping Churchill – falsely believing Australia is protected by Singapore – does not take Australia’s plight as seriously or as responsibly as he should – until Singapore falls to the Japanese.

    David Williamson spent two years writing and producing The Last Bastion.Β As a piece of television, the miniseries offered the sort of viewing rarely seen. It is history without frills, tautly directed by Chris Thompson, and its cast is strong and effective.

    Robert Menzies
    John Wood
    Winston Churchill
    Timothy West
    John Curtin
    Michael Blakemore
    Franklin D Roosevelt
    Warren Mitchell
    Gen. Douglas MacArthur
    Robert Vaughn
    Ben Chifley
    Bill Hunter
    Frank Forde
    Colin McEwan
    Arthur Caldwell
    Ron Blanchard
    Arthur Fadden
    John Clayton
    Gen. Tom Blamey
    Ray Barrett
    Richard Casey
    Tim Elliott
    Earle Page
    Simon Chilvers
    Percy Spender
    David Downer
    Harold Holt
    Harold Hopkins
    Gen. Sturdee
    Vincent Ball
    Gen. Rowell
    Tony Barry
    Gen. Vasey
    Richard Meikle
    Maj. Carlyon
    Richard Moir
    Stanley Bruce
    Leslie Wright
    Arthur Coles
    Don Crosby
    Mary Alice Evatt
    Julie Hamilton
    Elvie
    Julie Godfrey
    Herbert Evatt
    Peter Whitford
    Eddie Ward MP
    Max Cullen
    Billy Hughes
    Jon Ewing
    Elsie Curtin
    Nancye Hayes
    Frederick Shedden
    Neil Fitzpatrick
    Anthony Eden
    John Hamblin
    David Lloyd George
    Ralph Cotterill
    Gen. Haining
    Peter Collingwood
    Air Chief Marshal Portal
    Rhys McConnochie
    Air Chief Marshal Brooke-Popham
    Paul Mason
    Gen. Wavell
    Gordon Poole
    Lord Beaverbrook
    Robin Cuming
    Adm. Ernest King
    Tim Robertson
    Gen. George C. Marshall
    Reg Gillam
    Gen. Sutherland
    Graham Rouse
    Col. Willoughby
    John McTernan
    Gen. Eichelberger
    Brian McDermott
    Gen. Jonathan Wainwright
    Arthur Sherman
    Gen. Harding
    Waverney Ford
    Jean MacArthur
    Susan Kramer
    Arthur MacArthur
    Erik Szaks
    Eleanor Roosevelt
    June Salter
    Anna Roosevelt
    Natalie Mosco
    Saburo Kurusu
    Michael Kozuki
    Gen. Eichelberger
    Brian McDermott

     

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