The first in an anthology of five documentaries for the nation's bicentennial. Beginnings
Written and presented by Thomas Keneally
'If you want to understand the quirky Australian soul, then you'd better understand something of our beginnings'. Next January it will be 200 years since the first unwilling settlers, 736 convicts, were landed at Sydney Cove. No nation has had less likely Founding Fathers.
For the next 60 years prison ships sailed to this furthest of Britain's gulags. Then, in 1851, someone discovered gold. Suddenly free men from all over the world were clamouring to make the journey - at their own expense. They brought with them new and radical enthusiasms - not least, a passionate belief in the rights and dignities of 'the ordinary man'. Transportation was finished. A new nation was in the making with a character and spirit which, even today, still colours the attitudes of 'the quirky Australian soul'. Sound IAN SAMSAM
Film cameraman IAN STONE
Film editor CLIVE OVERLANDER Producer TIM SLESSOR
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