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After
Seven Network cancelled "A Country
Practice" in 1993, the series was picked up
by Channel 10...perhaps they thought they would
make up for having decided not to produce the
show way
back in 1980.
Unfortunately for everyone involved, Channel 10
made some very major changes to the format of the
show, changes that no doubt helped contribute to
the eventual failure of the series.
A NEW LOCATION:
Production of the original series took
place in NSW, in and around Sydney. When it tried
to revive the series in late 1993, Channel 10
moved production to Melbourne. Since they could
no longer make use of the familiar locales of
Pitt Town and Ebenezer, a "new" Wandin
Valley was created in the town of Emerald,
Victoria. Emerald is a lovely little town but it
doesn't have the same look or feel that fans of
"A Country Practice" had grown to love
(and expect!).
A NEW FORMAT:
In addition to the glaring problems
caused by moving shop to an entirely different
state, Channel 10 also decided to make more
trouble by changing the format of the show from a
two-hour block per week to one hour-long episode
per week. This changed the whole feel of the
show, making it seem more rushed and superficial.
The camera work was different, as well, though I
can't place my finger on precisely what was so
different (a different type of film or recording
process?).
The only thing that the new series had going for
it was that JNP was still the production company
and some of the writers and crew from the
original series continued to work on the new one.
They were all tired, though, and it quickly
became obvious that this was a show that never
should have been made.
The gracious exit carefully orchestrated for the
final episode of the original series was wasted.
A NEW HISTORY:
The Channel 10 series picks up the
original story a few months after the bushfire
that destroyed the Wandin Valley Bush Nursing
Hospital (and apparently a huge chunk of the town
and surrounding area). A new community health
centre has been built in Wandin Valley and life
is beginning to return to normal [as normal
as it can be after a fire that completely
rearranged the geography of the area and caused
the apparent sudden mass exodus to parts unknown
of the town's senior doctor, matron, mayor, only
police officer, and vet].
Few regular characters remained from the original
series -- only Dr. Harry Morrison, Esme Watson,
and Maggie Sloan (who returned from her world
travels for the last episodes of the original
series and stayed on to become matron of the
Health Centre). Two new characters, introduced in
the last few episodes of the original series,
became mainstays of the Channel 10 series -- Ian
McIntyre, the new park ranger who replaced Trevor
Jackson, and Claire Bonacci, a new nurse at the
hospital. A new vet and police officer character
were introduced.
Very little was ever mentioned of the
"missing" characters from the original
series and we never learn what happened to most
of them. It is presumed they all moved away and
lived happily ever after (but for
all we know they could all be living in a hippie
commune in Nimbin with Bernice or were all
victims of a mysterious post-fire plague that
swept through the Valley, killing 4 out of every
5 people and completely changing the face of the
land...uh, sorry, got a little carried
away..let's just leave it at "they all lived
happily ever after").
The new series was not a hit
with fans of the original series and it was
cancelled after approximately 30 weeks. What did
I think of it? Click here to
find out.
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