Highlight of the week Making the headlines
Tbourswillbroadcast its final episode this week after 37 years on air, so we should expect to see plenty of highlights reminding us of its heyday. Or, if you want a different take on Australia in the 1980s, you could tune into this new drama from Down Under, which launches with a double bill.
The series is set in a commercial television newsroom in 1986, where newsreader Helen Norville (Anna Torv) has gained a reputation for being difficult. She finds she is often overlooked by her chauvinistic colleagues despite her obvious talent, but she’s determined to prove her credentials as a serious journalist. Meanwhile, junior reporter Dale Jennings (Sam Reid) is hoping to one day work his way up to being a star anchor himself. When they are paired up, they find their personal and private lives begin to intertwine as they cover some of the decade’s biggest stories.
The show has been such a hit in its native Australia, it’s led to some speculation about which
real-life TV star the fictional Norville is based on. However, actress Torv, whose previous credits include Fringe and Mindhunter, believes that if her character sounds like any of the decade’s real newsreaders, there’s a simple explanation.
She told The Guardian: “I did a couple of sessions with a beautiful person they’d brought in to teach the newsreading, but what I learned is that the phrasing, and all that kind of stuff, comes purely through the autocue. The way you speak as a newsreader is because you can’t see the next word.”
In the first episode, Helen and Dale form a fragile new alliance as they prepare to cover their first story together – the launch of the space shuttle Challenger. In theory, it’s a straightforward assignment, but then events take a dramatic turn.
In the second edition, the big story on air is the approach of Halley’s Comet, but behind the scenes, the talk is of veteran newsreader Geoff, who is under pressure to step away from the desk.