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*The Last Bastion*
The Last Bastion
Genre	War
Written by	Denis Whitburn; David Williamson
Directed by	Chris Thomson; George Miller
Starring	Michael Blakemore; John Wood; Timothy West
Theme music composer	Colin Stead
Country of origin	Australia
Original language	English
No. of episodes	3 × 2 hours
Production
Producers	Brian Rosen; Denis Whitburn; David Williamson
Cinematography	Louis Irving
Editor	Sara Bennett
Running time	360 min.
Budget	$3.6 million
Original release
Network	Network Ten
Release	5 November –; 7 November 1984

The Last Bastion is a television mini-series which aired in Australia in November 1984. It is a docudrama telling the story of Australia's involvement in World War II, and its often strained relations with its two main allies, Great Britain and the United States.^[3]

The running time of the series is reported as 360 minutes (6 hours) on the IMDb page, that is the screening time with ads. Each part runs for approx 90 minutes, both on VHS tape and DVD, is approximately 160 minutes implying they are heavily edited versions, as they've compressed 3 episodes into one 2 hour 40 minute film.

The 3 episodes still remain in the Screensound Archive.

Cast

Michael Blakemore ... John Curtin
John Wood ... Robert Menzies
Timothy West ... Winston Churchill
Robert Vaughn ... General Douglas MacArthur
Warren Mitchell ... Franklin D. Roosevelt
Ray Barrett ... General Thomas Blamey
Peter Whitford ... H. V. "Bert" Evatt
Max Cullen ... Eddie Ward
Jon Ewing ... Billy Hughes
Nancye Hayes ... Elsie Curtin
Neil Fitzpatrick ... Frederick Shedden
Bill Hunter ... Ben Chifley
Reg Gillam ... General George C. Marshall
Tim Robertson
Colin McEwan ... Frank Forde
John Clayton ... Arthur Fadden (3 episodes)
Vincent Ball ... General Sturdee
John McTernan

Production

The series was the result of two years work for Williamson. It was his first work for television and his first effort as producer.^[4] Some of this experience may have informed Williamson's play and film Emerald City although Williamson has always denied the character of Mike McCord was based on Denis Whitburn.^[5]

Kristian Williamson helped with the research and wrote a book with the same title.^[6]

References

^ Ed. Scott Murray, Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995, Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p209
^ Lewes, Jacqueline Lee (5 June 1983). "Million$ of Viewing". Sydney Sun Herald. p. 47.
^ "We are the last bastion". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 5 November 1984. p. 1 (SPORTS SECTION). Retrieved 8 May 2020 – via Trove.
^ "Being his own master: David Williamson". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 5 November 1984. p. 1 (SPORTS SECTION). Retrieved 8 May 2020 – via Trove.
^ Vagg, Stephen (2023). "Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Coastwatchers". Filmink. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
^ "FEATURES Fruit of the FIG TREE". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 19 August 1995. p. 43. Retrieved 8 May 2020 – via Trove.