Adventure Unlimited

The series was made in 1963, but was not shown in Sydney until 1965, airing on Channel Ten on Friday nights at 7.30.{{Cite news |date=1965-09-26 |title=Spine chilling |work=Sydney Morning Herald |page=83}} An episode appears to have aired on Thursday, 30 September 1965.{{Cite news |date=1965-09-30 |title=TV Guide |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |page=44}}

It was not seen in Melbourne until 1968, where it started 15 September.{{Cite news |date=1968-09-12 |title=With Chips |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=I9sQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=d5MDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3423%2C1984227 |access-date=2024-01-20 |work=The Age |department=TV & Radio Guide |page=1}} It sold to Canadian television and screened there in 1965.

Ten episodes were completed, three episodes were abandoned mid-production and a further 13 episodes were planned.

{{episode table |total_width=auto |overall= |title= |director= |writer= |airdate= |airdateR= |episodes={{episode list

|EpisodeNumber = 1

|Title = The Buffalo Hunters

|DirectedBy = Lee Robinson{{Cite web |title=ADVENTURE UNLIMITED. EP. 06, THE BUFFALO HUNTERS |url=https://www.collection.nfsa.gov.au/title/136 |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=National Film and Sound Archive}}

|WrittenBy = Cecil Holmes

|OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1965|10|8|df=y}}{{Cite news |date=1965-10-04 |title=Guide To TV Programs on Sydney Channels |work=Sydney Morning Herald |page=19}}

|ShortSummary = Ted Abbot is a buffalo hunter struggling to make a living. He decides to go into breeding buffalo but struggles to round them up. His wife’s cousin, Julie, who is visiting, flirts with pilot Don Williams to get him to help.

Cast: Grant Taylor, Jacqueline Knott, Gay Hartley, Leonard Teale, Alan Stewart, Yorkie Tilly as himself.

}}

{{episode list

|EpisodeNumber = 2

|Title = Uncontrolled Territory

|DirectedBy = Robin Lovejoy

|WrittenBy =

|OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1965|10|15|df=y}}{{Cite news |date=1965-10-11 |title=Guide To TV Programs on Sydney Channels |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rw0zAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_uYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5769%2C7517238 |access-date=2024-01-22 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |page=17}}

|ShortSummary = In the highlands of Papua New Guinea, a young Australian patrol officer leads his party to search for the survivors of a plane crash near the Indonesian border. He becomes the first white man to contact a tribe of cannibals.

Cast: Richard Meikle, Reg Livermore, Chris Christensen.

}}

{{episode list

|EpisodeNumber = 3

|Title = Adventure Unlimited

|DirectedBy = Robin Lovejoy

|WrittenBy = D'arcy Niland

|OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1965|10|22|df=y}}

|ShortSummary = Two divers, Snow and Frank, are commissioned by a steel company to survey the sands of a section of the Great Barrier Reef for limestone. The area is full of sharks and divers go on a shark killing spree when a strange boat turns up with armed men on board. The men steal the divers’ boat and proceed to hunt them. However, the divers ambush the men on their own boat and take them prisoner. It turns out they are bringing in illegal aliens.

Cast: Murray Rose, Richard Meikle, Alexander Cann, Peter Williams, Wal Gibbins, Ray Teal.

}}

{{episode list

|EpisodeNumber = 4

|Title = Crocodile

|DirectedBy = Robin Lovejoy

|WrittenBy = Lee Robinson

|OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1965|10|29|df=y}}{{Cite news |date=1965-10-25 |title=Crocs and gators |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |page=22}}{{Cite news |date=1965-10-25 |title=Guide To TV Programs on Sydney Channels |work=The Sydney Morning Herald}}

|ShortSummary = For weeks, two crocodile hunters are on the trail of Melangie (“the evening star”), a giant crocodile valued at £500, if it can be captured alive for a zoo. The plans go astray when three American female tourists arrive in Arnhem Land to record the mating call of the crocodile. Local Aboriginals tell the women to leave as they are trespassing. The crocodile hunters refuse to help, but advise the women to “give them (the Aboriginals) things.” Bob is attracted to Ethel.

Cast: Chips Rafferty, Sophie Stewart, Bonnie Walker, Gwen Plumb, Ted Hepple.

}}

{{episode list

|EpisodeNumber = 5

|Title = The Witness

|DirectedBy = Robin Lovejoy

|WrittenBy = Joy Cavill

|OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1965|11|5|df=y}}{{Cite news |date=1965-11-01 |title=Guide To TV Programs On Sydney Channels |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1T4RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_uYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4948%2C70806 |access-date=2024-01-20 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |page=13}}

|ShortSummary = Detective Sgt Hamilton is sent to Papua New Guinea to escort the witness to a murder in Sydney years ago by a gangster called Benson. She’s a nun, Sister Francesca, working at a Roman Catholic mission on the upper Sepik River. Hamilton brings her back to a small town where she’s met by Father Raymond who is going to accompany her for the rest of the trip. Raymond works for Benson, who has been paying bribes to Hamilton for years. Raymond tells Benson to look the other way.

Cast: Owen Weingott, Janette Craig, Bob McDarra, Don Phelps, Beryl Meekin, Mike Maxwell

}}

{{episode list

|EpisodeNumber = 6

|Title = The Rivals

|DirectedBy = Ken Hannam

|WrittenBy =

|OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1965|11|12|df=y}}{{Cite news |date=1965-11-08 |title=Guide to TV Programs on Sydney Channels |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ow0zAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_uYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1884%2C2398912 |access-date=2024-01-22 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |department=TV Guide |page=3}}

|ShortSummary = Set in Mount Hagen in Papua New Guinea. A regional show takes place and sees a feud between two coffee growers, Gordon Gillespie and Bob Cole with Gordon’s Bossboy as prize. The competition is a draw, and the Bossboy goes off to start his own plantation.

Cast: Alexander Archdale, Chips Rafferty, Nigel Lovell, Lowell Thomas

}}

{{episode list

|EpisodeNumber = 7

|Title = The Coastwatcher

|DirectedBy = Ken Hannam{{Cite news |date=1965-11-15 |title=Historic Rescue |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qA0zAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_uYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6410%2C4617856 |access-date=2024-01-21 |work=Sydney Morning Herald}}

|WrittenBy = Walter Brooksbank

|OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1965|11|19|df=y}}{{Cite news |date=1965-11-15 |title=Guide To TV Programs on Sydney Channels |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qA0zAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_uYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3970%2C4623957 |access-date=2024-01-21 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |page=19}}

|ShortSummary = The story of coast watcher Arthur Reginald Evans, who helped save the lives of John F. Kennedy and the PT 109 crew after their boat was sunk by a Japanese destroyer in the Bracket Strait.

Cast: Fred Parslow as Arthur Reginald Evans{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|access-date=9 August 2024|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|title=Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Coastwatchers|year=2023|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-australian-tv-plays-the-coastwatchers/}}

}}

{{episode list

|EpisodeNumber = 8

|Title = Camel Patrol

|DirectedBy = Robin Lovejoy

|WrittenBy = Brian Wright
Story by Lee Robinson

|OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1965|11|26|df=y}}{{Cite news |date=1965-11-22 |title=Guide To Programs on Sydney Channels |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rw0zAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_uYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4031%2C7515882 |access-date=2024-01-22 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |department=TV Guide |page=3}}

|ShortSummary = In the Finke River district, a young officer, Max, takes over the district from a more experienced one by undertaking a camel patrol. When the camels are stolen, the two men almost die.

Cast: Ron Haddrick, Neil Fitzpatrick, Jessica Noad, Tubba Tubba, Shorty

}}

{{episode list

|EpisodeNumber = 9

|Title = The Silver Backed Brushes

|DirectedBy = Ken Hannam

|WrittenBy = Kay Keavney
Story by Joyce Spelling{{Cite news |date=1968-10-10 |title=Based on true story |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0xZVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dZMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4818%2C2049117 |access-date=2015-05-25 |work=The Age |department=TV & Radio Guide |page=2}}

|OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1965|12|3|df=y}}

|ShortSummary = Set in 1942 in Madang, Papua New Guinea. It’s based on a true story about the first front line marriage to take place in New Guinea during the Pacific War. It tells the true story of nurse Margaret Evans of the Army Medical Woman’s Service, and her brief marriage to Air Force pilot Bill Malone which lasted only minutes, as he was killed shielding her with his body during an air raid immediately after the wedding.

Cast: Mary Reynolds, Tom Oliver, Thelma Scott, John Armstrong, Jeanie Drynan, Judith Arthy, Mike Thomas, Olga Blood, Kingsley Jackson

}}

{{episode list

|EpisodeNumber = 10

|Title = Summer Affair

|DirectedBy = Ken Hannam

|WrittenBy = Michael Plant and Evan Green

|OriginalAirDate = {{start date|1965|12|10|df=y}}{{Cite news |date=1965-10-29 |title=Guide To Programs On All Channels |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |page=14}}

|ShortSummary = Set on Hayman Island. A drama involving a rich heiress, her husband and a pretty young singer.

Cast: Tom Oliver, Clarissa Kaye, Ron Haddrick, Gabrielle Hartley

}}

}}

Lee Robinson had extensive experience making documentaries and films in New Guinea and the outback.{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/the-lee-robinson-chips-rafferty-story-part-one-the-phantom-stockman/|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|date=1 June 2025|access-date=1 June 2025|title=The Lee Robinson-Chips Rafferty Story Part One: The Phantom Stockman}}

Five episodes were shot in New Guinea – "The Rivals", "Uncontrolled Territory", "The Rescue", "The Witness", and "Silver Backed Brushes". Tom Oliver called the result of "Silver Backed Brushes" "awful" and "terrible".{{Cite news |last=Messer |first=John |date=1969-01-29 |title=Magical art of acting and eating |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=OxdVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=bZMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1779%2C4797488 |access-date=2024-01-22 |work=The Age |page=2}}

Gwen Plumb wrote in her memoirs that "Crocodile" was shot in 1961 in East Arnhem Land, {{convert|200|km|mi|abbr=on}} from Darwin. Plumb wrote "we were told it was a rich man's safari camp where brave sportsmen from all over the world, and particularly America, shot crocodiles, water buffaloes, kangaroos - anything that moved. So Sophie [Stewart] and I packed a couple of cocktail frocks. It was the biggest dump you could ever imagine."{{Cite book |last=Plumb |first=Gwen |title=Plumb Crazy |publisher=Pan McMillan Australia |year=1994 |pages=155–156 |author-link=Gwen Plumb}}{{rp|155}} Plumb says conditions were unsanitary, water buffalo would wanted through the camp at will", and the camp 'was run by a looney called Alan Stewart who wore a pistol in his belt.'"{{rp|155}} A crocodile was brought in from the aquarium in Darwin and Plumb says it passed out in the heat. She enjoyed filming at a lagoon, and a plane that flew in beer every night. "One night it didn't and we mutinied till they send another," wrote Plumb.{{rp|156}}

The National Film and Sound Archive holds a copy of "The Buffalo Hunters", though it is listed there as episode 6.

The episode titled "Adventure Unlimited" was reviewed in the Sydney Morning Herald by Kylie Tennant who said "besides being dull it was slow".{{Cite news |last=Tennant |first=Kylie |author-link=Kylie Tennant |date=1965-10-25 |title=Looking at it the way the young do |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |page=7}}

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.milesago.com/TV/adventure-unlimited.htm Adventure Unlimited] at Milesago
• [http://colsearch.nfsa.gov.au/nfsa/search/display/display.w3p;adv=no;group=;groupequals=;holdingType=;page=0;parentid=;query=%22adventure%20unlimited%22;querytype=;rec=0;resCount=10 Adventure Unlimited] at National Film and Sound Archive

{{Lee Robinson}}

{{Ken Hannam}}

Category:1965 Australian television series debuts

Category:Australian anthology television series

Category:1965 Australian television series endings