| Killer in Close-Up | |
|---|---|
 Ad from The Age 14 Nov 1957 | |
| Genre | Anthology |
| Written by | George F. Kerr |
| Directed by | Christopher Muir William Sterling Raymond Menmuir |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 4 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company | ABC |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | 9 September 1957 – 13 August 1958 |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
Killer in Close-Up was a blanket title covering four live television drama plays produced by the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1957 and 1958. It could be seen as the first anthology series produced for Australian television.
Production of the plays was split equally between the Melbourne and Sydney ABC stations, with the first and fourth being produced in Sydney, the second and third in Melbourne.[1] Each ran for 25 minutes. The plays were produced by Christopher Muir, Raymond Menmuir and Will Sterling.
The title came from the use of the close up in television drama.[2]
The drama plays were based on real-life cases, dramatised for television by George F. Kerr.[3] They were, in order:
- “The Robert Wood Trial” (4/9/57)[4]
- “The Wallace Case” (20/11/57)[5]
- “The Rattenbury Case” (18/6/58)[6]
- “The Trial Of Madeleine Smith” (13/8/58)[7]
In Melbourne, the play aired against Chesebrough-Ponds Playhouse on HSV-7 (which consisted selections from US anthology series) and Douglas Fairbanks Theatre (aka Douglas Fairbanks Jr Presents, a British-American anthology production) on GTV-9, and was broadcast at 8:30PM.[8] In effect, viewers had a choice of three different half-hour self-contained dramas during that night.
- ^ "Gaslight on TV with Melbourne Cast". The Age. 2 January 1958. p. 8.
- ^ "LOOKING AHEAD ON CHANNEL 2 ABN". ABC Weekly. 4 September 1957. p. 33.
- ^ Vagg, Stephen (22 May 2021). "Forgotten Australian TV Plays: She'll Be Right". Filmink.
- ^ "TV Guide". The Age. 3 October 1957. p. 13.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
wallacewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Exacting first TV role for Patricia Kennedy". The Age. 13 June 1959. p. 13.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
smithwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "TV Guide". The Age. 14 November 1957. p. 17.