The Mavis Bramston Show is an Australian television satirical sketch comedy revue series that aired on the Seven Network from 1964 to 1968. Mavis was created, written, and co-produced by Carol Raye, who also starred in it and was inspired by the British TV satirical revue TV shows of the period, most notably That Was the Week That Was and Not Only... But Also.
The series was the first successful venture in this genre on Australian television. At its peak it was one of the most popular, albeit controversial, Australian TV programs of its time and it propelled many of the "classic" cast to national stardom, including its three original stars: Raye (who was already a major star in England as a film star), British expatriate comedian Gordon Chater, and Barry Creyton, as well as the series mascot portrayed by Maggie Dence.
The few programmes that were made locally were usually low-cost copies of either proven American talk-variety or quiz show formats.
The absence of government-mandated local content regulations meant Australian TV producers faced enormous challenges in trying to compete against imported American (and to a lesser extent British programs), which benefited from high budgets, an international talent pool, and huge economies of scale, thanks to their large domestic audiences and established worldwide distribution networks. These advantages were further enhanced by the fact that American producers and networks offered Australian channels attractive discount rates on bundled programming.
Despite the overwhelming dominance of imported programming, local production gradually increased in the mid-1960s for several reasons—the licensing of a third network in major cities (which ultimately became Network 10), the introduction of videotape technology (which permitted pre-recording and editing, and reduced production costs) and the enforcement of local production quotas on TV advertising, which helped to foster a local skill-base.
Mavis Bramston grew out of the recent local theatrical tradition of topical satirical revue—most notably the popular revues staged at Sydney's Phillip Street Theatre in the 1950s and 1960s but it was also strongly influenced by the British satire boom and especially by the contemporary British TV satirical comedy series That Was the Week That Was and Not Only... But Also.
Cast members
The character of Mavis Bramston
The in-joke of the series was that the title character "face" and mascot of the series only ever appeared in the opening credits; however, she would tour as the character making public appearances. Barbara Wyndon and Al Thomas guest starred in some episodes.
Among the crew was a young production assistant, Peter Weir, who went on to become one of Australia's best-known and most successful film directors.
Show's title
There are several versions of the source of the ironic joke behind the show's title. The most frequently quoted account is that it derived from an Australian theatrical expression. The nickname "Mavis Bramstons" mocked a phenomenon common at that time on the Australian stage. In the years after World War II, overseas actors (many of whom who were considered second-rate or well past their best) were often imported to star in local productions, even though there were local performers available who were as good or better than their overseas counterparts. One of the most famous examples of this trend was the "discovery" of actress and singer Jill Perryman; while understudying the much-loved Evie Hayes for the lead role in a 1953 production of the musical Call Me Madam, Perryman was able to make her critical breakthrough after Evie Hayes was sidelined by illness. Hayes and Perryman became great friends. Hayes later appeared as Perryman's mother in Funny Girl.
The stock persona of an imported second-rate actress became the central conceit of the series. The opening scene of each episode showed "Mavis", now brought to life as a parodic character, arriving at Sydney airport to be greeted by the waiting press; the irony was that although the show was called The Mavis Bramston Show, this was the only scene in which she appeared. Noeline Brown played the eponymous Mavis in the pilot and the first five shows.
Maggie Dence, however became the "face" of the series; she regularly featured in press articles and on magazine covers and was widely employed by the show's sponsor, Ampol, making well-attended promotional appearances all over the country.
Creation and development
The show's creator and original co-star, Carol Raye, had enjoyed considerable success in the UK as an actor, singer and dancer, followed by a stint working for the national TV service in Kenya (where her husband worked for the Colonial Veterinary Service). In 1964 the couple had decided to emigrate to Australia, arriving in March of that year. Raye had asked friends in Britain for contacts in the Australian TV industry and this led to a meeting with (Sir) Charles Moses, then the General Manager of the ABC. He suggested that she should try her luck with Sydney commercial station ATN-7 and gave her a letter of introduction to Seven's general manager, James Oswin. That meeting was successful and Raye became one of the first female TV executives in Australia—she was appointed as Oswin's assistant in "Matters of Live Programming" and was given an office and a brief to watch local television and come up with ideas for new programs.
The appearance of Richard Walsh is notable because it established an explicit link between Mavis and the Sydney satirical magazine Oz, which at that time was the subject of a highly publicized censorship controversy. The three Oz co-editors—Walsh, Richard Neville and Martin Sharp – had recently been charged with producing an obscene publication, relating to satirical articles and photographs published in the magazine's early editions. In September 1964 the trio was found guilty of the obscenity charges, and there was a major public outcry when presiding magistrate Gerald Locke SM sentenced Walsh and Neville to six months' imprisonment with hard labour. When Mavis premiered the "Oz Three" were preparing their appeal against the verdict (which was ultimately quashed).
The Oz-Mavis connection was reinforced on 15 November, four days after the pilot aired, when the Mavis stars appeared at the Sydney University Theatre as part of a benefit to raise money for the Oz defence appeal. They performed a parody song entitled "Poof The Tragic Queen", which sent up the folk-song staple "Puff, the Magic Dragon". The benefit also featured radical Sydney proto-punk band The Missing Links and Homicide star Leonard Teale, who recited a "surfie" parody of Banjo Paterson's Clancy of the Overflow.
The Mavis pilot was broadcast on ATN-7 (in Sydney only) on 11 November 1964
Seven soon announced that they were commissioning a series, which was mostly directed by David Cahill and Hugh Taylor. It was evident that the chemistry between the three stars was a crucial factor in its success, so Seven insisted that Raye should continue as co-star, whereas she had hoped to find a permanent female lead to replace her, so she could concentrate on production; as a compromise, Seven agreed to ease her workload by appointing Michael Plant as co-producer.
Five more episodes were made during late 1964, but these were screened in Sydney and Canberra only; the Collection database of the National Film and Sound Archive suggests that only three of these first six episodes have survived.
Noeline Brown made a brief weekly appearance as Mavis in these first shows, but she soon tired of the one-joke role and was reluctant to take on the promotional duties required. Seven wanted to retain her, but Brown intended to go to England and, since Seven had neglected to sign her to a contract, she left the show, to be replaced by actress Maggie Dence, although Brown returned to the series after her visit to the UK.
National breakthrough, 1965
Mavis was an immediate success in New South Wales and this was replicated when it was broadcast nationally from early 1965. It created a media sensation and at its peak it became the highest-rating Australian TV series ever made up to that time, pulling in unprecedented 59% of the viewing audience. Capping its ratings success, the series won the 1965 Logie Award for "Best New Show".
The popularity of The Mavis Bramston Show quickly became the stuff of legend – it is said that Qantas pilots tried to re-arrange their schedules to be home on Wednesdays for the weekly broadcast, and in the national capital Canberra local businesses reputedly contacted Seven, asking them to reschedule the show, because it clashed with late-night shopping and revenues were falling as a result of its popularity.
When the show went national Carol Raye quickly found that juggling performance and production with the demands of raising a young family were becoming too much, so Seven agreed to recruit a co-producer; on Gordon Chater's suggestion they hired Michael Plant, who had started out writing scripts for radio star Grace Gibson before moving to Los Angeles, where he worked in film and TV. He was also an experienced journalist, which assisted with the topical nature of the show's humour.
Despite the addition of a co-producer, Raye was soon exhausted by the frantic pace and she left the series midway through 1965. At this stage Seven still felt it necessary to import talent from the UK, and her place was taken by British TV star Miriam Karlin, who was well known for her role as the gravel-voiced, chain-smoking shop steward in the popular BBC sitcom The Rag Trade. In 1966, when Chater departed, Seven brought in British actor-comedian Ronnie Stevens.
Although the show continued to top the ratings, it was dealt another unexpected blow in late 1965 with the sudden death of Michael Plant (from an accidental overdose of sleeping tablets).
At the end of the year Gordon Chater announced that he was leaving the series. To replace him, the cast was augmented by imported British actor Ronnie Stevens and Australian actor-comedian Ron Frazer, who soon became a national star himself. Chater was subsequently recruited for a new comedy series, My Name's McGooley, What's Yours? which premiered in February 1967 and quickly became the most popular and successful Australian sitcom of the era.
1966–68
Despite the changes, the popularity of Mavis remained high through 1966 and it won three Logie awards that year – "Best Live Show", "Best Female Personality" (Carol Raye) and the Gold Logie for "Most Popular Personality on Australian Television" (Chater). Hugh Taylor succeeded Ron Way as director and the regular cast now comprised Creyton, Frazer, June Thody, Neva Carr Glyn and Noeline Brown (recently returned from her stint in the UK), with guest appearances by Stuart Wagstaff, Arlene Dorgan, pop singer Bryan Davies and Penny Ramsey.
Like Chater before him, Mavis made Ron Frazer a national TV star. One of his most popular roles was as a stereotypical Australian working-class character called "Ocker", and Frazer is now credited with popularising the term. He was also well known for his 'camp' character, whose regular catchphrase "my second-best friend" also gained wide currency at the time.
Mavis continued to generate controversy into 1966. On 12 February The Age reported that the Broadcasting Control Board was to investigate a sketch on that week's show which sent up the recent retirement announcement by Prime Minister Robert Menzies. The sketch featured members of the cast asking questions that "put a humorous and false slant" on answers Menzies gave to reporters' questions at his farewell press conference. The Age item concluded with a comment from HSV-7's manager, Mr K. Cairns, who maintained that the sketch "in no way held Sir Robert up to ridicule", and stated that he had seen it himself and found it "extremely funny".
Barry Creyton left the series at the end of 1966 and went on to host his own short-lived variety series, The Barry Creyton Show, in Melbourne. In later years he worked extensively in theatre and revue.
There is very little extant information about the 1967 series and, as noted below, it is believed that most if not all the tapes of these shows are now lost.
By 1968, with all the original stars gone, ratings were declining. It was at this point, after 18 months of writing for the show and making occasional guest appearances, that Barbara Angell was finally given a major role, jointly headlining the show with Ron Frazer. She threw herself into the task, reading every newspaper every day, with the plan of writing at least one topical song and two sketches every week and according to her, they managed to reverse the ratings slide:
In 1971 Seven produced a one-hour reunion special, Mavis's Back, which brought together many of the original cast including Chater, Frazer, Salter and Lockwood
Awards
The show and its cast won the following Logie Awards:
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! scope="row" | 1965
| Logie Awards
| Best New Show
| The Mavis Bramston Show
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! scope="row" | 1966
| Logie Awards
| Best Live Show
| The Mavis Bramston Show
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! scope="row" | 1966
| Logie Awards
| Gold Logie
| Gordon Chater
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