Noel Ferrier’s Australia A to Z – Nostalgia Central

1 9 7 0 – 1 9 7 1 (Australia)
13 x 30 minute episodes

Noel Ferrier hosted this revue-style series, which took a satirical look at aspects of the Australian way of life.

The ABC-TV production had Ferrier as a sort of one-man Greek chorus in a smoking jacket linking together the sketches in a style which could perhaps be compared to The Frost Report or The World of Beachcomber (the influence of Spike Milligan – from the insanely cluttered sets and the dead policeman preserved by a taxidermist – was evident everywhere).

Ferrier’s character was a sophisticated and indulgent aesthete, combining the less moral (therefore more attractive) personality traits of Oscar Wilde and WC Fields.

A typical sketch presented a satire on American domination of Australia’s puny movie industry, illustrated through a filmlet called Defence of El Crud, starring a group of Bronx-born Diggers singing Waltzing Matilda in American accents, and venturing such remarks as “OK, cobbers, here’s the pitch.”

The saga of El Crud, Ferrier explained, had originally been recreated by an Australian director. But he’d lacked the funds to retrieve the film from the chemist.

The first seven episodes (broadcast in 1970) covered A to M of the alphabet, with N to Z following in six new episodes in September 1971.

Regular cast members in the first year included Max Cullen, Audine Leith, Edward Hepple, Peter Adams, John Derum and Ric Hutton. Cullen and Leith were joined in 1971 by Jeff Ashby, Son Pascoe, Shane Porteous and Graham Rouse.

Ferrier won the 1971 award for Best Australian Comedy for the series, which was written by John O’Grady (Junior) and Maurice Wiltshire.