ABC1's blog

1:30pm – Sunday, July 5 on ABC1

From humble beginnings operating out of a terrace house in Redfern twenty years ago, the Aboriginal voice on Sydney radio has struggled to seal its place on the city’s airwaves.

For Koori Radio, its rollercoaster ride in the battle for a fulltime on-air licence ended in success back in 2002.

And since then the station’s gone from strength to strength with the broadcaster opening its new state-of- the-art studio late last year.

2 Live 2 Deadly follows the story of Koori Radio as it established itself as one of the country’s premier Indigenous radio stations.

Message Stick: 2 Live 2 Deadly will be repeated on ABC2 – Monday, July 06 at 5:00pm

Saturday July 04, 9:15 pm

After an arson attack at a local school with a bad reputation, PC Nate Roberts (Ben Richards) is appointed its temporary schools officer. When he has to break up a fight between two schoolgirls he comes into conflict with their teacher who resents the outside interference.

But he gets insights that lead him to believe that there is drug dealing at the school and the team investigates.

When he discovers there’s going to be trouble in a local park, he and Sgt Smith (Alex Walkinshaw) head off to stop it.

The Bill will be repeated on ABC2 – Tuesday, July 07 at 9:20pm

Saturday July 04, 8:30pm

Sgt. Callum Stone (Sam Callis) suspects a shoplifter is a victim of domestic violence, but she won’t make a statement against her husband.

When Stone discovers the abuser is a known criminal, he persuades the wife to help him find another way to put her husband away.

CID mounts a surveillance operation to listen in on a meeting between her husband and his criminal associates, and it pays dividends. But the ultimate betrayal is not the obvious one.

7:30pm – Saturday, July 4 on ABC1

Brian Lane (Alun Armstrong) engages in some dangerous mind games in a case that threatens to completely destabilise him when the team reinvestigates the death of Raymond Briers.

In 1999, Briers was killed by his wife, Katie, after she had agreed to be hypnotised by illusionist Billy Carse for his television show. Acquitted of his murder, Katie has recently started receiving emails from a source known only as Merlin, naming Carse’s rival, Brandon Skye, as her husband’s killer. Could Skye have sabotaged Carse’s act to produce the ultimate trick that would destroy his reputation.

Hailed as the messiah of modern magic and a pioneer of neuro-linguistic programming, Skye immediately gets under Lane’s skin. The two men enter a game of intellectual one-upmanship when Lane goes undercover at a corporate motivational weekend run by Skye’s girlfriend, Lulu Questor. But Skye is a master of illusion and has one final trick up his sleeve, which is guaranteed to push Lane over the edge.

Gerry (Dennis Waterman), meanwhile, meets his own nemesis in Carse’s brother, Guy. No one actually examines Guy too closely because he is in a wheelchair, but Gerry can see beyond that. With Carse dead, Guy seems keen to clear his brother’s name and restore his reputation.

But nothing on this case is quite what it appears to be. A visit to Dr Neville Moroni, resident expert at The Magic Circle, has a lasting effect on Gerry. Deeply sceptical, he agrees to be hypnotised by Moroni, with unspeakable results…

8:30pm – Friday, July 3 on ABC1

Another compelling series of British murder mysteries from renowned crime writer Lynda La Plante returns to ABC1 each Friday night in July.

This new series of Trial And Retribution begins with an explosive tale of injustice and revenge.

Tense, gripping and wonderfully acted, Conviction has an avenging father seeking recompense for the murder of his son.

On an East London estate Terry Dyer (Johnny Harris), recently released from prison, returns to uncover the truth behind a murder that he still claims he didn’t commit.

The buried secrets of terrible and murderous events are unearthed as DCS Mike Walker (David Hayman) and DCI Roisin Connor (Victoria Smurfit) head up the investigation team. But when DCI Connor is called away on a family-related matter, DS Dave Satchell’s (Dorian Lough) best intentions go tragically wrong.

How far should you go in the pursuit of what is right? Should a cop cross the line to catch a killer.

La Plante’s fine touch on this well cast police drama series has it all – procedural authenticity, personnel tensions, plot twists and character quirks. The visual style of the Trial And Retribution franchise also hooks the viewer as split screen points of view further enhance the storyline. But such is the cachet assured screenwriter Lynda La Plante carries, you could probably add her name to the test pattern and it would draw viewers in droves!

9:25pm – Thursday, July 2 on ABC1

Fate intended them to be enemies, but they have chosen to become partners… Bassam, Sharon, Aziz and Zohar are Israeli and Palestinian by birth. Their situation ‘branded’ them doubly as victims and aggressors at the same time.

This story is set at the very heart of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. This particular conflict resembles a set of broken mirrors where the one who suffers might well be the oppressor of the other. Beyond the Wall is a universal story – that of forgiveness.

The film’s four protagonists have suffered through personal loss. Two of them lost brothers in the conflict. The two others were involved in the fighting, one of them as a commander of the Special Forces of the Israeli army, the other as leader of the Fatah during the first Intifada.

Bassam, Sharon, Aziz and Zohar have all experienced periods of anger and despair before they were able to overcome the wall of hatred and fear. They were torn between their own conscience and the reality of the conflict and mutual denial. They all made choices that were perceived as radical – one step short of treason – which caused a rift or even a total break in their relations with friends and family. However, they knew this was a challenge worth fighting for: to make a partner of their enemy.

8:30pm – Thursday, July 2 on ABC1

By the summer of 2007 it seemed as if the earth had turned into Planet Finance. As never before, the world was interconnected – but not just by cables, container ships and jet planes but by 24/7 dealing rooms and international investment banks.

Globalisation is something we take for granted today.

And yet for all the advantages of an interconnected world – perfectly exemplified by Hong Kong’s astonishing humming container port, there’s a downside to globalisation and that is its vulnerability – its vulnerability to financial shocks, because finance isn’t an exact science, and its vulnerability to political forces beyond the control of the bankers.

Just ten years ago it seemed that these crises were more likely to blow up in emerging markets, like Asia. Yet today, it’s the West that’s caught up in a full-blown credit crunch – while Asia seems scarcely to have noticed. Indeed a new phenomenon has come to define the world economy: American borrowers have come to rely on Chinese savers – a symbiotic relationship between China and America that Niall Ferguson calls ‘Chimerica’.

But can we be sure that Chimerica will save this era of financial globalisation? The chilling reality is that a hundred years ago – another age of financial globalisation ended not with a whimper, but with a bang. And there’s no reason why that shouldn’t happen again in our time.

8:00pm – Thursday, July 2 on ABC1

Universal Flu Vaccine The worldwide spread of Swine Flu has put immunologists into overtime to develop an effective vaccine. The first cases of Swine Flu were reported on March 18 in Mexico, 10 days later the virus had reached the United States. Ten weeks from the outbreak the disease had spread worldwide with over 12,000 cases and 92 deaths – 80 in Mexico and 10 in the United States. Now as fears of an impending pandemic emerge, comparisons are being made to the 1918 Spanish Flu which killed over 20 million people worldwide. There is now growing concern that this latest flu virus has the potential to mutate into a human-to-human virulent influenza strain which would cause panic and chaos in communities across the globe. Immunologists here in Australia are working around the clock to create an effective vaccine and produce it in sufficient quantity for national distribution. Dr. Maryanne Demasi meets the scientists on the front line and discovers they’re mixing the old with the new, as they work around the clock to crack the universal flu vaccine holy grail.

Professor Penny Sackett Professor Penny Sackett took up the post of Chief Scientist of Australia in November 2008.

Eight months later Catalyst spent two days filming the American scientist going about her business. A physicist by training, an astronomer by profession, Professor Sackett describes herself as an educator by inclination. To the top science post in Australia, Penny Sackett brings extensive international experience. Penny Sackett has a pivotal post in the scientific community – keeping abreast of scientific developments, advising government and working closely with the Prime Minister’s office. This profile reveals a day in the life of the Chief Scientist of Australia.

Eco-Markets Farmers in Victoria, planning to find new ways to manage their land, can now maximise its environmental benefit by turning to a scheme being trialled by the Victorian Government.

Current economic theory puts no value on the environment, but this scheme allows farmers to make a financial bid for the land works they may wish to introduce. This can then be assessed against a modelling tool called the Catchment Management Framework (CMF). This tool was developed by the Victorian Government to combine different scientific models of environmental characteristics, such as soil type, vegetation and water in order to predict the impact of land management. Graham Phillips meets a farmer from Freshwater Creek who is already seeing benefits from this ‘Eco-Market’.

Catalyst will be repeated on ABC2 – Friday, July 03 at 5:30pm

8:00pm – Wednesday, July 1 on ABC1

Hosted by James O’Loghlin, The New Inventors highlights the latest contemporary creations from the new generation of inventors, innovators and designers. Deciding the winner of these three inventions are: agricultural scientist Chris Russell, science broadcaster Bernie Hobbs, and designer and inventor Sally Dominguez.

Inventions featured on the program:

Invention 1: PLASTIC MULCH RETRIEVER – by inventor Tony Rocca from QLD.

Plastic mulch is used extensively in the horticultural industry. The mulch is laid on the ground and the crop is planted above it. This practice helps manage water flow, improves weed control, reduces erosion and enhances crop quality and yields. However, the plastic is usually replaced every season, a highly labour-intensive process that involves digging up the plastic, cleaning it to remove weeds and debris and rolling the plastic up for disposal. The Plastic Mulch Retriever is towed by a tractor over the field, lifting the plastic out of the ground and cutting weeds and materials away from the plastic. The material is fed up over a series of bars inside the machine that use blunt spikes, shakers and bars to remove the crop debris. The plastic is then wrapped around a spool at the end of the machine to create a compact bale of plastic that is transportable, and viable to recycle.

Invention 2 TILE LINK: – by inventor Arvo Poldmaa from NSW.

When working on roofs there is always a risk of falling, often causing serious injuries or even death. There are systems that exist to anchor workers to a roof. However, these systems are not shock absorbing, so when someone falls, the harsh shock as the safety rope pulls tight can cause a bad injury itself.

Other systems also require drilling through the tiles, damaging them and creating leaks after the work is done. The TileLink is an anchor that combines energy absorbing capabilities with a design that is invisible from the ground. Its tapered design enables it to bend like a fishing pole, absorbing a massive amount of energy in the event of a fall and deflecting shock away from the worker. By fitting between the existing tiles, TileLink eliminates the waterproofing issues created by existing roof anchors.

Invention 3: 321 WATER – by inventor Gretha Oost from VIC.

Bottled water is an unnecessary luxury that has a devastating effect on the environment. Every stage of a bottle’s life cycle has an impact on the Earth, from production, to transport, to sale, to disposal, with approximately 65% of plastic drink bottles ending up in landfill where they take up to 1000 years to biodegrade. 321 Water is a re-usable drink bottle that filters tap water. All materials are recyclable and parts are replaceable, extending the life of the bottle. The filter absorbs any bad taste and odours, organic compounds and metals, while the overall design aims to be aesthetically appealing and practical for the mainstream user. The bottle derived its name, 321 Water, from the ratio of water that is required to manufacture one litre of bottled water: three to one, aiming to create awareness of a serious environmental problem, whilst simultaneously presenting the solution.

The New Inventors will be repeated on ABC2 – Friday, July 03 at 4:30pm

10:00pm – Tuesday, June 30 on ABC1

The third episode in Artscape’s The Big Birthday Bash series begins three days out from the opening night of Circus Oz’s 30th Birthday tour. With the tent issues now resolved, the company is finally in pre-show rehearsals in the big top, located at Melbourne’s Birrarung Marr.

The pressure is on, and as the ‘tech check’ and first preview reveal, there are still a variety of problems to work through – not the least of which is the fact that the show is still too long. Last minute changes are implemented as show director Tim Coldwell and artistic director Mike Finch make the bold cuts necessary to get the show down to time.

In the process, Sosi’s hula act is reduced, Flip’s skate act is deemed “not quite right” and Finch concedes that the key feral roo routine developed during ‘The Lab’ falls flat as a piece of theatre – “Not really that funny, not that spectacular,” says Finch in frustration. The team audaciously reworks the act delivering a good dose of theatrical punch.

On opening night the big top swells with the arriving crowd. Back stage in the dressing rooms as performers get into costume and apply their make-up, there is finally the glitz, glamour and sparkle that is ‘real circus’ in action.

Artscape: Circus Oz: The Big Birthday Bash: Pt 3 will be repeated on ABC2 – Sunday, July 05 at 7:00pm