Mayeta Clark
Director
Australian Story (1996)
Season 17
Putting the "real" back into reality television, Australian Story is an award-winning documentary series with no narrator and no agendas — just authentic stories told entirely in people's own words.
Released May 29, 1996
Episode 30 min
None+
Genres: Biography, Documentary, News
Keywords: tmdb.australia, imdb.two-word-title, imdb.biographical-documentary
Network: ABC TV
S17E1 - Road to Nowhere (Part 1)
Part 1 of our story on Di Gicrist, the woman taking on the big end of town and changing the face of justice in South Australia after her husband was killed in a hit-and-run cyclist incident.
Feb. 6, 2012, midnight
S17E2 - Road to Nowhere (Part 2)
The conclusion to our story on Di Gilcrist and her fight for justice after her husband was killed in a hit-and-run cyclist incident.
Feb. 13, 2012, midnight
S17E3 - Mary and Me
Kath Evans was diagnosed with lung cancer that had spread to her brain and given only weeks to live. She attributes her sudden, extraordinary recovery to the then Blessed Mary MacKillop and the event was accepted by the Vatican as a miracle.
Feb. 20, 2012, midnight
S17E4 - By the Light of Stars
Yaron Lifschitz took a small, troubled circus company and turned it into an artistic triumph that now has the world applauding its daring and glamour.
Feb. 27, 2012, midnight
S17E5 - Half a Million Acres
David Pollock, a young man from remote Western Australia and Frances Jones, a young woman from the Melbourne suburbs, battle to save the historic grazing property Wooleen.
March 5, 2012, midnight
S17E6 - The Book of Daniel
Daniel Clarke at the age of ten, inspired by the late Steve Irwin, set out to raise funds to conserve habitat for orangutans in Indonesia.
March 12, 2012, midnight
S17E7 - Woman from Snowy River
Leigh Woodgate's journey from young mountain girl to shining racing star, through dark days of hospital and recovery to the triumphant joy of riding a horse for early morning track work.
March 19, 2012, midnight
S17E8 - Going Troppo
From teenage years marked by delinquency, expulsions from school and several brushes with the law, John Polson became a successful actor and went on to direct some of the world's best known TV dramas.
March 26, 2012, midnight
S17E9 - House Of Hancock
Another look at the 1997 classic story on Australia's richest person, Gina Rinehart.
April 2, 2012, midnight
S17E10 - A Done Deal
Ric Richardson is an inventor who took on the might of Microsoft and scored a remarkable victory.
April 9, 2012, midnight
S17E11 - Streets with No Names
Scott Neeson built a career as a top Hollywood movie executive but after a holiday in Cambodia, gave it all up and now works to help some of the poorest children there.
April 16, 2012, midnight
S17E12 - The Razor's Edge
Risktaker, investigator and troublemaker: animal advocate Lyn White and the images that shocked a nation.
April 23, 2012, midnight
S17E13 - Return to Wooleen
Since Half a Million Acres aired, the Pollock's battle to save their property has attracted powerful supporters and a visit by natural landscape ecologist, Peter Andrews who has previously featured on Australian Story.
April 30, 2012, midnight
S17E14 - Larger Than Life
Clive Palmer has been described as a generous giver, a national treasure and a major political force. He's also been labelled a billionaire mining magnate who has never mined, a human headline and a manipulator of the media.
May 7, 2012, midnight
S17E15 - When We Were Racers
Triple world champion, Sir Jack Brabham became the first driver to be knighted for services to motorsport and the only Formula One driver to win a world title in a car of his own construction.
May 14, 2012, midnight
S17E16 - According to Her Cloth
From international model via prison to toast of Australian fashion week as a new generation designer: Tovah Cottle.
May 21, 2012, midnight
S17E17 - Turning the Tables
Jack Manning Bancroft, was just 19 when he started a plan to help disadvantaged kids finish school. Now at 26 he's one of Australia's youngest CEO's.
May 28, 2012, midnight
S17E18 - Walking with Kate Mulvany
Actress and playwright Kate Mulvany has experienced more than most people do in a lifetime and speaks candidly about life's many challenges and explains how she found the energy and determination to return to the public spotlight.
June 4, 2012, midnight
S17E19 - The Voice
Gurrumul Yunupingu's haunting voice has captivated global audiences, most recently in London for Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
June 11, 2012, midnight
S17E20 - To Set Before a Queen
In the early hours of Sunday June 24, the unbeaten Black Caviar will take on Europe's best at Royal Ascot, in front of the Queen. This is the fascinating inside story of the making of Black Caviar, stretching back across the generations.
June 18, 2012, midnight
S17E21 - Her Hour Upon the Stage (Part 1)
Part One of our two part special where friends and family of Diana Bliss tell her story and reveal the extent of the private torment behind the glittering existence.
June 25, 2012, midnight
S17E22 - Her Hour Upon the Stage (Part 2)
This week, the conclusion to our story about Diana Bliss whose death earlier this year was reported around the world.
July 2, 2012, midnight
S17E23 - Letters to the Editor
It's a time of unprecedented crisis in the newspaper industry. But this week's Australian Story is about a former big city journalist who's bucking the trend. James Clark had been living the dream in Paris when he decided to put his future, his relationship and the family sheep station on the line to chase his dream of running a little local newspaper in outback Cunnamulla.
July 9, 2012, midnight
S17E24 - Stranger on the Shore
Next week's program tells the story of a young woman unsettling her middle class Melbourne family by going out on a limb to 'adopt' a fourteen year old Afghan asylum seeker.
July 16, 2012, midnight
S17E25 - Foolin' Around
Popular Country singer Beccy Cole has decided she is ready to tell audiences about a personal dilemma which has dogged her for more than ten years.
July 23, 2012, midnight
S17E26 - It Takes a Village
In 2001 Ian and Sandy Johnson adopted two orphaned children, Tigi and Frazer, from Ethiopia. Now with the children 12 and 15, we returned to find out how it's all worked out.
July 30, 2012, midnight
S17E27 - Her Natural Life
This program documents Annabelle Sandes' unlikely pathway from the fine art auction rooms of inner Sydney to whale conservation in the Kimberley.
Aug. 6, 2012, midnight
S17E28 - Tatiana Is Dancing
Tanya Pearson has shaped the careers of hundreds of aspiring Australian dancers and at 75 continues to teach classical ballet full time.
Aug. 13, 2012, midnight
S17E29 - The Queen of Extreme
Torah Bright has lived in the United States since she was fifteen years old when she turned professional as a snowboarder. Since then, she's flown under the radar of many Australians. Her specialty is the half pipe – a winter Olympic event with a huge international following.
Aug. 20, 2012, midnight
S17E30 - Kicking the Habit
A recent High Court ruling all but ended the branding of cigarette packets in Australia. The decision and the woman behind it, Federal-Attorney General Nicola Roxon, have generated news headlines around the world.
Aug. 27, 2012, midnight
S17E31 - War Paint
Ben Quilty is an Archibald prize winning artist with a lifelong interest in concepts of masculinity - from youthful excesses with drugs, alcohol and fast cars to soldiers on the front line.
Sept. 3, 2012, midnight
S17E32 - On Bicheno Beach
It's forty years since a 15 year old Shane Gould created a sporting sensation by winning three individual gold medals at the Munich Olympics.
Sept. 10, 2012, midnight
S17E33 - Alaska and Me
Twenty-seven year old John Cantor has devoted the past six years to trying to complete one of the toughest solo expeditions on earth - Brooks Range in Alaska.
Sept. 17, 2012, midnight
S17E34 - Life After Puberty
Nell Schofield and Jad Capelja, the two young girls who starred in the 1981 Bruce Beresford film 'Puberty Blues', found fame and celebrity and looked set for big careers on screen...
Sept. 24, 2012, midnight
S17E35 - Leap of Faith
Li Cunxin - once one of the world's best known dancers - embarks on a high stakes return to the ballet world after 15 years as a stockbroker.
Oct. 1, 2012, midnight
S17E36 - The Slam
Exclusive with Rod Laver: the tennis legend is joined by family, friends and a line up of greats including Roger Federer.
Oct. 8, 2012, midnight
S17E37 - The Slam (Part 2)
Part two follows Laver through his marriage to an older American divorcee, raising children, battling a near catastrophic stroke and his return to Australia in circumstances he describes as the supreme highlight of his life.
Oct. 15, 2012, midnight
S17E38 - The Year of Living Famously
Ben Lewin and Judi Levine are two film-makers whose latest film 'The Sessions' has received considerable acclaim and is now being tipped as an Academy Awards contender.
Oct. 22, 2012, midnight
S17E39 - A Man of His Word
Veteran print reporter Malcolm Brown has covered some of the biggest stories of the last four decades, but now finds himself somewhat out of step with the times in an industry caught on the cutting edge of the digital revolution.
Oct. 29, 2012, midnight
S17E40 - Dreams from My Mother
Oscar-nominated actress Diane Cilento left Hollywood at the height of her fame to pursue more creative and spiritual endeavours. Her most enduring love was a theatre she created in the middle of the North Queensland rainforest.
Nov. 5, 2012, midnight
S17E41 - Under Her Spell
Zelie Bullen is a former stunt woman, turned world renowned animal trainer who trained Abraham, the lead horse in Steven Spielberg's movie 'War Horse'.
Nov. 12, 2012, midnight
Network: ABC TV
Episode Runtime: 30 min.
Season Runtime: 33327 min.
Released: May 29, 1996
Last Air Date: Nov. 3, 2025, midnight
Status: Returning Series
Certification: NR
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