ANZACs-Australian TV Miniseries (1985) Episode 1

Way back in the 1980s the TV mini-series was a huge ratings winner for commercial stations - and there were some damn fine productions presented to the viewing public.

One of the outstanding series was ANZACs, an epic look at Australia's fighting soldiers during World War I.

Unlike many other series on The Diggers, however, ANZACs went further than the heroic debacle of Gallipoli and followed the Australians into the hell of the Western Front.

There they made life hard for the British officers and even harder on the pointy-helmeted Germans.

Despite being regarded as untried against European troops, the ANZACs acquitted themselves so well they were rarely out of the action and over the war some 60,000 men died and more than 160,000 wounded.

The mini-series is very much an ensemble-acting affair with some very well known faces in the line-up. Andrew Clarke, Paul Hogan (in his first dramatic role), Tony Bonner, Jon Blake, Megan Williams, Ilona Rogers and Robert Coleby among many others.


The battle scenes are terrific and the muddy trenches of the Western Front look acceptably cold and horrible.

Some of the acting goes a bit astray and there is sometimes a bit too much play on larrikinism and Ockerness, but overall it sits well as a quality drama with good characters.

I say this only because I really rated ANZACs highly when I originally saw it on the box, but since then TV perfection in the shape of Band of Brothers has come along and blown almost everything else out of the water.

The DVD transfer for ANZACs is pretty good, considering its age, although it does suffer a little from graininess (not in itself a bad thing for a gritty period piece) and it lacks sharpness and contrast.

Still, it is a good yarn and one Australians should take the time to watch.





I ripped these from the DVD set I have.This is episode 1 of the 5 episode series.I will upload each episode every few days.Enjoy.


Episode 1: Australia in 1914… Outbreak of war… Recruitment… Training… Gallipoli: Landing/stalemate/withdrawal.




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