WOOBINDA (ANIMAL DOCTOR)
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EPISODES: 39.
LENGTH: 30 mins.
FORMAT: Colour, Film.
PRODUCTION: 1968 - 1969 NLT Production.
ORIGINAL SCREENING: 1969 - 1970.
RUNNING ORDER: Airdate.
NETWORK: ABC, repeat screenings on the Nine network.

CAST:
John Stevens.......DON PASCOE
Tiggie Stevens.......SONIA HOFMANN
Kevin Stevens.......BINDI WILLIAMS
Peter Fischer.......LUTZ HOCHSTRAATE
Support:
Jack Johnson.......SLIM deGREY
Hospital nurse.......SHIRLEY SMITH

CREW:
Producer.......Roger Mirams
Series created by.......Malcolm Hulke
Directors.......Ron Way, David Baker
Assistant Director.......Howard Rubie

EPISODE TITLES
1. Not My Kind Of Country
2. Smoke Signals
3. Crocodile Hunters
4. Trouble With Chico
5. The Exterminators
6. Eye Witness
7. The Crop Duster
8. Birds Of A Feather
9. The Rustler
10. Nine Lives
11. Bounty Hunter
12. Panic
13. That's What Friends Are For
14. Sound Of Danger
15. A Dog's Best Friend
16. Nobody Comes Here Anymore
17. The Runaways
18. Deadly Cargo
19. Trapped
20. Sleeping Dogs Don't Lie
21. The Champion
22. Doctor Fugitive
23. Noel's Ark
24. A Life For A Life
25. Where Dead Men Lie
26. Ghost Town
27. No Love For Theodore
28. The Joker
29. The Companions
30. Rescue
31. Talk To My Agent
32. The Carrier
33. Gallena Ridge
34. Lenny
35. Second Sight
36. Loaded Message
37. Caesar Was Shot
38. Chocolate, Cherry Or Pistachio
39. Silent Witness

1. Not My Kind Of Country

Helen Mason.......Margo Lee
Lance Mason.......Graint Seiden
Will Mason.......John McLaren

Script.......Michael Wright
Director.......David Baker

Synopsis: A raging bushfire threatens the lives of a runaway boy and of Kevin and the boy's mother who have gone to look for him. All three are trapped by the fire.

Notes: Lutz Hochstraate does not appear in this episode.

Airdate: Melbourne 3/6/69, Sydney 27/5/69, Brisbane 10/6/69, Perth 17/6/69, Adelaide 24/6/69, Hobart TAS 1/7/69

2. Smoke Signals

Synopsis: Flying in the outback, John Stevens comes across an Aboriginal with acute appendicitis and is forced to co-operate.

Airdate: Melbourne 10/6/69

3. Crocodile Hunters

Jean.......Pat Sullivan
Rick Shyle.......Ken Goodlet
Earl Nelson.......Ray Victor
Bill Stafford.......Mark Towers
Sgt. Jenkins.......Red Moore

Script.......Michael Wright
Director.......David Baker

Synopsis: Three American business executives set off on an outback photographic safari in crocodile infested swamps, but only two of them return to Stevens' home. The fiancée of the missing man suspects foul play.

Notes: Sonia Hofmann does not appear in this episode.

Airdate: Melbourne 17/6/69

4. Trouble With Chico

Synopsis: Stevens finds himself involved with a diamond robbery when he baby-sits a trained chimpanzee named Chico.

Airdate: Melbourne 24/6/69, Sydney 17/6/69

5. The Exterminators

Grazier.......Chips Rafferty

Synopsis: A group of cattlemen decide to organise a hunt for the kangaroos which they believe are the carriers of the deadly disease Anthrax, which is being spread among their cattle.

Notes: Segments filmed at the Warrumbungle Ranges, over 300 km north-west of Sydney.

Airdate: Melbourne 1/7/69

6. Eye Witness

.......Norman Erskine

Synopsis: Stevens discovers that a young immigrant has smuggled a puppy into the country and, afraid that he will now lose it, the boy runs away, and innocently becomes involved in a bank robber chase.

Airdate: Melbourne 8/7/69, Sydney 1/7/69

Ep. 3: Lutz Hochstraate, Pat Sullivan, Mark Towers and Ken Goodlet

Ep. 4: Sonia Hofmann and Lutz Hochstraate

Don Pascoe

7. The Crop Duster

Synopsis: When a farmer sprays his crops with insecticide, Stevens discovers that the powder is threatening a colony of koalas.

Airdate: Melbourne 15/7/69

8. Birds Of A Feather

Jack Johnson.......Slim deGrey
.......Harry Williams

Synopsis: While returning a champion mare to its owner, Jack and Kevin come across men illegally trapping birds for smuggling overseas. Things look bad when Kevin is injured and the mare escapes, but the timely arrival of Dr. Stevens saves the day.

Airdate: Melbourne 22/7/69

9. The Rustler

Synopsis: A dishonest vet tries to convince a cattle owner that his cattle are seriously ill and should be immediately removed from the property and destroyed. The vet then plans to steal and sell the herd.

Airdate: Melbourne 29/7/69

10. Nine Lives

Willy.......Gerry Gallagher

Synopsis: A cat has been left a large sum of money in its master's will, a sum which can only be claimed by the relatives on the natural death of the animal. The late eccentric master's nephew, Willy, has some gambling debts which need urgent attention, and his attempts to liquidate the cat and claim the money do not succeed. When he tries to push it over a quarry, he himself falls down and has to be rescued; when he tries to drown it in a dam, he ends up floundering for his life; and when he abandons it in a remote forest, the cat uncannily finds its way back, just in time to stop Willy getting his clutches on the money.

Airdate: Melbourne 5/8/69, Toowoomba QLD 12/8/69

Sonia Hofmann

11. Bounty Hunter

Synopsis: A valuable thoroughbred horse escapes from its horsebox after a road accident, and Kevin goes out to search for it.

Airdate: Melbourne 12/8/69, Sydney 5/8/69

12. Panic

Synopsis: An Army plane carrying an atomic device and a deadly virus crashes in the Gattens Creek area.

Airdate: Melbourne 19/8/69, regional NSW 12/8/69

13. That's What Friends Are For

Synopsis: Colin Greaves, a champion polo player, is thrown from his horse during a match and suffers a severe leg injury. Dr. Stevens cares for him, but he becomes disillusioned and loses the will to recover, thinking his future is ruined.

Airdate: Melbourne 26/8/69, Sydney 19/8/69, Toowoomba QLD 2/9/69

14. Sound Of Danger

Synopsis: Tiggie and Kevin's efforts to care for a sick platypus are ruined by the sudden arrival of mining prospectors.

Airdate: Melbourne 2/9/69, Toowoomba QLD 9/9/69

15. A Dog's Best Friend

Synopsis: Dr. Stevens goes to the aid of an eccentric old man who cares for a house full of stray dogs, who is about to be evicted from his home by a new and ruthless owner.

Airdate: Melbourne 9/9/69

16. Nobody Comes Here Anymore

Synopsis: The Stevens family goes to an island bird sanctuary so Kevin can release a bird that he has been caring for. They cross paths with a dangerous gang of counterfeiters using the island as a hideout.

Airdate: Melbourne 16/9/69

17. The Runaways

Synopsis: While flying a seriously ill dog back to Gattens Creek, Kevin and Peter Fischer find themselves involved in the human conflict of an elopement, and are forced to make a detour that could bring about the dog's death.

Airdate: Melbourne 23/9/69

18. Deadly Cargo

.......Stewart Ginn

Synopsis: John Stevens investigates a case of rabies and unwittingly gets involved with a gang of smugglers.

Airdate: Melbourne 30/9/69, Sydney 23/9/69

19. Trapped

Jack Johnson.......Slim deGrey
.......Chuck Faulkner

Synopsis: Jack, Peter and Kevin work feverishly to save the life of a prize Australian Silkie dog trapped under tons of rock from an excavation site.

Airdate: Melbourne 7/10/69, Sydney 30/9/69, Adelaide 28/10/69

20. Sleeping Dogs Don't Lie

Director.......David Baker

Synopsis: The Stevens family go to Sydney to attend a veterinary convention and become involved with an eccentric old woman who takes them on a hair-raising tour of Sydney Harbour.

Airdate: Melbourne 14/10/69

21. The Champion

Synopsis:  Foul play is discovered the night before a big sheepdog competition in Gattens Creek. Stevens is called in and catches the culprit.

Airdate: Melbourne 21/10/69

22. Doctor Fugitive

Synopsis: Stevens is attacked by two prison escapees, and through loss of memory is mistaken for one of the prisoners.

Airdate: Melbourne 28/10/69

23. Noel's Ark

Synopsis: An eccentric pianist arrives in Australia on his yacht with his pets - exotic animals and birds collected from all over the world. While ashore, his yacht is set adrift.

Airdate: Melbourne 4/11/69

24. A Life For A Life

Melingee.......Stan Roach
Doctor.......Edward Howell
Tow truck driver.......Frankie Davidson
Jack Johnson.......Slim deGrey

Script.......Eddie Hepple
Director.......David Baker
Script Editor.......John Alaimo

Synopsis: Peter and Kevin become involved with an old Aboriginal and his dying camel, and Jack Johnson narrowly misses death.

Notes: Sonia Hofmann does not appear in this episode.

Airdate: Melbourne 11/11/69

25. Where Dead Men Lie

Johnno.......Max Cullen
Spencer.......Reg Evans
Grazier.......John Quilan

Script.......Suzanne Baker & Malcolm Hulke
Director.......David Baker

Synopsis: When Kevin, Peter and Tiggie are transporting a lamb for special surgery, they spot an 'injured' man lying beside his car. They land, and the man hijacks their plane, and later leaves them stranded in the desert without water.

Notes: The script is a loose dramatisation of the poem 'Where Dead Men Lie' by Henry Lawson.

Airdate: Melbourne 18/11/69

26. Ghost Town

Swagman.......Barry Lovett
Miss Webber.......Barbara Frawley

Script.......Stan Mars
Director.......David Baker

Synopsis: Peter Fischer takes the Land Rover for a day's sightseeing. Arriving at a ghost town, he is bitten by a poisonous snake, and his life is saved by a tribe of Aborigines.

Notes: Ghost town scenes were filmed at Newnes, a small remote settlement on the west side of the Blue Mountains.

Airdate: 2Melbourne 5/11/69

Lutz Hochstraate

Sonia Hofmann

27. No Love For Theodore

.......Richard Meikle
.......Tom Farley
.......Reg Gorman

Synopsis: When Stevens is appointed to look after an anteater from South America destined for an Australian zoo, the animal's defection to the Australian way of life causes a diplomatic controversy, and leads his own ambassador up a gum tree.

Airdate: Melbourne 2/12/69

28. The Joker

.......Billy Raymond

Synopsis: The activities of a practical joker cause a sequence of events that results in property owners, who are suffering from the effects of a drought, finding water on their land.

Airdate: Melbourne 9/12/69

29. The Companions

Bruce McKay.......Ross Higgins
Christine McKay.......Alexandra Long

Script.......Michael Wright
Director.......David Baker

Synopsis: A child secretly blames her father for her mother's death in a boating accident. With the help of Stevens and a small cat, she finds it in her heart to forgive him.

Notes: Sonia Hofmann does not appear in this episode.

Airdate: Melbourne 16/12/69

30. Rescue

Fred Dobson.......Ken Goodlet
Marion Dobson.......Clarissa Kaye
Monica Dobson.......Lisa Dent

Script.......Michael Wright
Director.......David Baker

Synopsis: The owner of a dog kennel develops a tracking system using dogs with radios to assist in search parties. It is put to good use when a small girl becomes lost in the bush.

Notes: Sonia Hofmann does not appear in this episode.

Airdate: Melbourne 23/12/69

Don Pascoe and Lutz Hochstraate

31. Talk To My Agent

Sandy Clinton.......Sheila Bradley

Script.......Ron McLean

Synopsis: When Kevin becomes an animal's agent, it looks as though he'll send the movie producers broke.

Notes: This script was included in the textbook 'In Focus'.

Airdate: Melbourne 30/12/69

32. The Carrier

.......Chips Rafferty
.......Maggie Stuart

Synopsis: A valuable dog is loose in the area, carrying a deadly disease. Stevens and Fischer are faced with the task of rescuing the animal before the local farmers find it and destroy it.

Airdate: Melbourne 6/1/70

33. Gallena Ridge

Villiers.......Norman Yemm
Harry Jackson.......Ben Blakeney
Station hand.......Steve Dodd

Script.......Ron McLean
Director.......David Baker

Synopsis: Kevin assists in bringing into the open the unjust dealings of the manager of a large cattle station.

Airdate: Melbourne 13/1/70, Sydney 6/1/70

34. Lenny

Lenny.......Jack Thompson

Synopsis: Tiggie sets out to train a wild brumby, but runs foul of a brutal stockman.

Notes: Jack Thompson's performance in this episode led to Producer Roger Mirams later casting him in a lead role in Spyforce.

Airdate: Melbourne 20/1/70

35. Second Sight

.......Max Phipps

Synopsis: A blind man has his faith restored when he has to rescue Tiggie.

Airdate: Melbourne 27/1/70

36. Loaded Message

.......John Meillon

Synopsis: Stevens has only hours to unmask the perpetrator of a scheme to poison all the stock in the Gattens Creek area.

Airdate: Melbourne 3/2/70

37. Caesar Was Shot

.......Nigel Lovell

Synopsis: Stevens and Fischer have to perform a dangerous operation when a spear fisherman accidentally shoots a horse with an explosive-headed spear.

Airdate: Melbourne 10/2/70

38. Chocolate, Cherry Or Pistachio

.......Jacki Weaver
.......Kerry Maguire
.......Rod Hull
.......Danny Purches
Tigers.......'Benny' and 'Zeta'

Synopsis: Gattens Creek is terrorised by a tiger with a passion for ice-cream.

Airdate: Melbourne 17/2/70

39. Silent Witness

Synopsis: Driving out to see Stevens, a man accidentally knocks down and injures a pedestrian. He is frightened away by the man's dog, and then begins to feel that the dog is hunting him.

Airdate: Melbourne 24/2/70, Sydney 17/2/70