Set in 1943, The Overlanders is a classic Australian outback survival story based on true events, starring legendary Aussie screen icon 'Chips' Rafferty as Dan McAlpine.

With Australia facing invasion from Japanese forces during WWII, man of the land and master drover Dan McAlpine sets out to preserve his very livelihood and the fate of more than a thousand head of cattle by trekking them across an alternate route over three thousand kilometres.

Facing an arduous and desolate landscape, from the dry extremes of the Northern Territory to the dense pastures north of Brisbane, McAlpine is joined by a dedicated yet disparate band of horsemen who set about bringing their considerable charge in for head count.

An adventure of the grandest scale, produced by the famed Ealing Studios and also featuring John Nugent Hayward and Daphne Campbell, The Overlanders captures a uniquely Australian story of hardship and survival, celebrating a remarkable historical achievement.


THE OVERLANDERS - DVD

An epic yarn based on the true story of a great Australian war horse who rode with bravery and valour at Gallipoli, the desert campaigns of Egypt, and Palestine.

Bill was massive. He had power, intelligence and unmatched courage. In performance and character he stood above all the other 200,000 Australian horses sent to the Middle East in the Great War. But as war horses go he had one serious problem. No one could ride him but one man - Major Michael Shanahan. Some even thought Bill took a sneering pleasure in watching would-be riders hit the dust.

Bill the Bastard is the remarkable tale of a bond between a determined trooper and his stoic but cantankerous mount. They fought together. They depended on each other for their survival. And when the chips were down, Bill's heroic efforts and exceptional instincts in battle saved the lives of Shanahan and four of his men.

By September 1918, Bill the Bastard was known by the entire Light Horse force, who used his name not as an insult, but as a term of endearment. Bill had become a legend, a symbol of the courage and unbreakable will of the Anzac mounted force. There was no other horse like Bill the Bastard.


BILL THE BASTARD: THE STORY OF AUSTRALIA'S GREATEST WAR HORSE - PB

People of the bush regard their working dogs as the nation's greatest asset.

Uncomplaining, tough, never needing to be fussed over, and hugely loyal, dogs rarely go on strike, don't hit the grog, only occasionally answer back, never ask for a pay rise, scarcely take a sickie and are always ready with infectious enthusiasm to start the day!

Drawn from around 2000 entries received by the ABC COUNTRY HOUR in a nationwide competition, these stories in this classic title take you on a vast farm tour of the country, celebrating the remarkable abilities of working dogs and the pivotal role they play in rural Australia.


AG: GREAT AUSTRALIAN WORKING DOG STORIES - PB

The first horse set foot in Australia on 30 January 1788, one of seven aboard the First Fleet's Lady Penrhyn, which also carried a cargo of female convicts.

From then on, horses carried explorers who opened up the country to settlement. They carried Aboriginal mounted police, trained as ruthless killers of their own people. Horses, often fine stolen animals, carried bushrangers who ruled the roads and bailed up townships: 'gentleman' Matthew Brady, 'brave' Ben Hall and the towering, controversial Ned Kelly. Horses carried men to war. Some 120,000 horses were sent to World War I battlefields: only one was brought home.

Horses helped build the nation, marshalling the great flocks and herds, helping to create its myths. As they have since the early days of the colony, they carry our bets and, like the mighty Phar Lap in the Depression days, they have the power to lift our spirits.


CF: AUSTRALIA ON HORSEBACK - HB

Reunited with their horses in Egypt after the shattering experience of Gallipoli (a story recounted in Terry Kinloch's earlier book, Echoes of Gallipoli), the Anzac mounted riflemen and light horsemen were initially charged with the defence of the Suez Canal.......

.... then with the clearance of the Sinai peninsula, and finally with the destruction of the Turkish armies in Palestine and Syria.

At last they could pursue the style of warfare for which they had been trained: on horseback. The First World War battlefields in the Middle East have long been overshadowed by those of Gallipoli and the Western Front.

Yet the story of the mounted riflemen in Sinai and Palestine is a truly fascinating one. Using the soldiers' original letters and diaries wherever possible, Kinloch vividly describes every battle and skirmish in the long campaign against the Turks: the crucial Battle of Romani, the defeats at Bir el Abd, Gaza and Amman, and the successes at Beersheba, Ayun Kara and elsewhere. He explains the reality of tactical operations in the harsh desert environment, the ever-present necessity of securing water for the precious horses and the remorseless tenacity of the enemy.

The horses play a major part in the story, but of the thousands of faithful animals involved, only one would ever return home after the war.

Devils on Horses is a gripping read that offers new information about a theatre of war that has been overlooked for decades. Based on original research, it is sure to be the standard reference work on New Zealand's Middle East campaign for years to come.


TK: DEVILS ON HORSES - HB

A selection of four award-winning historical TV dramas adapted from the works of best-selling authors Bryce Courtenay, Colleen McCullough, George Johnston and Max Fatchen.

Classic Australian Stories Collection 1 explores the rich texture of Australian life, society and the many challenging experiences that helped shape a nation.



CLASSIC AUSTRALIAN STORIES: COLLECTION ONE - JESSICA, MY BROTHER JACK, AN INDECENT OBSESSION, THE RIVER KINGS - DVD

ALSO AVAILABLE

CLASSIC AUSTRALIAN STORIES: COLLECTION 2 - A FORTUNATE LIFE, FOR THE TERM OF HIS NATURAL LIFE, ROBBERY UNDER ARMS, UNDER CAPRICORN - DVD

This comprehensive 13 part miniseries is based on the novel "Pages from a Squatter's Diary" by E.V. Timms, Luke's Kingdom is a dramatic exploration of early Australian settlement and the tremendous hardships that helped to shape the nation.

In 1829, following the tragic death of his wife, Jason Firbeck takes his three children from Yorkshire, England to Australia to begin a new life. Driven by the promise of land, his is a bold decision to travel such a long way with his family. But discovering his land to be already settled by other people, the family becomes stranded and dislocated, facing all manner of obstacles in order to survive in their challenging new country.

In the great tradition of landmark TV presentations such as Against The Wind and Kings in Grass Castles, featuring Helen Morse, Oliver Tobias, John Meillon, Gerard Maguire and Tony Barry, with episodes directed by the likes of Peter Weir and Ken Hannam, Luke's Kingdom illuminates the settler's experience and the squatter's plight with raw integrity and authenticity.


LUKE'S KINGDOM - TV MINI SERIES - DVD

Based on true, historical accounts, 'Against the Wind' covers 15 years of Australia's most brutal Colonial past.

It tells the story of 18 year-old Mary Mulvane, who, along with her defiant brother Micheal (Bryan Brown), challenges Sovereign law and must live with the consequences of her actions. Unfairly charged, Mary is sentenced to serve seven years as a convict, transported from Ireland to New South Wales in 1798.

Destined to overcome the misery of a repressed life, Mary's journey represents a grueling chapter of the Australian experience....Mary forges a heartfelt and lasting friendship with fellow convict Jonathan Garrett (Jon English) and is thrust into the precarious plight of convicts and settlers alike...Stunningly recounts Mary's epic journey, set against some of the most turbulent backdrops of Australian history including the Castle Hill Rebellion of 1804 and the 1808 Rum Rebellion.


AGAINST THE WIND - DVD

English girl Philadelphia Gordon (Sigrid Thorton) life is turned upside down when she is shipwrecked and orphaned off the coast of Victoria in 1890.

She spends most of her life around Echuca, on the Murray River and invests some of her inheritance in a paddle wheeled riverboat. Her life is forever changed when she meets frontier paddleboat captain Brenton Edwards, a cavalier river-man.

It is the beginning for Philadelphia of a remarkable ten years in her life. Her investment in the riverboat is, without her knowing it, the first step towards a turbulent marriage to a riverboat man and, indeed, to the boats who ply their great trade along the mighty, unpredictable and perilous river.

ALL THE RIVERS RUN 2 - TV MOVIE

With all the romance adventure and even more intrigue than its internationally successful predecessor All The Rivers Run II picks up the story of Delie and Brenton Edwards at the turn of the century at a moment when bad times have struck the once thriving riverboat trade.


ALL THE RIVERS RUN 1 & 2 - DVD BOX SET

An exquistely beautiful film shot on location amidst the vast expanse and unique scenery of Australia. At the turn of the century Australia was still a very young country in a land as old as time.

Few had ventured far from the growing cities and towns of the coast, into that vast heart of Australia - the great Outback.

We of the Never Never, adapted from an Australian classic novel, tells of Jeannie (Angela Punch-McGregor) and Aeneas Gunn (Arthur Dignam), a man and his bride who trek to a place where wives are seldom seen, and even less accepted. Enduring hardships and battling against sexist and racial prejudice of the Australian outback enviroment this extraordinary woman strives to win the friendship and respect of those about her.


WE OF THE NEVER NEVER - DVD

Based on Moore Raymond's 1945 novel, Smiley tells the lively tale of an imaginative young boy who lives in the small outback town of Murrumbilla.

Smiley is the quintessential Aussie larrikin lad on a mission and nothing or nobody is going to stand in his way. His father (Reg Lye) is often away droving cattle leaving overworked Mrs Greevins (Margaret Christensen) to regularly fret about her beloved little boy.

Determined to buy himself a brand new bicycle, Smiley takes up a number of odd jobs in an effort to save up enough money. Despite all best intentions, Smiley lands himself in all manner of mischief along the way, getting involved unwittingly in some decidedly shady shenanigans.

With a charismatic performance from Aussie icon Chips Rafferty as the venerable Sergeant Flaxman, Ralph Richardson and Charles 'Bud' Tingwell, full of light-hearted moments and innocent charm, Smiley is a classic Australian film that will delight audiences of all ages.


SMILEY - DVD

ALSO AVAILABLE

SMILEY GETS A GUN - DVD

Set in 1942, Sisters of War is inspired by the true story of two extraordinary Australian women: Lorna Whyte, an army nurse and Sister Berenice Twohill, a Roman Catholic nun.

Lorna and Sister Berenice and a small group of Australian nurses and nuns found themselves in the eye of the storm when Japanese military made them prisoners of war on the remote island of New Britain, part of Papua New Guinea.

Despite their differences, Lorna and Sister Berenice's friendship would survive the incredible events that followed. A never before told story adapted from wartime diaries and interviews with Lorna, Sister Berenice and other survivors.


SISTERS OF WAR - DVD