The Flying Doctors is an Australian television medical drama first broadcast on 26 May 1986 on the Nine Network. The series was produced by Crawford Productions. Set in the fictitious outback town Coopers Crossing, the show revolves around the everyday lifesaving efforts of the Royal Flying Doctor Service, starring Andrew McFarlane as Dr. Tom Callaghan, Liz Burch as Dr. Chris Randall, Lenore Smith as Nurse Kate Wellings, and Robert Grubb as Dr. Geoff Standish. The series' episodes were mostly self-contained medical dramas, but also explored social issues, such as domestic violence, alcohol abuse, and the struggles faced by Indigenous Australians.
The series is based on a three-part miniseries that aired in April 1985. It originally ran for over seven years. Several early online episode listings split the 221 episodes into six seasons, however the National Film and Sound Archive confirms nine. Crawford Productions have released the show in DVD and on streaming in ten seasons (including the 13 episodes of the 1992 spin-off R.F.D.S.).
Contents
History
The Flying Doctors started out with a three-part miniseries broadcast on the Nine Network on 29 April 1985. It starred Andrew McFarlane as Dr. Tom Callaghan and Lorna Patterson as Liz Drever. Following the success of the miniseries, discussions between Crawford Productions and the Nine Network began about creating "an extended series". A 26-hour series was soon commissioned. It was a co-production between Nine and Regional Television Australia, a first in Australian television, because of high production costs. Production on the first series began in August 1985 and finished in September 1986. The show was filmed in studios in Port Melbourne and on location in Minyip, which stands in for the fictional town of Coopers Crossing. All the episodes were shot on film. Several cast members from the miniseries returned, including McFarlane, Lenore Smith, Maurie Fields, Val Jellay, Max Cullen, Gil Tucker and Mark Little. New cast members included Liz Burch as Dr. Chris Randall, Lewis Fitz-Gerald as pilot David Gibson, and Kylie Belling as Sharon Herbert.
Other filming locations included: Nulla Station, New South Wales, Cranbourne (Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne), Pearcedale, Broken Hill, Lancefield, Victoria, and RAAF Base Point Cook.
Cast and characters
Main cast members
The following characters are credited as "starring" in the opening credits:
Andrew McFarlane as Tom Callaghan (series 1, 5–7, episodes 1–16, 113–156; guest series 9, episode 201)
A young doctor who takes over the R.F.D.S base in Coopers Crossing after proving himself to its original boss, Harry Sinclair. Tom leaves the show after 16 episodes, to volunteer for World Vision in Africa. He returns midway through series five, before leaving again early into series seven, although he remained in the opening credits for the rest of the year. Tom makes a final appearance in series nine, when there is a town celebration in Coopers Crossing.
Liz Burch as Chris Randall (series 1–6, episodes 1–146; guest series 9, episode 201)
A doctor who accompanies Tom Callaghan to run the R.F.D.S base in Cooper Crossing. When Tom leaves for Africa, she decides to stay in Coopers Crossing, remaining until the end of series six, when she moves to Melbourne to take care of her sick father. She returns in series nine for the town celebration, and falls in love with Tom Callaghan again, deciding to join him in Africa.
Robert Grubb as Geoff Standish (series 1–9, episodes 17–221)
The doctor who takes over the R.F.D.S base from Tom Callaghan. Geoff is one of the longest-running characters in the series, and stayed until its finale. His relationship with Nurse Kate Wellings was a key storyline, they share a daughter by the end of the series.
Lenore Smith as Nurse Kate Wellings Standish (series 2–9, episodes 27–221; supporting series 1, episodes 1–26)
Nurse and the only medical staff who stayed through the entire show, as a supporting cast member in the miniseries and first series, before joining the main cast from series two. She eventually begins a romance with Dr. Standish.
Call signs
One prominent feature in the show is the communication between the aircraft and the base station in Cooper's Crossing. Their designations are spelled out using the International Civil Aviation/ICAO phonetic alphabet.
MSF, or Mike Sierra Foxtrot, is the aircraft, a GAF Nomad carrying registration VH-MSF (This was the Registration assigned to the GAF N24B at the time of the Certificate of Airworthiness was issued by the Civil Aviation Authority, Previously Dept. of Civil Aviation/DCA, now Civil Aviation Safety Authority/CASA. The Registration was not picked because of Doctors Without Borders French Name.
Cooper’s Crossing RFDS Base’s VCC/“Victor Charlie Charlie” call sign is issued by the Communications Authority for all Citizen’s Band/CB and usually Amateur Radio/HAM & UHF radio operators licences. All properties in country/outback are equipped with these types of radios for communication.
R.F.D.S.
By 1993, the ratings were in decline, and few original characters remained in the much-changed cast. The show was then revamped under the title R.F.D.S. (working title: The New Flying Doctors), and its setting was changed to Broken Hill. The only original cast members that were retained in the show were supporting cast members Maurie Fields and Val Jellay as Vic and Nancy Buckley, along with Sophie Lee as Penny Wellings. The storyline had the Buckleys move from Cooper's Crossing pub to Broken Hill.
The spin-off aired on the Nine Network from 21 January 1993 to 4 February 1994. It lasted just one season in this new incarnation.
Australian pay-TV channel Fox Classics secured the rights to the program from 3 July 2006. Streaming services include the spin-off as the tenth season of The Flying Doctors.
The show is not to be confused with the series RFDS, which shares the same premise but was produced by Endemol Shine Australia and aired on Seven Network from 2021.
Cast and characters
Steve Jacobs as Dr. Jim Solomon
Belinda Davey as Laura Regan, Jim's wife, magistrate and coroner
Lewis Fitz-Gerald as Dr. Sebert Blitho
Elaine Smith as Dr. Sissy Wetherall
Peter Phelps as Sr. Dennis Taylor
Maurie Fields as Vic Buckley
Val Jellay as Nancy Buckley
Simone Buchanan as Rebecca Owens
Lydia Miller as Leanne Cassidy, radio operator
Kevin J. Wilson as Ted Eastman, pilot
Sophie Lee as Penny Wellings
Justin Connor as Rollerblades
Simon Grey as Jesse Solomon, Jim's son
Marieke Hardy as Zoe Solomon, Laura's daughter
Broadcast history
The Flying Doctors was successfully broadcast in the UK. The original 1985 3-part mini-series was aired three times on Channel 4; first in 1985, a repeat the following year from 30 May 1986 at 10:25. A third repeat aired in 1988.
The ongoing series then broadcast on BBC One. The series initially aired on Fridays at 20:10 from 1 July 1988. On 20 August 1988, the series was moved to a Saturday early evening slot at around 17:15 where it gained a loyal audience of about 6 to 8 million viewers, until 24 August 1991. During the summer of 1992, episodes were repeated Monday to Friday at 11:05, around 8 weeks worth. From September 1992, the series settled into a new regular Friday afternoon slot, usually at around 14:30. The BBC completed Series 8 in December 1994 before repeating series 6 and 7 in 1995. The BBC concluded the Series 9 on 18 April 1996 but then continued to air repeats in various slots until January 1997.
The Flying Doctors was also broadcast on the satellite and cable channel UK Gold. The channel repeated all 221 episodes weekdays at 15:00 from 1998.
The Flying Doctors briefly returned to free to air when WIN Television, parent company of Crawford Productions commenced reruns of the program on 17 August 2007 at midday week day afternoons.
The series was also aired in some parts of Europe and was particularly popular in the Netherlands where it aired on VARA at 8pm on Saturday nights from 1987 to 1993. The series aired in Ireland on RTÉ One from 1988 to 1996.
The series aired in Germany in the early 90s on state broadcaster ZDF.
The series aired originally in Sweden and has been re-broadcast on TV4 Guld in 2017 with back to back episodes on weekdays.
The show also aired in New Zealand on TVNZ, where the entire series was shown in primetime, and was very popular.
Home media
The Flying Doctors was made available to purchase in Australia. All 221 episodes plus the 13 spinoff-episodes are on a 51 disc set, complete with cast interviews, episode synopses and stills gallery. In region 2, Mediumrare Entertainment have released all nine seasons of The Flying Doctors including the miniseries also called The Flying Doctors in region 2.