A Thousand Skies

For the album, see A Thousand Skies (album).

A Thousand Skies is a 1985 Australian mini series about the life of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith.

A Thousand Skies
Genre	mini-series
Written by	David Stevens
Directed by	David Stevens
Starring	John Walton Andrew Clarke Joss McWilliam
Country of origin	Australia
Original language	English
No. of episodes	3
Production
Producers	Ross Dimsey Robert Ginn
Camera setup	David Eggby
Running time	3 x 2 hours
Original release
Network	Seven Network
Release	9 October (1985-10-09) – 23 October 1985 (1985-10-23)

It was based on the novel The Empty Sky by Tasman Beattie and was partly financed by Film Victoria. The budget was $4.5 million.^[1]

Film Victoria invested $120,000 in script development and $400,000 to the production.^[2]

Writer-director David Stevens was best known for directing the mini series of A Town Like Alice. When offered the film he was reluctant to make it until he read The Empty Sky and he became intrigued by the character of Keith Anderson.^[3]

Stevens said "It is about the nature of greatness and the nature of friendship. It is also a love story - an eternal triangle between three men." The series was shot at 144 different locations. The only sets built were the planes which cost $500,000.^[4]

Cast

• John Walton as Charles Kingsford Smith
• Andrew Clarke as Charles Ulm
• Joss McWilliam as Keith Anderson
• Jane Menelaus as Thelma McKenna
• Geoff Parry as Bob Hitchcock
• Celine O'Leary as Mary Powell-Kingsford Smith
• Helen Jones as Bon Hilliard
• Phyllis Burford as Kate Kingsford Smith
• Richard Hutson as William Kingsford Smith
• Judith Massey as Mrs. Hilliard
• Paul Karo as English director
• Harold Baigent as Swampy Dawkins
• Nick Holland as Bert Day
• Hardy Stow as Harry Lyon
• David Arnett as Jim Warner
• Denzil Howson as Mr. Hilliard
• Alan Fletcher as John Stannage
• David Frezza as Announcer in San Francisco
• Reg Gorman as Joe the Fireman
• Tim Robertson as Jack Lang
• Alex Menglet as Antony Fokker
• Mark Mitchell as Hotel Receptionist in San Francisco

Reception

The Age called it "emotionally unvinvolving" but said "the series is well worth pursuing."^[5]

Another reviewer from the same paper called it "television excellence".^[6]

The series rated in the low twenties, which was relatively disappointing.^[7]