The Rovers (TV series)

The Rovers was an Australian ocean-based family adventure television show originally screened from 21 August 1969 until 12 June 1970 and was broadcast on the 0-Ten network, the precursor of Network Ten

The Rovers
Created by	Roger Mirams
Starring	Rowena Wallace Edward Hepple Noel Trevarthen Grant Seiden
Theme music composer	Tommy Leonetti music Barry Crocker Peter Flanagan Lyrics
Country of origin	Australia
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	39
Production
Executive producer	Bill Harmon
Producer	Don Cash
Running time	30 minutes per episode
Original release
Network	The 0-10 Network
Release	21 August 1969 (1969-08-21) – 12 June 1970 (1970-06-12)

Synopsis

Produced by NLT Productions, executive producer was Bill Harmon and producer Don Cash, who would become famous for creating Number 96. The series was created by Roger Mirams and starred Rowena Wallace, Edward Hepple, Noel Trevarthen and child actor Grant Seiden.

The storylines revolve around the adventures of the crew of the "Pacific Lady", an island schooner owned by Captain Sam McGill (or "Cap" for short), played by Hepple, Bob Wild (a freelance photographer) played by Trevarthen and Rusty Collins (a wildlife journalist), played by Wallace.

Thirty-nine episodes of 30 minutes each were produced on colour film, with an eye to distributing in overseas markets the way Skippy the Bush Kangaroo was. Writers included Kenneth Cook, Michael Latimer, Ron McLean, Michael Wright, Ralph Peterson and Rosamund Waring.

Ron Randell, who was in Australia performing in stage plays at the time, guest-starred in some episodes.^[1]

Cast

Main

• Rowena Wallace as Rusty Collins
• Edward Hepple as Captain Sam McGill
• Noel Trevarthen as Bob Wild
• Grant Seiden

Guests

• Ben Gabriel as Horace Soames (1 episode)
• Benita Collings as Margaret Walsh
• Brian Moll as Dr Wright
• Dawn Lake as Dawn Tobin / Mrs. Drury
• Jack Thompson as Kenneth Baker / Bill (2 episodes)
• Jeanie Drynan as Ann Fraser (1 episode)
• John Meillon as Bruce Hunter (1 episode)
• Kat Loader as Constanow / Tony / Fisherman
• Kerry McGuire as Dorrie (1 episode)
• Les Foxcroft as Neighbour / Smayell (2 episodes)
• Lex Marinos as Roberto Servijano (1 episode)
• Lionel Long as Police Sergeant (1 episode)
• Mark McManus as Jack Webster (1 episode)
• Peter Whitford as Rogers (1 episode)
• Reg Gorman as Policeman (1 episode)
• Ron Randell
• Slim De Grey as Terry Claffey
• Stewart Ginn as Ocker / Harris (2 episodes)
• Tony Hughes
• Vincent Gil as Biker / Bert

Production

A number of episodes were written by Ron McLean^[2] and Michael Wright.^[3]