This lecture analyses the earliest Australian satirical program, The Mavis Bramston Show, and demonstrates the link between live revue theatre and television variety programs over a long period, focussing on June Salter, Barry Creyton and Garry McDonald. It presents an analysis of the work of Nick Tate and his interpretation of George Johnston's Davey in the landmark tv drama series, My Brother Jack. It explores the social realism of Marian and the contribution of the young Helen Morse to this important, transformative genre of television. This video-recorded Lecture is accompanied by a set of curated television clips from the tv programs under discussion, especially prepared for the Lecture at the National Film and Sound Archive.

Crack open the champagne. The return of Australian satirical drama to ABC television is cause for celebration. 'Utopia', an eight-part series that launched last week, is the real deal. It offers a high-energy lampooning of nation-building projects and the bureaucrats who run them. It is six years since Rob Sitch, Lachy Hulme, David James and Merrick Watts appeared together on the ABC, starring in that droll satire of parliamentary powerbrokers in Canberra, perfectly titled 'The Hollowmen'. 'Utopia' is not scathing political satire. It's light - but sharp and witty. The script is tight and the pace of action is rapid, with a variety of jokes threaded through an episode. Quick-changing scenes produce a comedy of errors in all parts of the fictional Nation Building Authority - with everyone embattled under the crushing weight of corporate rhetoric.

When Gerard Henderson took exception to the spoof Clarke and Dawe served up last week in the wake of the government's botched announcement of the proposed new national security telco regulations, he unwittingly pointed to a major problem: the death of satire in Australia. The episode in question is a gem. Clarke plays a 'Christian linguistics advisor', read 'spin doctor', proclaiming that the government has re-written the Ten Commandments so that they are more malleable in negotiations. He explains to Bryan that the Christians currently in government are studying the scriptures, with 1500 linguistics advisors to help them rewrite them for use as policies.