Motel (TV series)
Motel is an Australian television soap opera produced by the Seven Network's ATN-7 studios from 1968 to 1969 It was created by Richard Lane
| Motel | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Serial | 
| Created by | Richard Lane | 
| Written by | Creswick Jenkinson | 
| Starring | Tony Bazell Jill Forster Noel Trevarthen Enid Lorimer  | 
| Country of origin | Australia | 
| Original language | English | 
| No. of episodes | 135 | 
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes (4 times weekly) | 
| Release | |
| Original network | ATN-7 | 
| Original release | 27 May 1968 – 1969  | 
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | The Story of Peter Grey | 
| Related shows | Similar elements to British serial Crossroads | 
Synopsis
    
 
Motel, like British serial Crossroads dealt with a family who ran a motel. In this case the Gillian family running the fictional Greenfields Motel.
Production
    
 
The series had a cast of thirteen regulars and required three days in the studio each week. Each episode was thirty minutes and the program screened at midday four days a week, with the episode repeated late at night. The show was shot in black-and-white. It had a run of 135 episodes. Writers included Creswick Jenkinson. [1]
Selected cast
    
- Tony Bazell - Mark Jefferies
 - Ross Higgins - Reverend Larcombe
 - Jill Forster - Gaye Gillian
 - Brian James - Paul Drennan
 - Enid Lorimer - Bunty Creighton
 - Gregory Ross - Chris Gillian
 - Jack Thompson - Bill Burke
 - Noel Trevarthen - Rod Gillian
 
Reception
    
 
According to creator Richard Lane, who also worked on the series as a writer, the series was very successful as a day time program, which was how it was conceived. But when Channel Seven management "became over enthusiastic and repeated it at nighttime it was a disaster."[2]
Notes
    
- Moran, Albert. Moran's Guide to Australian TV Series, Allen & Unwin, 1993. ISBN 0-642-18462-3 p 299
 - Lane, Richard (2000). The Golden Age of Australian Radio Drama Volume 2. National Film and Sound Archive. p. 102.