Mr Anthony Howes, an award winning director and theatre educationist, has kindly shared his sentiments with us regarding the passing of Edgar Melcalfe, which gives one the opportunity to dwell further on the theatre scene in Perth, from when the Repertory Club evolved into a professional company with the building of the Playhouse Theatre, and the tremendous role Mr Metcalfe played. Mr Howes is the Artistic Director Emeritus, of The Midnite Theatre Company, and now heads the St George’s Cathedral Drama Unit, which is responsible for productions within St George’s and in other venues. Prior...

Prominent Perth theatre actor, director and author, Edgar Metcalfe AM has died after a short fight with liver cancer, five days short of his 79th birthday. 
Edgar Metcalfe 
 Edgar had been directing, producing and treading the boards of various Perth theatres for many years. He came from England in 1963 to be artistic director of the National Theatre of Western Australia at the Perth Playhouse Theatre, having already gained twelve years experience in the English repertory system. He came to Australia because he ‘thought the climate would be better for his asthma’....

A Tribute to Alan Bateman (1936-2012) Many who knew Alan Bateman, the creator of the long-running drama series “Home and Away”, will be saddened to learn that he passed away peacefully in the early hours of Saturday morning, 18th August 2012, after a battle with cancer.    Alan Bateman Alan will be remembered for his program making and executive roles with all Australian television networks (ABC, Seven, Nine and TEN). Christened William Alan Bateman, but going by the name Alan to prevent confusion with his father William Glyde Bateman, he was educated at Applecross...

Perth science-teacher-turned-history-author and founder of the Light and Sound Discovery Centre, Richard Rennie, tells the early story of how Perth’s radio station 6WF became the ABC’s first broadcasting outlet in Western Australia. Richard’s talk, which has been presented at a number of venues, is now a video that can be viewed online, and embedded within this article. Richard Rennie at his AMMPT Presentation on Wednesday 18th July, 2012 Much of his presentation is based on the scrapbook kept by the esteemed radio pioneer and 6WF founding engineer,...

The Australian Broadcasting Commission The Australian Broadcasting Company was disappointed with the revenue derived from licences and decided not to seek a renewal of the contract for the provision of programs over the National Service. The Government prepared legislation for an Australian version of the British Broadcasting Corporation. On 17 May 1932, the necessary legislation was enacted and on 1 July 1932 the Australian Broadcasting Company’s twelve stations were taken over by the Australian Broadcasting Commission. The 6WF transmitter was relocated to Wanneroo (now called Hamersley)...

The ABC seeks better accommodation The ABC studios and 6WF moved again in 1937 to The Returned Soldiers’ Institute, also known as the Stirling Institute on St George’s Terrace, behind the Department of Agriculture and located in what was once the State’s only botanical gardens, Stirling Gardens, west of the Government House Ballroom and north of the Supreme Court buildings. The building was erected 21 years earlier and became the headquarters of the WA Branch of the Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial League of Australia (RSL) in 1918. RSL (WA) Annual State Conference,...

Published on behalf of the Australian Museum of Motion Picture and Television (AMMPT). Next Wednesday July 18th is the AMMPT member’s meeting night at the RSL hall in Bentley. As previously promoted at http://watvhistory.com/2012/05/classics-of-the-silver-screen/ the main event for the evening will be a presentation by Education/Exhibition officer, Richard Rennie on the history of local ABC radio station, 6WF, or 720AM as it is now known, This will be followed by the usual refreshments then screening of a couple of interesting short films from the Museum’s 16mm library. Visitors with...

Going by overseas trends, particularly in the United States, newspaper profitability has been on the decline and it was only a matter of time before the impact was felt in Australia. Now much of Australia’s media industry is struggling to adjust to a weak advertising market and a shift of consumers to digital products. Despite this, the world’s richest woman Gina Rinehart is buying into Fairfax Media, where she is now the biggest shareholder with an 18.7 per cent stake and has demanded up to three board seats. Fairfax publishes the Sydney Morning Herald and the Melbourne Age. ...

Apollo 11 Lunar Module pilot Buzz Aldrin visited Carnarvon, Western Australia from June 22nd to 23rd, 2012 for a two-day program called “To the Moon and Back Festival” where he officially opened the Carnarvon Space and Technology Museum. Dr Buzz Aldrin was handed the key to the town by Carnarvon shire president Karl Brandenburg and met many members of the community and visitors. He answered questions from school children, with about 500 students turning up to meet him. Tourism Minister Kim Hames said Dr Aldrin’s visit was an honour for the town and museum. Buzz in Carnarvon ...

Dirty Dick’s Elizabethan Bawdy Banquets An opportunity exists to relive the days of Dirty Dick’s bawdy Elizabethan restaurants, established in Perth by Frank Baden-Powell and Coralie Condon in Cambridge Street, Wembley, back in May 1970. Dirty Dick’s Theatre Restaurant WA TV History It was bawdy, raucous, medieval mayhem and it took Perth by storm. An old english feast and a live stage show rolled up in one. Created more than 40 years ago by Perth stage and television pioneers Coralie Condon and Frank Baden Powell, Dirty Dick’s was a theatre restaurant...