Veteran TVW staffers will be aware of former News Editor and General Manager Darcy Farrell’s propensity for exercise. Richard Ashton recalls that on returning to the studios following newsworthy events, Darcy would leap out of the news vehicle at Dog Swamp and run all the way up the Flinders Street hill, and down Cobham Avenue to the Newsroom. Gordon McColl recalls Darcy regularly putting on his running shoes after work, to jog the distance from Tuart Hill to his home in Nedlands. Darcy has run most of the Channel 9 City to Surf events, including 2008, and has competed in numerous full marathons...

  ALF BINKS  (TVW 1959-1983) 1959  Alf joined TVW Limited as an assistant to the Company Secretary.  He was an advanced accountancy student in those days before calculators and computers and come from a background in accounting and commerce. His first task was to set up a new accounting system for the television station.  He was responsible for designing management systems and stetting up the accounting functions of the company.  1962  Having qualified as an accountant early in 1962 he was appointed to the position of Company Accountant.  He introduced computerisation to the company...

  Max Bostock – (TVW 1960-1981) Max became a professional musician at the age of 15 in 1942. He played Piano and Vibes in many nightclubs, and in the late 1940’s created the big stage band that became well known on radio and stage shows in the major ballrooms in Melbourne and Sydney.  In the early 50’s he did a weekly national program on radio 3DB called ‘The Happy Gang’. At the commencement of television in 1956, He did musical arrangements for many stage performers, and TV shows, including the LATE, LATE SHOW with Bert Newton on HSV7, and later for GTV9’s IN MELBOURNE TONIGHT...

TVW Foundation Company Secretary Frank Moss – (TVW 1959-1978) After five and a half years in the R.A.A.F. as a signals officer, Frank Moss did a Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme course in accountancy and cost accountancy. Then followed eight years as factory manager and company director of David Gray and Co. ▪ 1939 Royal Australian Air Force – Pilot Officer Signals ▪ 1950 Assistant Secretary The Western Australian Chamber of Manufacturers ▪ 1952 Secretary Director of David Gray & Co. Limited He was appointed secretary of TVW in January of 1959, and soon after became...

Bob Finkle: TVW 1967 – 1979     Bob Finkle started in the WA Television Industry at STW 9 on April 5 1965 at the early age of (not quite) 16 years. Originally employed as a trainee technician, mainly in audio, he chose every opportunity to play with a studio camera until management couldn’t help but notice and offered him the chance to transfer from Engineering to Production Department as junior cameraman. Bob remained as cameraman and Floor Manager at STW 9 until May 1967 when he moved up the road to TVW 7. As a relative newcomer and still younger than the other...

Max Bostock described TVW as a family, with many people working as a close knit group coordinating the many facits of production. There were no one man bands, and often up to half a dozen people at a time were dedicated to promotional projects. At it’s most grandest, the Miss Universe Quest, which was part of the crowning glory of the 150th anniversary of Western Australia. To achieve all this, Max established a department to undertake these tasks. Max Bostock TVW Special Projects Department By Richard Ashton Channel 7 in 1972 put together a department called Special Projects, later to...

Veteran cine cameraman Peter Goodall demonstrates a range of early cameras from an era when film was the prime visual source of television news coverage. As videotape equipment and electronic cameras became smaller, film was displaced by the new medium, which required no processing. The early 16mm black and white film was shot on reversal stock, which meant that the film shot by the camera was developed using a variety of chemical tanks to produce a direct positive image. That same film would then be edited and finally taken to telecine, where the moving image was projected onto an electronic camera...

FORMER TVW TECHNICIAN who became the SEVEN NETWORK – HEAD OF DRAMA Alan Bateman was a technician at TVW during the early years. He can be seen here wiring up technical power points in the TVW maintenance area. Alan was appointed Technical Director of the 1962 Commonwealth and Empire Games at Perry Lakes Stadium. He later joined the Southampton Southern TV, and on his return to Perth joined the ABC and married former TVW children’s hostess Judy Lee, who by now was a presenter on ABW Channel 2. Judy Lee Alan Bateman moved into the production field, working his way up the ranks to became...

Gregory Byrne was part of TVW’s successful management team, being with the company for 32 years Greg commenced just after the station opened and was there from May 1960 until July 1992. For most of the time he was Sales Manager, and then in the top role of Managing Director from 1988 to 1992, before retiring. One little known aspect, is that Jim Cruthers referred to Greg as “Fat Cat’s Dad !” Greg and his wife Judith created Fat Cat. Judith made the concept drawing of a large head, which was cast in fibre glass in the workshop, and which soon became the lovable children’s...