HeadLand

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The correct title of this article is headLand. The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions.
headLand
Headland title screen
Genre Drama
Creator(s) Bevan Lee
Starring See Cast below
Country of origin Australia
No. of episodes 52
Production
Running time approx. 0:42 per episode (plus commercials)
Broadcast
Original channel Seven Network
Original run 15 November 2005 – 21 January 2006
Links
IMDb profile

headLand was an Australian drama television series produced by the Seven Network set in a university. The Seven Network filmed 52 episodes in the first series. Production on the second series had begun before any episodes were aired.

headLand premiered in Australia on Tuesday, 15 November 2005 at 7.30pm. After a brief period of airing as two, and then three, one-hour episodes a week in the 7.30pm slot the show suffered a ratings slump. The series was eventually moved into the Monday to Thursday 7.00pm slot vacated by Home and Away when it went into summer hiatus during the non-ratings period. However the new timeslot saw even lower ratings for the series.

On 23 January 2006, the Seven Network officially announced that the series has been cancelled.[1]

The show aired on weekdays at 7.30pm in the United Kingdom on E4. As is the norm with many Australian serials produced in the hour-long format, the series was re-formatted to half hour episodes for UK transmission. Previously A Country Practice, GP, E Street, and in the London area Blue Heelers were shown in the same format. E4 eventually dropped the show but episodes continued to be broadcast on Channel 4 at 12:30pm, this time in the original hour long format.

Contents

[edit] Development

The genesis of the show began around 2002 when the Seven Network's script executive, Bevan Lee, was asked to create a Home and Away spin off with the hope of attracting the UK broadcaster Five (who air Home and Away) as a co-producer. He created a show called Away From Home that told the story of Home and Away characters at the Yabbie Creek University. Five were not interested for various reasons, and a big reworking of the original concept was undertaken and the show was renamed Campus, and later Ten Degrees South - a title eventually rejected due to a possible confusion with UK series 55 Degrees North.

In early 2005, the show's title was finalised as headLand and filming began with the series earmarked for a July premiere. However, with the pilot reportedly failing initial audience test screenings [2], some major changes were made and the pilot was reshot. This and other minor production delays pushed the airdate to much later that year.

[edit] Filming locations

The show's exterior scenes were filmed on location in Austinmer, a suburb north of Wollongong. A disused psychiatric hospital at the Sydney College of Arts, Rozelle and the University of Wollongong, doubled as the fictional South Coast University. Studio scenes are filmed at White Bay Studios in Sydney, making it the first Seven Network Sydney drama not to be filmed at the ATN-7 studios in Epping.

[edit] Australian broadcast

headLand was originally scheduled to screen at 7:30pm on Tuesday and Thursday nights throughout the summer, continuing into 2006. However, after a strong debut, the show quickly suffered a large slump in the ratings. With Home and Away on summer hiatus, the show was shifted to the earlier 7pm slot and broadcast on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in hope of building up more interest in the show during the non-ratings period. However, ratings failed to pick up and the show even suffered its lowest viewership during the period.

Because of this, on 1 December 2005, Seven announced to industry insiders that headLand would be removed from the schedule after Thursday, 22 December. A day later they reversed their decision, but a little over a week later rumours started surfacing that headLand would be removed from prime time as early as Monday, 12 December. This was confirmed to be just a rumour, as Seven announced headLand would remain in its current timeslot until 12 January 2006. Beginning January 16, 2006, headLand was removed from its Monday-Thursday 7.00pm slot due to the return of Home and Away and the airing of the Australian Open Tennis Tournament. Further episodes of headLand were aired in a Saturday timeslot until the start of the 2006 Australian television ratings season. Production of new episodes has ceased, yet there remains a significant stockpile of as yet unaired episodes.

[edit] Cast

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • [3] Idato, Michael (January 24, 2006) "Seven's axe fells new TV drama". The Sydney Morning Herald.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../h/e/a/HeadLand_ca59.html"