EXCLUSIVE:
According to the history books, renowned writer Ken Shadie wrote the famed “bomb” episode of Number 96.
A 1975 cliffhanger storyline, in which key characters perished in an apartment block bomb (years before Melrose Place visited the same storyline), shocked viewers nearly as much as the nudity and bed-hopping it was famous for.
The idea to supplant a bomb in the building came from creator David Sale when producer Bill Harmon was looking to hurriedly refresh the cast after a dip in ratings. That meant scripts had to be frantically rewritten.
Following the show’s 50th anniversary, veteran writer Derek Strahan explains, the original credits remained intact, despite him completely reworking the script by Ken Shadie.
“They prepare the credits a long way in advance,” he tells TV Tonight.
“A whole lot of rewriting had to be done in the two weeks leading up to the bomb. I was one of several writers who were called into the (production company) Cash Harmon office to rewrite scenes. We were given synopses of scenes, and we hurriedly rewrote them and they were rushed off to be included in the final script for the actors to learn.
“You couldn’t give credit to the individual writers for writing just a few scenes in the episode so the original credits were left there, which is how Ken Shadie’s credit appeared on the actual bomb episode.
“But they handed it to me to write. and I have to say, it was an extraordinary experience because it was less like writing an episode for a TV show than writing an action movie script. I did write dialogue, but it was mostly plotting shots of the time running out and Les Whittaker (Gordon McDougall) rushing down the stairs and yelling at people, warning them.”
The sequence boldly introduced a split screen effect with a ticking clock and Les Whittaker frantically trying to evacuate the building… to little success.
Alas, perishing in the explosion were Whittaker, Aldo and Roma Godolfus (Johnny Lockwood / Philippa Baker), and Miles Cooper (Scott Lambert), amongst other casualties.
Asked how much of Shadie’s original script remained, Strahan notes, “Probably nothing, because the whole fortnight had to be readjusted and rewritten.
“There were about five different writers who were on 12 month contracts with Cash Harmon and every five weeks, we’d get five episodes to write. So all of those were credited to the writer for that week.
“About three episodes before the bomb went off, it bore no resemblance to to the actual scripts that were originally written by Ken for that week.
“Ken would have been one of the writers coming in to change everything, writing new stuff… I did write that actual episode, but it doesn’t bother me Ken was credited.”
In addition to The Mavis Bramston Show and The Paul Hogan Show, the late Shadie’s other stellar credit was Crocodile Dundee -still the highest-grossing Australian film of all time.
“I admired Ken Shadie greatly. He’s a great writer and so were the others on the team. I was privileged to be on that team for five years doing that show.
“The great joy about writing for Number 96 is that basically it was a comedy. I mean, of course, we had naughty bits, but they were quite short scenes to shock the audience and to get ratings. But the basis was comedy.”