1982

S1.E1 ∙ Invasion

Sat, Oct 16, 1982

Professor Geoffrey Blainey challenges the conventional view of how and why Japan embarked on its campaign of conquest in the Pacific, which saw Australia facing the threat of Japanese invasion. During the First World War, Australia and Japan were allies. According to the history books, Japan started the Second World War in Asia, and Australia and the allied nations were the victors, so why was Australia unprepared and nearly taken by surprise?

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S1.E2 ∙ Whirlwind of Change

Sat, Oct 23, 1982

Professor Blainey looks at how the image of the miner has changed from hero to often villain in the Australian consciousness. In the days of the gold digger and small prospector, the miner was seen as a tamer of the wilderness. But now mining has become big business and our changing attitudes to the environment and foreign ownership of resources have prompted a much more critical view. Blainey believes mining is as important as it ever was, and that our progress should sometimes come at the expense of the environment. He also questions the place of honour we have given to the rebels of the Eureka Stockade.

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S1.E3 ∙ When Muscles Were King

Sat, Oct 30, 1982

One hundred years ago, Australians survived through sheer hard work - men and women spent their days in physical labour and had no need to worry about 'keeping fit'. Today, we spend too much of our time 'working' at leisure. We have more leisure time than work time and for most Australians, work does not involve physical effort. In our free time, we jog and ride bikes and sport has turned into work - professional sportsmen can outdo almost any worker in physical toil. Professor Blainey suggests that we have earned our leisure - if only we can learn how to enjoy it.

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S1.E4 ∙ Isolation

Sat, Nov 06, 1982

Australia's remoteness from the outside world has had a profound effect on our history. Four hundred years ago, ships and men were carried to our shores by the westerly wind. By chance, after thousands of years of isolation, the history of the country began. For many years, sailing ships were the settlers' only links with home, but modern technology has created a shrinking world. Yet our sense of isolation remains, and Geoffrey Blainey asks why Australians still feel that they live on a remote, barren island.

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S1.E5 ∙ It Seems Like Yesterday

Sat, Nov 20, 1982

The last 50 years have seen a profound change in the lives of ordinary Australians. Professor Blainey recalls a way of life that has gone - the world of his own childhood. The 1930s were the era of the steam train, the model T Ford and bustling country towns. In the space of a lifetime, all these have vanished. Blainey sets out to recapture this world and record the changes that have transformed our everyday lives. He recalls the days when a cyclist, not a cricketer, was our folk hero and the word 'teenager' did not exist.

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S1.E6 ∙ Yellow Dragon

Sat, Nov 27, 1982

The spectre of the 'yellow peril' has long haunted the Australian imagination. Geoffrey Blainey looks at how this unease has shaped our attitudes and policies toward China. One hundred years ago, there were more Chinese in Australia than any other race, except the British. They had come to take our gold and found competition, misunderstanding and intolerance. Blainey traces the influence of the Chinese in Australia and asks whether we have now turned a corner in our relations with China.

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S1.E7 ∙ The Great Depression

Sat, Dec 04, 1982

The 1920s in Australia were a bright and prosperous time for many. Perhaps more than in any other country in the world, the future seemed assured. But on 28 October 1929, the New York Stock Exchange crashed, and the whole world plunged into economic chaos. Geoffrey Blainey looks at how the people of Australia came through those hard times of the Great Depression, which spelt personal disaster for many, while others prospered and learned from the experience. According to Professor Blainey, solutions were possible then and still hold true today.

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S1.E8 ∙ British Twilight

Sat, Dec 11, 1982

To many people, the dismissal of the Whitlam regime showed that Australia was still close to Britain. Professor Blainey has a different view. He believes that the dramatic events of 11 November 1975, proved that Australia and Britain had already begun drifting apart and that it was a sign of how delicate our British links had become. He traces the major events which have marked our growing independence from the 'mother country' - such events as Gallipoli, the Bodyline bowling controversy, the first Royal Tour and Britain's decision to join the European Common Market.

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S1.E9 ∙ That Cocky Spirit

Sat, Dec 18, 1982

They came to Australia with a vision of independence and a desire for freedom. They were the cocky farmers, and they became one of the great Australian legends. The cockies were the small farmers, battlers who scratched a living from soil that had never been tilled before. The Ned Kelly gang were the sons of cocky farmers - Kelly's armour was made out of cocky's ploughs. The cocky's ingenuity and determination not to be beaten by a harsh and alien land gave Australia the ability to feed itself and, although the cocky farmer is now gone, Geoffrey Blainey believes the cocky spirit still survives in some surprising places.

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S1.E10 ∙ Footprints

Sat, Dec 25, 1982

Australia's history stretches back many thousands of years. In this final episode, Geoffrey Blainey travels to the wilderness of south-west Tasmania, where archaeologists have discovered evidence of a disparate people, living in the shadow of a glacier, at the peak of the ice age. When the seas cut off Tasmania, Aboriginal life entered a new phase, as they adapted to the art of surviving in a harsh and unforgiving land. But these tribes stood little chance against the arrival of Europeans with their technology and strength.

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