Night of the Ding Dong
Written byRalph Peterson
Date premiered1954
Original languageEnglish
Subjectinternational relations
Genrecomedy
SettingAdelaide

Night of the Ding-Dong is a 1954 stage play by Ralph Peterson. It was this second play, following The Square Ring. It is a comedy set in Adelaide just after the Crimean War about the locals fearing a Russian invasion. It is based on a real incident.[1]

Plot

In 19th century Adelaide, after the Crimean War, Colonial Administrator Colonel Beauchamp, trains a volunteer defence corps at the weekends, and worries about a Russian invasion. Idealistic schoolteacher Higsen, who is in love with Beauchamp's daughter, is more concerned with free education. Higsen asks Beauchamp to marry the latter's daughter but is turned down because education must give way to defence. When a Russian gunboat is rumoured to be near Adelaide, Beauchamp sets about whipping up the public into a frenzy in order to fund a standing army.

1958 British TV adaptation

Night of the Ding-Dong
Directed byJohn Nelson Burton
Written byPeter John Dyer
John Nelson-Burton
Based onplay by Ralph Peterson
Distributed byITV
Release date
1958
Running time
60 mins
CountryUK
LanguageEnglish

The play was adapted for British TV in 1958 as part of Armchair Theatre.

Cast

Reception

Variety said "What started out as an apparently serious and thought-provoking aplay quickly developed into rather pointless farce."[2]

1961 Australian TV adaptation

Night of the Ding Dong
File:Cast photo from Night of the Ding Donh.png
Anne Charleston, David Mitchell
The Age 27 Apr 1961
Genrecomedy
Based onplay by Ralph Peterson
Written byJeff Underhill
Directed byWilliam Sterling
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
Production
Running time60 mins or 45 mins[3]
Production companyABC
Original release
NetworkABC
Release3 May 1961 (Melbourne, live)
12 July 1961 (Sydney,

The play was filmed for Australian TV. It originally aired 3 May 1961 on ABC's Melbourne station, and was recorded for showing on other ABC stations. The original broadcast was live.[4]

Filmink magazine said the concept sounded "like the 1966 film The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!."[5]

Cast

File:Night of Ding Dong poster 3 May 1961, Page 6 - The Age at Newspapers com.png
Poster The Age 3 May 1961

Production

It was the TV debut for Ann Charleston.[6]

The play was also adapted for radio on the ABC in 1961.[7]

Reception

The critic from the Sydney Morning Herald thought that "uniform competence in acting could not-altogether suggest the whimsy inherent in" the play.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ "THE RUSSIAN SQUADRON IN AUSTRALIAN WATERS". Illustrated Australian News. No. 314. Victoria, Australia. 25 January 1882. p. 5. Retrieved 18 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ Review of 1958 British TV version at Variety
  3. ^ "TV Guide". Sydney Morning Herald. 10 July 1961. p. 14.
  4. ^ "TV Guide". The Age. 27 April 1961.
  5. ^ Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
  6. ^ "Scare Background to "Live" Comedy". The Age. 27 April 1961. p. 14.
  7. ^ "Advertising". The Canberra Times. Vol. 36, , no. 10, 044. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 14 October 1961. p. 17. Retrieved 11 September 2020 – via National Library of Australia.((cite news)): CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  8. ^ "Satirical Play on TV". Sydney Morning Herald. 13 July 1961. p. 6.

External links


TV productions of William Sterling
Categories