Est: 2016
A Country Practice is an Australian television soap opera which ran from 18 November 1981 to 5 November 1994 on the Seven Network, airing at 7:30 pm on Monday and Tuesday evenings. Altogether, 1,058 episodes were produced. The show was produced at ATN-7's production facility at Epping, New South Wales, with exterior locations filmed in Pitt Town and in Oakville, suburbs which lie in the outskirts of Northwest Sydney, Australia.
After the series was cancelled by the Seven Network in 1993, a reworked version of the series ran briefly on Network Ten in 1994. At the time of its cancellation, A Country Practice was the longest-running Australian TV drama; however, by the late 1990s, that record was surpassed by Network Ten series Neighbours. At the height of its popularity, the show attracted 8–10 million Australian viewers weekly (at a time when the population of Australia was a mere 15 million).
The cast in pantomime...
Lorrae Desmond - Shirley Gilroy
1956/57 Cinderella - New Regal Cinema, Gloucester / Rialto Theatre York
1957/58 Cinderella - The Globe, Stockton
1958/59 Cinderella - Grand Theatre, Leeds
1959/60 Jack and the Beanstalk - Liverpool Empire
Lorrae passed away 23rd May 2021 aged 91
Shane Porteous - Terence Elliott
1970 Dick Whittington - Parade Theatre, Kensington, NSW (Australia)
Brian Wenzel (Frank Gilroy) is also known to have appeared in pantomimes but we sadly do not have any details.
Other actors who appeared in the series in smaller roles and also appeared in panto include Beth Buchanan (multiple ACP roles), Tom Oliver (Multiple ACP roles), Maggie Dence (Multiple ACP roles), Rebekah Elmaloglou (Christina Agapitos), Ray Meagher (Multiple ACP roles), Terence Donovan (Multiple ACP roles), Shane Connor (Multiple ACP roles), Justine Clarke (Nicki Simpson), Jackie Woodburne (Multiple ACP roles), Debra Lawrence (Multiple ACP roles), Judy Nunn (Nancy Brewer), Julie Mullins (Cathy Hatfield), John Adam (Rick Morrison), Vanessa Downing (Fiona Farrell), Roger Oakley (Multiple ACP roles), Frank Lloyd (Multiple roles, Rona Coleman (Anita Novak) and Maggie Millar (Sister Evelyn)
Enjoy the theme tune to A Country Practice here
A Country Practice 1988 Opening titles
A Country Practice on DVD
A Country Practice Collection One
Released 17th March 2021 by Via Vision Entertainment (Australia)
34 discs / runtime 7700 minutes
Episodes 1 - 148
A Country Practice Collection Two
Released 21st April 2021 by Via Vision Entertainment (Australia)
36 discs / runtime 6060 minutes
Episodes 149 - 280
A Country Practice Collection Three
Released 19th May 2021 by Via Vision Entertainment (Australia)
35 discs / runtime 5761 minutes
Episodes 281 - 400
A Country Practice Collection Four
Released 21st July 2021 by Via Vision Entertainment (Australia)
33 discs / runtime 6288 minutes
Episodes 401 - 532
A Country Practice Collection Five
Released 18th August 2021 by Via Vision Entertainment (Australia)
34 discs / runtime 6161 minutes
Episodes 533 - 666
A Country Practice Collection Six
Released 22nd September 2021 by Via Vision Entertainment (Australia)
32 discs / runtime 5922 minutes
Episodes 667 - 792
A Country Practice Collection Seven
Released 20th April 2022 by Via Vision Entertainment (Australia)
44 discs / runtime 7897 minutes
Episodes 793 - 968
A Country Practice Collection Eight
Released 5th April 2022 by Via Vision Entertainment (Australia)
44 discs / runtime 5374 minutes
Episodes 969 - 1088