Of all the Aussie soaps, The Sullivans was the least sensational and most down to earth. Its portrayal of the Sullivan family and their neighbours during WWII was character driven and rarely fell into melodrama. Dave, Grace and their children were at the centre of the storylines, but supporting the characters was a large group of extended family, friends and neighbours. Most of the action took place in the Sullivan household, but other frequent locations were the Great Southern pub, run by Maggie Hayward; the general store (originally owned by a German family before being passed into the hands of Harry and Rose and then Alice and Jim Sullivan); and the home of gossipy neighbour Mrs Jessup and her succession of lodgers.
Not that the show was without excitement. Whilst most of the action centered around the Melbourne suburb of Camberwell, many plots followed the adventures of Norm Baker and young Tom Sullivan as they fought the war in Crete, Holland, Singapore and other far flung places (although all actually filmed in the countryside surrounding Melbourne!). These storylines were often the source of the show's more tense cliffhangers.
The programme first aired on the Nine Network during the non-ratings period at the end of 1976. It began in the week that the TV station launched another soap, The Young Doctors. Both shows had been commissioned for an initial 13 week run, on the understanding that only the more successful soap would survive beyond that. Of course, what happened next became part of TV history. Although at first not as popular as the spicier medical soap, The Sullivans was a hit with critics from the outset. High production values sustained the show for six years, and in later years viewers were treated to stories of life in post-war Australia.
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