Elsewhere a schoolboy is knifed, a nursing sister is diagnosed with HIV, and a man with Tourette’s syndrome is treated like a leper by the townsfolk. A farmer’s agoraphobic daughter claims she’s been molested, a bulimic singer hits town and a young footballer is found to have epilepsy. The series followed the workings of a small hospital in the fictional New South Wales rural country town of Wandin Valley, as well as its connected medical clinic, the town's veterinary surgery, RSL club/pub and local police station. The show's storylines focused on the staff and regular patients of the hospital and general practice, their families, and other residents of the town. Through its weekly guest actors, it explored various social and medical problems. The series examined such topical issues as youth unemployment, suicide, drug addiction, HIV/AIDS and terminal illness. Apart from its regular rotating cast, A Country Practice also had a cast of semi-regulars who made appearances as the storylines permitted. The program also showcased a number of animal stars and Australian native wildlife, most famously Fatso the wombat. Fatso was played throughout the series by three separate wombats, the original actually named Fatso (1981–1986) was replaced due to temperament issues with the cast, a wombat George (1986–1990), he himself replaced due to early signs of wombat mange (a marsupial viral disease), and Garth (1990 through series end). A Country Practice is an Australian television soap opera/serial which was broadcast on the Seven Network from 18 November 1981 until 22 November 1993, and subsequently on Network Ten from 13 April 1994 to 5 November 1994. Altogether, 14 seasons and 1,088 episodes were produced. Dr. Bowen refuses to prescribe the contraceptive pill to a fifteen-year-old girl without her father's permission. The girl is torn between her father and her insistent boyfriend. Shirley consents to go on a date with Frank but vows that it will be their last. Simon struggles to determine the cause of a young boy's Monday morning migraine headaches.

Carlton Television superseded Thames Television in January 1993, and they continued to air the series using the 13:50-14:20 timeslot. In January 1995, Carlton launched a new Australian series, Blue Heelers, and it took the 14:50-15:20 slot, Monday to Wednesday, and a new series from New Zealand Shortland Street in the 13:55 slot on Monday, Wednesday and Friday with A Country Practice on Tuesday and Thursday, and this pattern continued until they became the first region to reach the last episode, in April 1996. Anglia Television was next to finish in 1997, and they then began a short repeat of the first 40 episodes. RTÉ TV Listings 1981 – 1996". Archived from the original on 30 July 2012 . Retrieved 23 April 2010. UTV dropped A Country Practice in early September 1998. At that particular point, UTV had been airing episodes only once a week - on Mondays - at 2:45pm, in a 30-minute slot. UTV had reached episodes from early 1993, season 13. A Country Practice (called "Hverdagsliv") was broadcast on TV2 from the channel's inception in 1992 to 2000.returned as a guest in 1993) 246 episodes later guest during 1989 (had previously appeared in a guest role as Sharon Lyons in 1982) In the mid-1980s, A Country Practice was a prime-time series on pan-European satellite channel, "Sky Channel", airing twice a week at 20:00 from April 1984, on Tuesday and Thursday. By August 1985, the series was screened at 19:20 and 20:10 on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and by 1986, it was screened at 20:00 again. When the Sky Channel was re-launched on the new Astra 1A satellite in January 1989, it became a UK-only service and was renamed Sky One, and A Country Practice disappeared from the schedule. For a brief period, later episodes were shown in 1997 on the cable channel Carlton Select. episodes Seven Network (appeared in Network Ten series 1 episode, 1994) (had previously appeared in a guest role as Mary O'Connor in 1988) This DVD box set containsNEARLY all Episodes and is for the NEARcomplete series ... of the serial concerning life at an Australian medical practice in a small community. Lots of animals and loveable characters feature in good humoured and dramatic storylines. Excellent picture and sound. Jacinta Burke; Helen Wilson; Susanna Agardy (1983), "A Country Practice" and the child audience: a case study, Australian Broadcasting Tribunal, Melbourne. ISBN 0-642-87073-X

Scottish Television started broadcasting the series in 1983 and always aired A Country Practice as hour-long episodes. Throughout the 1980s the program moved about in time and day but was generally broadcast once a week in an afternoon slot. In January 1994, after (episode #486), it was dropped from the schedules for about 4 months until June. From episode 491 screened every weekday morning at 10:55 for the duration of the summer school holidays (around 6 weeks) until 2 September. It reverted to its old weekly Tuesday slot the following week. It was the dropped completely after episode #588, during 1996. Although the company took over Grampian Television, the series continued until the end, doing so by airing daily episodes during the summer of 1998. Several of the regular cast members became popular celebrities as a result of their roles in the series. It also featured a number of native Australian animals, particularly the iconic 'Fatso the wombat' adding to its appeal both domestically and internationally. After the series was cancelled by the Seven Network in 1993, the series was relaunched on the Network Ten in 1994. Guest Cast: Arkie Whiteley as Jenny Secombe, Ric Herbert as Tony, Tom Richards as Hal Secombe, Wendy Strehlow as Sister Judy Loveday, Dasha Blahova as Mrs. Myers, Jon Ossher as Mr. Myers, Betty Lucas as Mrs. Bourke, Michael McGlinchey as Andrew Bourke. I used to like the old Country Practice on Channel 7, even recently they showed old repeats during the mornings. Series writer Judith Colquhoun, who also wrote episodes for other Australian serials, Blue Heelers, Neighbours and Home and Away released a novel in 2015. Called New Beginnings, it is based on the early episodes of the series from 1981. This was followed up by two further novels from the same author, To Everything a Season and Silver Linings.The programme ran for 1088 episodes from 1981 until 1994 and viewers all over the world were hooked on the lives and loves of the residents of rural Wandin Valley. Here in the UK the programme established a loyal following on ITV and was also screened by the short-lived Carlton Select channel. A Country Practice was named Das Buschkrankenhaus ( The Country Hospital), and aired on Sat 1 in 1985, and then on ARD from 1989 to 1991. [9] Italy [ edit ]

When 7 decided to dump the show, channel 10 took it up and moved location from NSW to Victoria. Of course this resulted in many actors from the 7 production not returning for the 10 version and much of what made the original great was missing too. They must have thought that it worked when they bought Neighbors, why not this? They were also struggling with finding another hit soapie at the time. Many other fictional locations, including Dr. Terence Elliot's ( Shane Porteous) medical practice, Frank and Shirley Gilroy's house Brian Wenzel and Lorrae Desmond, the Wandin Valley Church and Burrigan High School where filmed in the Hawkesbury. [1] The series also had a successful run on the ITV network in the United Kingdom. A Country Practice began on Wednesday, 27 October 1982 - less than a year after its debut on Seven Network in Australia. Mr James Edmund Davern". It's An Honour. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021 . Retrieved 19 May 2021.

returned as a guest in 1986, and the 1993 Seven Network series finale) 330 episodes. Guest starred in the last episode of season 13. Only the first 40 episodes have ever been repeated in the UK, in 1997, when ITV contractor, Anglia Television, were the only region to repeat any episodes. Unlike other Australian soaps, which became cult viewing due to multiple runs; Prisoner was broadcast twice, first on ITV, and then Channel 5; The Sullivans also had two full runs, once on ITV and repeated on UK Gold; and also Sons and Daughters, which had three runs, first on ITV, then UK Gold, and finally, Channel 5 – A Country Practice has never been repeated in the UK or achieved the cult status of other soap operas of the same vintage.

After initially airing weekly hour-long episodes (usually on Wednesdays) from 1982, both TVS and Thames Television followed Yorkshire's example of showing half-hour episodes each week. TVS initially used 14:00-14:30 from 1987 before following Thames with the 12:30-13:00, Monday to Wednesday, slot, from 1988. In 1990, both of these regions adopted the 13:50-14:20 time, on various days and frequency. TVS was replaced by Meridian Television on 1 January 1993 and the company continued to air A Country Practice. The original 7 Network series concluded in April 1997, and then Meridian immediately commenced the Network Ten series, with half-hour episodes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 12:55-13:25, until the last episode aired in September 1997.

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Sister Lucy Gardiner (Georgie Parker) is seriously injured after plunging over the edge of a cliff, and tragedy strikes when young Steve Brennan (Sophie Heathcote) is thrown from her horse. Meanwhile matron Rosemary Prior (Maureen Edwards) is terrified to find a lump in her breast, and her troubles are compounded when her schizophrenic son stops taking his medication. The series followed the workings of a small hospital in the fictional New South Wales rural country town of Wandin Valley as well as its connected medical clinic, the town's veterinary surgery, RSL club/pub and local police station. The show's storylines focused on the staff, and regular patients of the hospital and general practice, their families, and other residents of the town. Through its weekly guest actors, who appeared in the series portrayed differing characters, it explored various social and medical problems. The series examined such topical issues as youth unemployment, suicide, drug addiction, HIV/AIDS and terminal illness, as well as Aborigines and their importance in modern Australian society. Apart from its regular rotating cast, mainly among the younger personnel, A Country Practice also had a cast of semi-regulars who would make appearances as the storylines permitted. One of the more popular and frequent characters from its inception included the valley's corrupt town councillor Alfred Muldoon (Brian Moll). The program as well would also showcase a number of animal stars and Australian native wildlife, most famously Fatso the wombat. Fatso was played throughout the series by three separate wombats, Fatso (1981–1986) replaced due to temperament issues with the cast, George (1986–1990) replaced due to early signs of wombat mange (a marsupial viral disease), and Garth (1990 through series end).