Stormy Petrel (radio serial)
Radio show
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stormy Petrel is a 1948 Australian radio serial about the career of William Bligh by Rex Rienits. It aired Mondays to Thursdays at 6.40pm on the ABC.
| Genre | drama serial |
|---|---|
| Running time | 15 mins (6:40 pm – 6:55 pm) |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Syndicates | ABC |
| Written by | Rex Rienits |
| Original release | December 1948 – 1949 |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 70 |
It was very popular and was produced again in 1953[1] and 1959.[2][3]
Rienits sold it to the BBC.[4]
It was adapted into a 1960 mini-series and a novel.
Background
Rex Rienits was a writer who wrote a number of scripts set in Australia's past. Rienits said he believed Bligh "was a great man."[5]
He later said that Bligh had "been grossly maligned" and "that Hollywood did a terrible thing in representing him, in the person of Mr. Laughton, as a cruel and brutal despot... However, Bligh undoubtedly had a quick and blustering temper, and it was this temper, rather than any deep-seated viciousness that got him into trouble, both on the 'Bounty' and as Governor of New South Wales".[4]
The story of Bligh was told through the eyes of his wife Elizabeth, then John Hallet, then his daughter Mary.[3] It went for seventy episodes.[6]