Skyways (TV series)

File:Skyways.jpg

Tony Bonner as Paul MacFarlane and Bill Stalker as Peter Fanelli in Skyways.

Skyways is an Australian television series made by Crawford Productions for the Seven Network.

The series, which aired from 1979 to 1981, was set at the fictional Pacific International Airport and dealt with the lives of the pilots, airline staff and management team who worked there.

Program synopsis

Skyways was mainly taped in a television studio where, in many interior-set scenes, Colour Separation Overlay created the illusion of a bustling airport with taxiing planes outside the window. Many of the exterior scenes were shot on location at Melbourne Airport.

The show's regular cast members included Tony Bonner as airport manager Paul MacFarlane, later replaced by Gary Doolan (Gerard Kennedy), Tina Bursill, Brian James, Ken James, Kris McQuade, Joanne Samuel, Gaynor Martin, Andrew McKaige, Bartholomew John, Bruce Barry, Judy Morris, Deborah Coulls, Maurie Fields, Susanna Lobez, Kit Taylor, Penelope Stewart and Kerry Armstrong. Bill Stalker played head of airport security Peter Fanelli, an ex-detective. When Skyways ended Fanelli was moved to Crawford police procedural Cop Shop, while Brian James' character George Tippett was transplanted to Holiday Island.

Years before Neighbours and stardom, Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan appeared together in one episode as brother and sister.

An early storyline featured a lesbian flight attendant (Morris) unsuccessfully attempting to seduce a colleague (Coulls) who revealed she was heterosexual. Morris' character was soon afterwards stabbed to death in the shower as part of a murder-mystery storyline.

The series screened across Europe during the mid-80's on Sky Channel which would later become Sky One. It also aired in the UK on Astra Satellite channel Lifestyle during 1990 at 1.00 p.m Monday to Friday.

External links

• Aussie Soap Archive: Skyways
• Crawford Productions
• Skyways at the National Film and Sound Archive