Dangerous Remedy
A doctor campaigns against illegal abortions running rampant in 1960s Melbourne in ABC1's stylised telemovie.
- Published by David Knox
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- Filed under Reviews, Top Stories
There are moments in Dangerous Remedy when you might find yourself trying to dissect truth from fiction.
Did a doctor in Melbourne in the 1960s really stumble onto an illegal abortion racket that was condoned by the Homicide squad? Yes. But was he really part crusader, part action man in his quest to expose the truth? Hmmm…
ABC1’s latest telemovie takes place in the inner suburbs of Melbourne at a time when everyone was wearing Mad Men fashions and women’s liberation was yet to take hold. Young girls, shamed at the prospect of becoming single mothers with no future, would seek out ‘backyard abortions’ by unscrupulous men, more interested in the money that would secretly change hands.
Scottish-born doctor Bertram Wainer became aware of the prevalence of the underground operations when he attended to a young girl who was bleeding to death. It ignited in him a crusade to fight for legal abortions in Victoria against the church, establishment and medical fraternity. But he had no idea he would also uncover a racket that was encouraged by Victoria Police.
In his quest to expose the truth Wainer sought the help of journalist friends, but in doing so put his own life, and that of his family, at risk. It’s on the record that Wainer was the target of assassins and the victim of an arson attack. As storytelling source material, this is dizzying stuff, folks.
In the central role of Wainer is actor / director Jeremy Sims (Wild Boys, Beneath Hill 60). Sims brings enormous commitment to the role and carries the weight of almost every scene. When Wainer’s not protesting, he’s dodging bullets, chasing shonky doctors, running into burning houses and uncovering a deep mire of conspiracy -he barely has any time to run his own practice. Sims gives it everything he has.
Susie Porter plays Peggy Berman, a receptionist at an abortion clinic, and a woman having an affair with Det. Insp. Jack Ford (William McInnes). Berman plays a central role in this saga, trapped between two worlds but managing to look ever-glamorous through it all. It’s nice to see McInnes in a dark role, as a man compromised by principles.
Also appearing in this true-life tale are Gary Sweet, Maeve Dermody, Peter O’Brien, Caroline Craig and an impressive performance by Mark Leonard Winter as journo Lionel Pugh.
The telemovie is written by Kris Wyld (Wildside, East West 101, White Collar Blue) and directed by Ken Cameron (Satisfaction, Underbelly, Offspring, Wild Boys). Visually it captures the striking fashions and art deco homes of Melbourne all of which would be right at home in Mad Men.
For all its virtues Dangerous Remedy is big on style, perhaps at the expense of the content. Whilst it’s fair to say some of the shocking dramatics that befall Wainer did take place, here they stray close to adventures befitting a Saturday matinee on the silver screen. I had difficulty believing the ‘romanticised’ portrayal of such an unassuming general practitioner.
That said, Wainer’s obsession was pivotal to the State Government establishing an inquiry.
Dangerous Remedy is a glamorous yarn about a colourful chapter in Victoria when medicine and the law were running rampant.
Dangerous Remedy airs 8:30pm Sunday on ABC1.
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- Tagged with Dangerous Remedy, East West 101, Mad Men, Offspring, Satisfaction, Underbelly, White Collar Blue, Wild Boys, Wildside
9 Responses
I thought it was great. Really well acted and an important Australian story to tell. More of them please ABC.
The script was a complete mess – both the plot and the pace were erratic as were the performance levels from many of these accomplished actors. were. Great source material very badly executed – once again I ask – what is going on at the top in ABC drama? Where is the leadership and vision? The ABC backed away from the material in promoting the story – not mentioning the A word – much to Jeremy Sims understandable chagrin – were they afraid of offending? And what about the scene when BW showed his daughter a foetus in a bottle and said this was the lesser of two evils! Am I the only person horrified by this nonsense? Shame ABC.
The writing was certainly mediocre, but it wasn’t helped by the direction. I frequently felt like I was watching a colourized episode of Homicide – from the iconic shots of police HQ to the cops played by wooden actors in ill-fitting suits. Full marks to the ABC for taking on an important story, but that’s about where it ends.
@ Victor It’s such a taboo to criticise our own drama commissioning and production processes – and the end results. Most producers are afraid to challenge those people because they’ll miss out on being commissioned. At least David lets us post here to keep the conversation going….and we should talk about quality as well as quantity in drama – particularly from the national broadcasters.
Is that a hairstyle or a hat? I was around in the 60’s but I don’t remember anyone’s head looking like that!
Sadly there seems to be no mainstream press in Australia writing lengthy and considered reviews of Aussie drama nor even academics which is rather startling given the mass of tertiary communications courses. But Ronnie is right. The problem with all this drama, not confined to ABC drama is that the plotting of the stories is very mediocre and sometimes amateurish and with little understanding of the genre the stories fit into. Nice production values and usually good performances despite the scripts. And with little critical scrutiny expect it all to continue. It does seem to be an opportunity lost and a lot of taxpayer money wasted. The way it is going the next generation of writers will just continue the bad habits.
Two words: Redfern Now.
Agree with you Ronnie. I found Hansom Cab muddled and unfocused and found myself watching rather than engaged. Eventually l switched off. Clearly all those ABC drama heads are bumping into each other so their work lacks clarity and a strong point of view
By screening these telemovies weekly we can compare them and make a few observations. I am finding their pace and tone to be uneven at best. They seem to lack strong guidance as to what they are supposed to be from the outset and appear muddled. Apart from the wonderful Rake ABC drama is all over the place. Redfern Now looks promising – but it’s EPed by the Indiginous unit – and really seems to know what story it’s telling.