The ABC’s award-winning series The Newsreader is back for a third (and reportedly final) season, taking us behind the scenes of the fictional News At Six newsroom once again.
Not only have the first two seasons been great entertainment, they’ve also been a surprisingly accurate look back at the 80s and some significant moments in Australian and world history.
As with seasons one and two, we’ve put the show to the test to see how accurate its depiction of the late 80s is.
So, let’s get stuck into some friendly nitpicking — with an absolute minimum of spoilers, of course.
Episode 1: March 16–20, 1989
Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan were among the big stars at the 31st annual Logie Awards. (Supplied)
What it got right
After a quick intro that accurately covers the Lockerbie air disaster of December 21, 1988, the story moves forward to Australian television’s night of nights — the 31st annual Logie Awards.
The Newsreader integrates its story perfectly with vintage Logies footage and plenty of on-point 80s Aussie celebrity references (hello Kylie Minogue!), nailing the detail and look of the night.
And if you’re wondering who has been erased from history to make way for Dale Jennings’s (Sam Reid) fictional Gold Logie nomination, the answer is Craig McLachlan.
There’s also a mention of threats over Salman Rushdie’s book The Satanic Verses.
While the fatwa from Ayatollah Khomeini was issued on February 14, and there had been protests in Australia and calls to ban the book in the weeks that followed, it was still a hot topic worldwide by March 16. In fact, on March 15, 1989, then Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad discussed the book, among other things, with UK leader Margaret Thatcher, indicating Malaysia intended to ban The Satanic Verses.
This episode’s era-appropriate songs are Dire Straits’ Lady Writer (1979) and Divinyls’ Back To The Wall (1988).
What it got wrong
There’s mention of a “Chinese crackdown amid rising dissent”, foreshadowing the Tiananmen Square massacre that would occur from June 3–4, 1989. However, the protests and subsequent crackdowns didn’t begin in earnest until mid-April.
A character also asserts the show’s Helen Norville (Anna Torv) will be “the first woman in Australian history to be offered a commercial prime time TV show”. That honour had already gone to Jana Wendt, who took over as host of A Current Affair in 1987.
Episode 2: March 27–29, 1989
At the time in 1989, the Exxon Valdez was the worst oil spill in history. (Reuters: Mike Blake)
What it got right
The Exxon Valdez oil spill is the main news story of this episode, which uses plenty of archival footage and news reports to cover the horrendous ecological disaster correctly.
There are also references to the Oscars of the year, which took place on March 29, and this episode gets the nominees right.
Neneh Cherry’s Buffalo Stance is an inspired choice for soundtrack here — it was #28 on the ARIA singles chart at the time the episode is set.
Also bang on are mentions of Michelle Grattan (then chief political correspondent for The Age) and Barry Cassidy (Bob Hawke’s press secretary).
What it got wrong
The Newsreader borrows a real-life ground-breaking interview from Channel 7’s Newsworld program in which then-prime minister Bob Hawke admits to cheating on his wife. The real interview was aired on March 21, and the notion that it was apropos of a new edition of his biography (published in 1982) doesn’t seem correct.
It’s also a little late with its reference to a “Madonna Pepsi campaign boycott”. The March 3 premiere of Madonna’s controversial film clip for Like A Prayer on MTV kicked off a massive backlash that led to Pepsi pulling a commercial starring the singer (although she got to keep her then-record $5 million payment). So, by March 28, there wasn’t anything left to boycott.
Episode 3: May 26–June 5, 1989
A historic photo of a defiant man standing in front of a tank near Tiananmen Square. (Reuters: Arthur Tsang)
What it got right
While the previous mention of “Chinese crackdown amid rising dissent” went a bit early, this episode’s recap of the Tiananmen Square massacre is spot on (and compelling).
Meanwhile in the US, there’s mention of then-president George Bush pushing “for an end to the Cold War”, which would have been strong language from Bush, but the timing seems about right.
We’ll also give a pass mark for a reference to the resignation of US speaker of the house Jim Wright. Following an inquiry by the House Ethics Committee, Wright resigned on May 31, 1989, and though the News At Six team doesn’t cover it until the June 2 bulletin, the time difference could be a believable factor in the delay.
On the music front, Bedroom Eyes by Kate Ceberano is a great pick as it was about to leap into the ARIA top 10 at this point in history. We also hear the Sinead O’Connor track Just Call Me Joe in the background (released October, 1987).
What it got wrong
This is absolutely the pickiest of nitpicking (that’s what we’re here for, right?), but the episode has a regular Play School song Der Glumph in the background, which according to the credits is being performed by iconic Play School presenters Benita Collings, Noni Hazlehurst and Monica Trapaga. While all three were regulars on the show for almost a decade, they didn’t start working together until 1990 when Trapaga joined, which would be too late for this episode.
Episode 4: August 4–10, 1989
The worlds of rugby and apartheid collided in 1989. (News Online Sydney)
What it got right
Aside from the era-appropriate tunes (Los Lobos’ 1987 cover of La Bamba, Warumpi Band’s Blackfella/Whitefella and Gotta Be Strong, and Sisters Of Mercy’s Lucretia My Reflection), the episode’s focus on a group of Aussie rugby players planning to ignore the sporting ban in South Africa is correct, right down to Prime Minister Bob Hawke’s comments about them unwittingly supporting an “abhorrent regime”.
It also nails a reference to Hawthorn’s star full-forward Jason Dunstall kicking his 100th goal of the season against Carlton.
What it got wrong
Nothing we can see.
Episode 5: August 11–15, 1989
The closure of psychiatric institutions like the Aradale Mental Asylum was a hot a topic in the 90s. (Supplied: Friends of J Ward)
What it got right
HECS was introduced for uni students on January 1, 1989, as correctly noted in this episode, although the claim that the return of fees caused an immediate drop in the number of female students was harder to check. It should be noted that in 1974, women made up just over a third of tertiary students, but by 1995 they comprised more than half of the student body. However, this doesn’t mean there wasn’t an immediate drop as suggested in the episode.
The reference to Bon Jovi, Motley Crue and Ozzy Osbourne performing in Russia is a very timely one, due to the Moscow Music Peace Festival taking place on August 12 and 13. Also on the bill were hair-metal giants such as Scorpions, Skid Row and Cinderella.
And there were more great era-appropriate tunes in the episode, including some performed by a wedding band. Hand On Your Heart by Kylie Minogue, Eternal Flame by The Bangles, Lost In Your Eyes by Debbie Gibson, Heaven Is A Place On Earth by Belinda Carlisle, and Carolyn’s Fingers by Cocteau Twins all get a run in the episode.
What it got wrong
The episode’s main focus is on the closure of psychiatric institutions. While there were one or two closed in the 80s, the bulk of these facilities were closed in the 90s, especially in Victoria where The Newsreader is set. While “deinstitutionalisation” may have been on the cards, it wasn’t until 1995 that the closure of these facilities began in earnest, spurred on by the election of Jeff Kennett as Victorian premier in 1992.
Episode 6: November 7–13, 1989
The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. (Supplied: Str Old)
What it got right
At its centre is the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the episode correctly tracks how the trickle of unrest quickly became a flood, as tens of thousands of East Germans streamed over the border, signalling the end of a divided Germany.
Aside from getting the result of the 1989 Melbourne Cup right, they also get Mr Mister’s Kyrie (1985) and Eurhythmics’ When Tomorrow Comes (1986) into the soundtrack, which is another win.
What it got wrong
Nothing we could find.
