A Kiwi and proud of it

Press, 8 April 1987, Page 14

A Kiwi and proud of it

By

ANABRIGHT HAY

The Flying Doctor Service is as Australian as blowflies and hats with corks on them, but Pat Evison, who plays the town busy-body, Violet Carnegie, in the TV series, “The Flying Doctors,” is a Kiwi and proud of it Evison, who was in Christchurch last week to visit family, is a little puzzled by the lack of publicity she has received in New Zealand about her appearance in the Australian series. While New Zealand is her home base, she does spend much of her year in Australia. This, she explains, is because she has been offered a lot of work there in the last few years. Before “The Flying Doctors,” she was in “Prisoner." The second series of “The Flying Doctors” is in production and will be completed in June. “After which I’ll need a long holiday,” Evison says. “Even though we work only a five-day week we often put in 10 to 14 hour days.” The series centres around the lives of an isolated inland community, Coopers Crossing, which is a base for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. “It’s based on real inci-

dents that actually happened, and I think this helps account for its popularity,” Evison says. Television New Zealand reports that the series has been very popular in New Zealand since the miniseries was first screened over summer.

Evison says cast members have not been involved in much direct research with the flying doctor service, but a member of the service works as an adviser on the series and a medical adviser is also employed. “We recently had a party with cast and actual members of the flying doctor service and it was amazing how the actuals gravitated toward the actos who played roles closest to theirp," she says. Where the programme departs from real life is in its location. The flying doctor service works mainly in the Northern Territory, but the series is filmed in Minyip, a small town in the wheat belt of Victoria.

"It’s often very cold in Minyip, so you have the odd situation of cast members in long-johns, hats, coats and gloves casting them off at the last moment and trying to look hot and summery,” Evison says. While the citizens of Minyip are very friendly

to the cast, the tourists often wander around looking confused when ' confronted with shop and street signs reading Coopers Crossing, she says. Evison is full of praise for the standard of technical expertise in Australian television. “ ‘The Flying Doctors’ uses a film camera rather than a video camera.and this means a higher quality of film and production effects can be achieved,” she says. Since the programme has been made, public awareness of the flying doctor service has increased and Evison and other cast members have been involved in charity fund-raising events. “Which is great, because the flying doctor service relies heavily on public donations.”

Evison does not agree with that common actress’s plea that there are no good parts around for women, especially middle-aged ones, and her own long and varied career belies that theory. She is probably best remembered by viewers for her role as the schoolteacher Faith Wilson in the long-running TV series, “Close to Home.” She has also appeared regularly in live theatre here and in Aus-

tralia. Being typecast is something Evison says seems to happen more there than in Australia. “In New Zealand people doing casting seem to have a narrower idea of the sorts of roles that would suit me,” she says. “Australians don’t have the same paranoia we have about people’s faces being overexposed — the same actors often appear in series after series.”

Evison speaks highly of the general standard of New Zealand television programming, which is not overly influenced by the ratings game where the best is. not always the highest rated. “In Australia the private stations are very competitive,” she says.

BY being a professional actress in both New Zealand and Australia, Evison has achieved what many others have tried and failed. Many New Zealand actors cannot achieve this trans-Tasman success without moving permanently to Australia. “As I already had an established career my work was known and people would ask for me by name; also I have a very good agent in Australia,” she says.

This situation is a fortunate one for New Zealand and Australian viewers who enjoy the warmth, humour and down-to-earth realism Pat Evison brings to her roles.