The goings on at the number 96 apartment block were not only ground breaking and daring at the time this show began in 1972, it is actually hard to imagine many of the storylines getting aired on television in the twenty first century. Billed as "the night Australian television lost its virginity" the show launched straight into a diet of hard hitting storylines, as well as farce and light comedy.
The programme was never frightened to tackle controversial issues, including racism, drug abuse, domestic violence and rape. Number 96 also had one of the first sympathetic gay characters on television (probably then or since!) in Don Finlayson, the lawyer who actually became the moral backbone of the show.
Other regular characters included middle-aged couple Dorrie and Herb Evans. Dorrie, played by Pat Mcdonald (who later became Fiona in Sons & Daughters) was famous for her malapropisms and constant cry of "Why wasn't I told?". Another well remembered character was Bev Houghton, played by a young Abigail (who also later popped up in Sons & Daughters, as Caroline Morrell). Many Aussies claim to remember the night they saw Abigail nude on the show, but hype wins over memory - despite the urban myth, Abigail never stripped below her underwear for the show.
As Number 96 progressed the plots got wackier and, sometimes, more grisly. The Pantyhose Strangler despatched a number of the show's pretty young female characters. It turned out that Tracey Wilson was a sado-masochist who was violently jealous of these young women.
Time passed and, as with all shows sooner or later, viewers and interest in Number 96 started to dwindle. An ill-advised plot to blow up the apartment block and kill off some popular and long standing characters did not have the desired effect of increasing the show's profile and popularity, and by 1977 the show was off the air for good.
In a bizarre twist, in the final scenes batty Edie McDonald was seen at a typewriter and viewers were left wondering whether the whole series had been a figment of her imagination.
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