Aussie Inventions That Changed The World
2019 · 60m · Documentary
The 8 part series reveals a raft of great Australian inventors who turned game-changing ideas into a reality and forever changed how we live.
Episodes
1. Home Life60m · The surprising stories behind four helpful household inventions to improve home life: Gilbert Toyne created an Aussie backyard icon - the rotary clothes hoist - only to have it made famous by someone else. Myra Taylor improved women's lives with her boneless corset leaving a legacy of freedom we still enjoy today. Mervyn Richardson forever changed the suburban landscape with his Victa lawnmower, while Dr Steve Cummings and Bruce Thompson achieved huge water savings around the world with the dual-flush toilet.
2. Communication60m · Australian inventors have boldly re-imagined communication across the spectrum of technologies: Graeme Clark's extraordinary bionic ear delivered deaf patients the sound of speech; John O'Sullivan and his CSIRO team created the world's first high-speed wi-fi that dramatically changed the communication landscape worldwide; Henry Sutton's visionary Telephane was designed in Ballarat decades before the television; and post-master James Raymond established the world's first pre-paid postage system in Sydney in 1838 with his delightfully simple pre-paid envelope.
3. Wartime60m · The fires of war become the forges of Australian invention. William Scurry invented a decoy drip rifle to help Anzacs safely evacuate from Gallipoli. Alexander Worsfold built his all-terrain transporter to hurry injured soldiers to field hospitals on the Western Front. Adelaide-born Howard Florey and his team developed the wonder drug penicillin that was first deployed amongst infected allied soldiers during World War II. And from Wollongong, Evelyn Owen's submachine gun out-performed its competitors and become known as 'the diggers' darling'.
4. Farm Smart60m · The push for smarter farming is at the core of Australia's tough agricultural history. Richard and Clarence Smith quarrelled over who was the true inventor, but their stump-jump plough improved the economic prospects of farmers working difficult terrain. Frederic Wolseley's mechanical shears eventually won over the shearers and transformed the wool industry. Lew Bandt designed the ute for farmers needing a comfortable working vehicle, and Benjamin Dunkerley invented a fur-cutting machine that led to the iconic Akubra.
5. Medical60m · Four great medicos and mavericks risked their careers testing these ground-breaking medical inventions. Psychiatrist Dr Joh Cade discovered the psychological effects of Lithium on his bipolar patients after first testing its toxicity on himself. Dr Mark Lidwill worked in secrecy on the world's first pacemaker following his experiments on the hearts of recently deceased patients. Professor Fiona Wood developed a process to help severe burns victims recover quickly with spray-on skin, and the Ansells helped fight infection with their disposable medical gloves.
6. Food Preservation60m · Food preservation has been a major challenge throughout Australia's history. In Victoria James Harrison invented a process of refrigeration that could make artificial ice on a commercial scale. In New South Wales, Thomas Mort and Eugene Nicolle, adapted and improved on Harrison's technology to build the world's first freezer works to produce artificially frozen food. In Western Australian Arthur McCormick came up with the Coolgardie food safe that ran on evaporative cooling, and in South Australia Tom Angove invented the wine cask.
7. Airborne60m · The Inventors who got us airborne typify tenacity and perseverance. Lawrence Hargrave, who was ridiculed for his box kites, laid the foundation for all modern aviation. David Warren's black box helped make flying the safest form of transport, but he faced staunch resistance getting it off the ground. Jack Grant persisted for 10 years to get his lifesaving slide-raft into planes. While it took 60,000 years for the inventors of the returnable boomerang to receive recognition for their aeronautical achievements.
8. Super Vision60m · Four Australian inventions that transformed how we see the world around us, and what we know about it. William and Lawrence Bragg invented X-ray crystallography to reveal the atomic structure of crystals. Milutin Stoilovic and colleagues at the Australian National University worked with Federal Police to create a forensic lamp, the Polilight, which could detect latent finger prints. Charles Tait created the world's first feature film with the help of his family, and William Beech invented the periscope rifle in the trenches of Gallipoli.More Like This
E Street
1989 · ★ 6.7
An Australian television soap opera, set in a tough fictional inner-city district called Westside. The stories revolve around the local community there. Created by Forrest Redlich and produced by Network Ten from 24 January 1989 to 13 May 1993.
More info →
Mayday
2003 · ★ 8.2
Major real-life air disasters are depicted in this series. Each episode features a detailed dramatized reconstruction of the incident based on cockpit voice recorders and air traffic control transcripts, as well as eyewitnesses recounts and interviews with aviation experts.
More info →
Driven
1998 · ★ 10
Driven was a motoring television programme launched by Channel 4 in 1998 as a rival to the successful and long-running BBC series Top Gear. The style was similar to its rival, but with additional features such as the "Driven 100", a road test of three cars in the same class, where each car would be given marks for qualities such as practicality, desirability and cost of ownership. The car with the highest total score would be the winner. The programme launched with the concept that the presenters should interact with each other rather than present items on their own, as was then the case on Top Gear. The first series also featured a "headquarters", a racing team truck, set on a former air force base at which cars were put through their paces. These concepts resurfaced in the reborn Top Gear soon after.
More info →
Dateline
1992 · ★ 6.5
Dateline NBC, or simply Dateline, is a weekly American television newsmagazine series. It was previously the network's flagship newsmagazine, but now focuses mainly on true crime stories with only occasional editions that focus on other topics.
More info →
Hampton Court: Behind Closed Doors
2020
With privileged behind-the-scenes access, this series follows the guides, gardeners, and curators as they keep Henry VIII’s magnificent country retreat up and running in the present day.
More info →
