The Villagers

The Villagers is one of the first South African TV series (1976-1978).

The story

It was the first English drama series on South African television and dealt with life in a small mining town on the Witwatersrand. When the general manager of the Village Reef gold mine dies suddenly, everybody expects the much-liked assistant manager, Buller Wilmot, to take over. But the top job goes to a new man, Hilton McRae, and it takes some time for the Village Reefers to get used to their new manager – and for the sophisticated McRaes to get used to life in a small town.

The series

The series was written by John Cundill and Noel Harford and directed by Douglas Bristow, with music by Mick Jade and the series edited by Pieter van Rooyen. The cast included: Brian O’Shaughnessy (Buller Wilmot), Gordon Mulholland (Hilton McRae), Graham Clarke (Nick Wilmot), Stuart Brown (Chesa Labuschagne), Clive Scott (Ted Dixon), Valerie Dunlop (Diana McRae), Beryl Gordon (Betsie Wilmot), Diana Cox (Wendy McRae), Mary-Anne Duval (Sally Wilmot), Barbara Itzler (Cynthia Holmes), Doreen Lamb (Connie Labuschagne), Moira Winslow (Nell Clay), Dale Cutts (Basil Clay), Victor Melleney (C.P. Bradley), Ian Hamilton (Dugald Fitzgerald), Nigel Vermaas (Dr. Chris de Villiers), Aubrey Ellis (Doep du Plessis), David Sherwood (Simon McRae), Albert Raphael (Rocky Roxburgh), Ian Lawrence (Wally Bradford) and Magda Beukes (Adele Venter).

Broadcast history in South Africa

The Villagers was originally broadcast in South Africa by the SABC from 1976 to 1978.

Sources

IMDb (imdb.com)

za.pinterest.com (Sybil Gladden)

E-mail submission by Christo Snyman (12 May, 2020)

Go to ESAT Bibliography

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