Number 96's Don

[kevvoi]

I came across this little bit of retro storyline this morning. Had never heard of the show. Number 96 was an Australian soap that aired from 1972-1977 and was designed to be like Coronation Street but more boundary pushing. The series is set in an apartment building (Number 96) in one of the suburbs of Sydney, Australia. The first couple seasons were shot in black and white, before switching to color and unfortunately many of the older episodes were lost. Several clips and the wikipedia site for the show claim that Don Finlayson was the first regular gay character on a tv show.

Here is a short clip where Don comes out to Bev, courtesy of kurvapicsa:



From what I have been able to glean, Don was a law student and then lawyer on the show. He had several boyfriends including one long term boyfriend, Dudley Butterfield.

The wikipedia page has some information about the show:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_96_(TV_series)

Joe Hasham who played Don Finlayson even had a bit of a musical career in the 70s:

[kevvoi]

I'm not sure if this uploader will post more (since their last upload was 10 months ago and last comment on the video a month ago), but they uploaded some longer scenes:







the uploader posted this:

The editing of this mix may not be accurate. Basic sequence of clips is as per re-issued DVD set. Additional footage of Don coming out to Bev (16:40 to 18:40) has been taken from *kurvapicsa* YouTube Channel. May be footage from missing episode 32 on DVD Box set meaning in should be viewed after stripped hippies in laundromat scene.

and this

As a young boy I never saw these early black and white episodes. Due to the introduction of colour TV Channel 10 the creators of the show decided that the original 584 black and white episodes would not be suitable for broadcast in the future and implemented a policy of wiping and re-using the original videotapes. Consequently these original black and white episodes have been lost forever and have never been repeated on TV. I believe about 22 black and white episodes have survived out of the original 584. Apparently the National Archives do hold copies of all the colour episodes.