Upcoming Book Release
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Melbourne Books
March 2017
by Nigel Giles
Number 96 was one of the most groundbreaking and
controversial TV shows in the history of Australian
television. It was not only the first show to feature
on-screen nudity, it portrayed gay, transgender and
interracial relationships with honesty that was way
ahead of its time. It was also a technical innovator;
writing, filming and marketing at a pace that saw over a
1000 episodes, a movie, numerous books and spin-offs
created in the space of five years. This is the story of the
magic and mania of Number 96, told by the people who
made it.
Number 96 created characters and stories that have
stood the test of time. So powerful was the show’s
influence that after forty-five years it still commands a
devoted cult following and continues to attract new fans
who can scarcely believe what Number 96 was able to
get away with.
This is the first book to bring all those involved in
Number 96 together in print to tell the show’s story in
their own words. Over five years, author Nigel Giles crisscrossed the country in person and by mail to gather the
personal accounts of over fifty members of the cast and
crew, who kindly shared their stories and their treasure
trove of memorabilia. The result is an unparalleled
behind-the-scenes look at all the highs, lows, twists and
stories of Australia’s most notorious address.
Published by Melbourne Books
www.melbournebooks.com.au
Large format paperback 180 x 235mm portrait
325 pages, colour & black & white photos throughout
The author
Nigel Giles grew up watching television in
Croydon, Victoria. He graduated from La Trobe
University in 1996 with a BA in Cinema Studies,
and since then he has contributed to various
newspapers and magazines. He provided research
assistance for the books Super Aussie Soaps
(Pluto Press, 2004) and Puberty Blues (Currency
Press, 2004) and has contributed to Umbrella
Entertainment DVD releases of Number 96, The
Young Doctors and Sons & Daughters. In 2006
he was the major contributor to the Sydney
Powerhouse Museum’s On the Box exhibition
celebrating fifty years of Australian television. He
has recorded close to fifty oral history interviews
for the National Film and Sound Archive. This is
his first book.
RRP: $39.95 ISBN: 9781925556001
Release: March 2017
For all queries: [email protected]
Tel: 03 9662 2051
Upcoming Book Release
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M
March 2017
Melbourne Books
I must confess, when I first heard that my friend
Nigel Giles was writing a book about Number 96
I had serious doubts about its viability. It seemed
to me that in the forty-odd years since ‘Television
lost its Virginity’, everything that could possibly be
written and reported about the series had already
been done, and this included my own memoir on
the subject.
For myself, reading this book has been an intensely
emotional experience. It was like being in a room
filled with all those talented people who helped
make the series such a memorable success. Hearing
their voices again, reliving those incredible,
exciting times had me reminiscing, laughing and
— at times — reduced to tears for those of them
who have passed away.
Therefore, it comes as a complete and pleasant
surprise to find that Nigel has taken a refreshingly
different approach, by letting the people actually
involved in the series tell the story in their
own words. He has painstakingly assembled an
astonishing verbal narrative of actual quotations
that brings to vivid life this ground-breaking
period in Australia’s television history.
This entertaining and informative book is a fitting
tribute to them all, and a valuable addition to the
Number 96 legend.
Published by Melbourne Books
www.melbournebooks.com.au
Large format paperback 180 x 235mm portrait
325 pages, colour & black & white photos throughout
’
David Sale, creator of Number 96
Sydney, May 2016
RRP: $39.95 ISBN: 9781925556001
Release: March 2017
For all queries: [email protected]
Tel: 03 9662 2051