Answer: Appendicitis
It took some months for the details of the tragic story to be revealed, but over time we learned that Terence was wracked with guilt over his son's death, roughly 3 years before the series started. When David complained of feeling sick Terence assumed he was making it up to get a day off school. When the seriousness of his condition became obvious it was too late, as the boy's appendix burst.
From Quiz: Terence Elliott: Screenwriters' Punching Bag
Answer: Widowed
Frank's first wife, Alma, died some time before the series began. They had two children who had both moved away from Wandin Valley when they reached adulthood. Frank kept Alma's ashes in an urn on the mantelpiece which made Shirley uncomfortable, so eventually he scattered them on his roses.
Shirley's ex-husband, Jack, returned to Wandin Valley briefly but didn't stick around for long, and didn't even return for his daughter's wedding.
From Quiz: "A Country Practice" Matches
Answer: Chloe
The new parents chose the name after learning of its meaning ("blooming") and popularity as a name for farm girls.
Chloe was played by Emily Nicol, who grew from a baby to a walking, talking young girl in front of the nation's eyes.
From Quiz: Hatch and Dispatch on "A Country Practice"
Answer: Terence Elliott
Terence Elliott, often called "Dr Elliott" even in social settings, was the core character in the series. Dr Elliott was portrayed as intelligent, sensible and socially progressive, and was commonly looked to as the voice of wisdom by the residents of Wandin Valley. The poor man had his demons, and over the course of the series racked up two marriages, a divorce, two abandoned engagements, several struggles with alcoholism, and he also lost two children.
Terence Elliott was played by Shane Porteous.
From Quiz: Residents of Wandin Valley
Answer: Doris
Doris enjoyed beer. She had one (or many) with nearly every meal.
From Quiz: The People of Wandin Valley - "A Country Practice"
Answer: Wandin Valley
The majority of location filming was done in and around the Windsor area on the outskirts of Sydney.
From Quiz: Australian Television "A Country Practice"
Answer: Standing in the back of a ute
In true soapie fashion, Vicky had to interrupt her wedding day preparations to perform emergency surgery on a horse that had been gored by a bull. Her step-father Frank brought her dress out to the farm so she could get changed after surgery and head straight to the church, but (of course) he got a flat tire. So plumber Bob arrived in his ute to save the day. The cabin was too filthy for Vicky to ride in with her wedding dress on, so instead she stood in the back making a spectacular sight as they drove through town with her veil flying in the wind.
From that point on the wedding went off without a (further) hitch. Nonetheless, don't try this at home: standing in the back of a moving ute is very dangerous and nowadays also illegal.
From Quiz: "A Country Practice" Matches
Answer: Christopher
Molly had developed placenta praevia during her pregnancy, and was under strict orders to rest. Growing frustrated with the restrictions placed on her activity, Molly decided to do some house painting which ended when she fell from a stool. Her tiny son lived less than a day and wasn't named until after his untimely death.
From Quiz: Hatch and Dispatch on "A Country Practice"
Answer: Leukaemia
Oh, Molly! Molly Jones was one of Australian tv's favourite characters in the 1980s. Molly and her husband Brendan moved to Wandin Valley at the beginning of the first season and over the years had two children. Molly was unconventional, devoted to environmental and social justice issues, and loved by everyone in town - including Bob Hatfield, despite thinking her a bit of a "commo" and ratbag at times. A few decadeds later, Molly's death is still considered one of the most memorable moments on Australian television.
Molly Jones was played by Anne Tenney, who won Logie Awards for her role (Most Popular Actress) in 1985 and 1986.
From Quiz: Residents of Wandin Valley
Answer: Beverley
We never saw Beverley, but she was always mentioned. She knew everyone and everything that happened in the Valley.
From Quiz: The People of Wandin Valley - "A Country Practice"
Answer: Molly Jones
Australians were devastated at the death of a much loved character.
From Quiz: Australian Television "A Country Practice"
Answer: AIDS
In her first appearance on the show Sophie was portrayed as strong-willed but generally "a good kid". Sadly, over time her life spiralled out of control as she started injecting drugs, and she became infected with HIV from a dirty needle. She was diagnosed with AIDS while in Wandin Valley, because everyone in Australia seemed to save their medical crises for visits to this small country town.
From Quiz: Terence Elliott: Screenwriters' Punching Bag
Answer: Peter Manning
Peter was a high school teacher who grew up in Wandin Valley. He quit his job in protest when the local parents and school board censored the students' choice of reading material. Alex took a different stance on the issue and the strain ended their engagement as Peter took a job offer in a different town while Alex decided to remain in Wandin Valley.
From Quiz: "A Country Practice" Matches
Answer: Fade-out from Molly's point of view
Not wanting to die in hospital, Molly returned home to her family. In the last scene she watched Brendan and Chloe play with a kite. As the image faded, we saw Brendan call her name and run toward her in panic. Instead of the usual credit music, the character of Bob Hatfield read out a poem, "Molly".
From Quiz: Hatch and Dispatch on "A Country Practice"
Answer: Nurse
Being the early 1980s, a male nurse was considered rather unusual, even more so for a conservative country town. Brendan also had a stint as Acting Matron and became the region's district nurse after Molly's death (for those not familiar with district nurses, it's someone who delivers nursing care to people in their homes). In 1986, Brendan remarried and moved away with his daughter, Chloe, and new wife.
Brendan Jones was played by Shane Withington, who won the 1985 Logie for Best Lead Actor in a Series for his role.
From Quiz: Residents of Wandin Valley
Answer: Ben Green
Ben moved into a house that he named "Camelot" because the owner before was named Arthur.
From Quiz: The People of Wandin Valley - "A Country Practice"
Answer: Brendan Jones
They went on to become a couple in real life.
From Quiz: Australian Television "A Country Practice"
Answer: Heroin overdose
Not long after her AIDS diagnosis, Sophie disappeared. Terence combed the streets for his daughter but when he found her it was too late; after her earlier assurances that she was off drugs, she relapsed and suffered an overdose.
Heroin addiction was a popular dramatic storyline for Australian shows in the 1980s, despite being relatively uncommon in real life. The media portrayal certainly made those of us in small towns wonder how anyone survived city life intact.
From Quiz: Terence Elliott: Screenwriters' Punching Bag
Answer: They were doctors in a medical practice.
Alex arrived in Wandin Valley in 1986, replacing Simon Bowen as Terence's partner in the local medical practice. A year and a half later, after her engagement to Peter Manning came and went, romance developed between the two doctors. If you want to see how their relationship turned out, you'll have to try my other "A Country Practice" quizzes!
From Quiz: "A Country Practice" Matches
Answer: In a barn
Vicki was making house calls with her locum vet when she went into labour. She holed up in a nearby barn while he went for help. Brendan Jones arrived in time to deliver the first baby and Simon joined him for the second, whose existence was kept a secret from the viewers as well as the residents of Wandin Valley.
From Quiz: Hatch and Dispatch on "A Country Practice"
Answer: Bartender
Vernon, or Cookie, used to be a shearers' cook. He was married to Dulcie for 20 years and had a short term engagement to Esme Watson.
From Quiz: The People of Wandin Valley - "A Country Practice"
Answer: Vernon Locke
The nickname Cookie was earned when he was a chef in the army.
From Quiz: Australian Television "A Country Practice"
Answer: Terence's daughter who died soon after birth
Less than a year after the death of his older daughter, Sophie, Terence's new wife Alex gave birth to a baby girl who they called Laura. Laura was born prematurely and, with severely underdeveloped lungs, did not live long. To make matters worse, Alex nearly died from a post-partum haemorrhage.
From Quiz: Terence Elliott: Screenwriters' Punching Bag
Answer: They moved to Armidale.
Jo was still in high school when she fell in love with Michael, who was a 21 year old nurse. (He seemed so much older when I watched the show growing up but in retrospect I've decided he was practically a child himself!) Michael took a while to reciprocate her feelings, but they ended up together and married the year after Jo left school. After the wedding they left town never to return, moving to the large NSW rural town of Armidale (a real place).
From Quiz: "A Country Practice" Matches
Answer: Car crash
Donna was involved in a three-way collision in which one of the other drivers was drunk, and another was falling asleep. Donna was not at fault, but as she was not wearing her seatbelt she was graphically thrown through the windshield and died instantly.
The role of Donna Manning was played by Caroline Johansson.
From Quiz: Hatch and Dispatch on "A Country Practice"
Answer: They were cousins
Jo's widowed father sent the unruly teenager to live with her grandmother but they didn't get on, so Jo ran away and turned up unexpectedly on her cousin Judy's doorstep. Jo finished school at Burrigan High, moving in with the Gilroys when Judy left Wandin Valley and married nurse Michael Langley.
Jo was played by actress Josephine Mitchell, who was 20 years of age when she began playing 15 year old Jo.
From Quiz: Residents of Wandin Valley
Answer: Matra Kurtesz
Marta fled to Australia from Hungary at the age of 19. It was believed that her boyfriend Bela had been killed in the Budapest riots. This was not the case. In 1983, Bela came to Australia, illegally, to take Marta back with him. She broke off her engagement to Terrence and left.
From Quiz: The People of Wandin Valley - "A Country Practice"
Answer: Penny Cook
Penny Cook played Vicky the Vet, her marriage to Dr Simon Bowen in the show rated as one of the most watched by Australian viewers in
television history.
From Quiz: Australian Television "A Country Practice"
Answer: A community in the outback
Not long after the death of her baby daughter, Alex was asked to provide medical services in a remote Indigenous community for 3 months. Working in the harsh conditions helped to bring a sense of meaning back to her life, and she decided to stay on permanently. Terence was unwilling to leave Wandin Valley but accepted that she needed a different life to his, so they divorced amicably.
From Quiz: Terence Elliott: Screenwriters' Punching Bag
Answer: Kakadu National Park
This one was a fast-developing relationship, even by soapie standards. Cathy received a job offer to work in Kakadu just as she began seeing John Freeman (who was not a regular character). Two weeks later (in real time, anyway) he proposed, they got married, and they moved to the Northern Territory in quite the rushed exit.
From Quiz: "A Country Practice" Matches
Answer: Alex Fraser
Alex had understandable difficulty going back to her normal routine after the tragic loss of her baby daughter, and not long afterwards went to work in a remote Aboriginal community. She intended to stay for only three months but found more meaning providing health care in such a disadvantaged setting than in Wandin Valley, and she and Terence reluctantly ended their marriage.
The role of Alex Fraser was played by Diane Smith.
From Quiz: Hatch and Dispatch on "A Country Practice"
Answer: Cookie
Cookie used to be a shearer's cook, which was where he got his nickname. He had been married in the past, but had no children, and was briefly engaged to Esme, the only person to call him Vernon. Throughout the series he was continually coming up with "get rich quick" scams with Bob, which inevitably failed.
Cookie was played by Syd Heylen, an old vaudeville actor and former soldier who served on the Kokoda Track in WWII.
From Quiz: Residents of Wandin Valley
Answer: Vicky Bowen
Vicky was out checking up on some cattle when she went into labour. Brendan arrived in time to deliver her daughter and Simon arrived soon after to deliver their son.
From Quiz: The People of Wandin Valley - "A Country Practice"
Answer: Lorrae Desmond
Lorrae is a singer, who among other things, entertained our Aussie troops serving in the Vietnam War.
From Quiz: Australian Television "A Country Practice"
Answer: Matt and Lucy
Vet Matt Tyler and nurse Lucy Gardiner became engaged in 1990. Not long afterwards their future home was destroyed in a bushfire. Then Lucy developed symptoms that made her fear she had cancer, so she called off the wedding without explanation. Eventually Matt figured out the cause of her behaviour, convinced her to seek treatment, and learned that it wasn't cancer after all. Great news! Not so fast: in fact, Lucy had contracted chlamydia from an affair in her youth, and was probably infertile as a result.
They manage to get over that obstacle, but days before the wedding Lucy's parents announced that they were splitting up, and Lucy's father wouldn't be attending the ceremony. Of course, he saw sense and showed up at the last minute to give his daughter away.
From Quiz: "A Country Practice" Matches
Answer: Drug overdose
Sophie Elliott lived in Sydney with her mother, Terence's ex-wife. She came to visit Terence early in the series when she was a boisterous teenager. Things went downhill later, as she began to develop a heroin addiction. She was diagnosed as HIV positive while visiting her father again in Wandin Valley and died of an overdose not long afterwards.
Sophie was played by Katrina Sedgwick for 10 episodes in 1988, and earlier by Gabrielle Mason for 12 episodes in 1982.
From Quiz: Hatch and Dispatch on "A Country Practice"
Answer: She had leukemia.
From Quiz: The People of Wandin Valley - "A Country Practice"
Answer: Frank Gilroy
Brian Wenzel was in the series from the very beginning, until its untimely demise with Channel 7, in 1994.
From Quiz: Australian Television "A Country Practice"
Answer: Post-polio syndrome
Terence was in a relationship with Rosemary Prior (another matron!) and things seemed to be going well when suddenly he broke it off and talked about retirement. It emerged that he was suffering from post-polio syndrome and, not wanting to be a burden, tried to cut himself off from people who loved him. Luckily he came to his senses and with treatment was able to maintain his lifestyle.
Post-polio syndrome is characterised by progressive muscular weakness, pain and fatigue. It can occur decades after an initial infection with the polio virus.
From Quiz: Terence Elliott: Screenwriters' Punching Bag
Answer: Bernice Hudson
Tom was the divorced policeman whose first wife left him to pursue a career soon after they moved to Wandin Valley. Anna was the local vet who became guardian of her 8-year-old nephew, Billy, when his parents were killed in a car crash.
Like any good soapie story, their wedding almost didn't go ahead when Anna learned that she carried the gene for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, which brought their plans for a family to a screeching halt. But obviously they decided to go ahead regardless.
From Quiz: "A Country Practice" Matches
