Latest news with #Prisoner
The Age
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
A right royalty battle: Why some actors get repeatedly shafted
Training thoroughbreds proved a lucrative vocation for Gai Waterhouse, but she'd be hard-pressed to find a pony that can deliver as enduring a return as her 1978 appearance on cult UK TV series Doctor Who. For nearly half a century, Waterhouse has received an annual royalty payment from Doctor Who 's owner, the BBC. Last month, it was $225.57. 'In another lifetime, I acted in London,' she explains. 'I'm still receiving royalties. Isn't it incredible?' At 23, she starred as an animal pelt-wearing hunter named Presta, opposite the fourth doctor, Tom Baker. Last year, the BBC estimated the show made £100 million annually in licensing, merchandising deals and broadcast sales. However, Waterhouse is a rarity; back then, 'residuals' weren't common for actors. From 1968 to 1970, Sydney actor Tony Bonner, now 81, played the dashing helicopter pilot Jerry King on Skippy, another hugely successful TV series that screened in more than 100 countries. Bonner launched an ambitious court case in 2008 for a share of royalties, suing the production company, Fauna, for $750,000 in the NSW Supreme Court. But Bonner's claim failed after Justice Ian Gzell found Bonner had been paid $140 a week in accordance with his contract and was not entitled to any further share of Skippy 's profits, having assigned all rights to Fauna. 'While my case wasn't a success, I do feel it helped other actors coming through,' Bonner tells me. 'Knowledge is power.' TV historian Andrew Mercado says up until the 1980s, only a few actors 'had the foresight to demand a contract that would pay them for repeats past the initial two runs … they didn't think of VHS and box sets, let alone streaming.' In 2017, Rowena Wallace, once one of the highest-paid actors in the country for her role as 'Pat the rat' in the '80s soap Sons and Daughters, revealed on national TV that she was so poor she couldn't feed herself after paying for her pet's dog food. Her co-star, the late Leila Hayes, waged a lengthy but unsuccessful battle with the show's producer, the late multimillionaire media mogul Reg Grundy, over residuals. Loading In 2013, Colette Mann, who played inmate Doreen in Grundy's Prisoner and was also the actors' union rep on set, revealed she went to court to get a residuals deal for the cast, which only came into effect after Prisoner had ended; it resulted in modest payments. But Val Lehman, who played Bea Smith and was one of the show's top stars, negotiated her own contract that included ongoing royalties, including DVD sales. Like Gai Waterhouse's Presta, Queen Bea's life of crime is still reaping dividends, it seems.
Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
A right royalty battle: Why some actors get repeatedly shafted
Training thoroughbreds proved a lucrative vocation for Gai Waterhouse, but she'd be hard-pressed to find a pony that can deliver as enduring a return as her 1978 appearance on cult UK TV series Doctor Who. For nearly half a century, Waterhouse has received an annual royalty payment from Doctor Who 's owner, the BBC. Last month, it was $225.57. 'In another lifetime, I acted in London,' she explains. 'I'm still receiving royalties. Isn't it incredible?' At 23, she starred as an animal pelt-wearing hunter named Presta, opposite the fourth doctor, Tom Baker. Last year, the BBC estimated the show made £100 million annually in licensing, merchandising deals and broadcast sales. However, Waterhouse is a rarity; back then, 'residuals' weren't common for actors. From 1968 to 1970, Sydney actor Tony Bonner, now 81, played the dashing helicopter pilot Jerry King on Skippy, another hugely successful TV series that screened in more than 100 countries. Bonner launched an ambitious court case in 2008 for a share of royalties, suing the production company, Fauna, for $750,000 in the NSW Supreme Court. But Bonner's claim failed after Justice Ian Gzell found Bonner had been paid $140 a week in accordance with his contract and was not entitled to any further share of Skippy 's profits, having assigned all rights to Fauna. 'While my case wasn't a success, I do feel it helped other actors coming through,' Bonner tells me. 'Knowledge is power.' TV historian Andrew Mercado says up until the 1980s, only a few actors 'had the foresight to demand a contract that would pay them for repeats past the initial two runs … they didn't think of VHS and box sets, let alone streaming.' In 2017, Rowena Wallace, once one of the highest-paid actors in the country for her role as 'Pat the rat' in the '80s soap Sons and Daughters, revealed on national TV that she was so poor she couldn't feed herself after paying for her pet's dog food. Her co-star, the late Leila Hayes, waged a lengthy but unsuccessful battle with the show's producer, the late multimillionaire media mogul Reg Grundy, over residuals. Loading In 2013, Colette Mann, who played inmate Doreen in Grundy's Prisoner and was also the actors' union rep on set, revealed she went to court to get a residuals deal for the cast, which only came into effect after Prisoner had ended; it resulted in modest payments. But Val Lehman, who played Bea Smith and was one of the show's top stars, negotiated her own contract that included ongoing royalties, including DVD sales. Like Gai Waterhouse's Presta, Queen Bea's life of crime is still reaping dividends, it seems.
The Age
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
The lights go out on Ramsay Street as Neighbours wraps after 9363 episodes
At a little after 7pm last night, the lights were switched off for the last time in the sound stages at the Nunawading television studios which have been home to the long-running soap Neighbours for four decades. As darkness fell, after 9363 half-hour episodes – the last 460 produced under the banner of streaming giant Amazon, who saved the show after its cancellation in 2022 – it marked the end of an era, for Australian television, and for an iconic Melbourne institution. Those studios, in the city's eastern suburbs, have been home to some of the best-loved television shows in Australian history, including The Go!! Show, where Olivia Newton-John made her debut, soaps such as Prisoner and The Box, the talk show Rove, glorious failures such as Holiday Island and, of course, Neighbours. Actor Stefan Dennis, 66, who plays property developer Paul Robinson and cut his acting teeth in the studios in Prisoner before returning later to become the enduring stars of Neighbours, acknowledges he's 'probably the oldest inhabitant' of the studios. As for saying goodbye for a second, and now seemingly final time, Dennis said he had mixed emotions. 'At the moment I'm fine, I'm just looking at it as another filming day, and that's what it is,' he said on the set yesterday. Loading 'We did this two years ago, and it's a different vibe saying goodbye to the show this time,' Dennis added. 'It's not as sad, it's happier for me than it is sad. Happy that I have had this. It's not just a show to me, it's been an era for me, it's been a great portion of my life.' Since its premiere on March 18, 1985, the goings-on at the not-as-quiet-as-it-seemed Ramsay Street, Erinsborough have – mostly – captivated the national conversation with births, deaths, marriages and all manner of dramatic twists and turns in between. But in the end, like television itself, Neighbours has had to navigate the choppy waters of declining Australian audience and changing business models. Axed two years ago, it was saved by the streaming platform Amazon who saw an opportunity to invest in Australian drama.
Sydney Morning Herald
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
The lights go out on Ramsay Street as Neighbours wraps after 9363 episodes
At a little after 7pm last night, the lights were switched off for the last time in the sound stages at the Nunawading television studios which have been home to the long-running soap Neighbours for four decades. As darkness fell, after 9363 half-hour episodes – the last 460 produced under the banner of streaming giant Amazon, who saved the show after its cancellation in 2022 – it marked the end of an era, for Australian television, and for an iconic Melbourne institution. Those studios, in the city's eastern suburbs, have been home to some of the best-loved television shows in Australian history, including The Go!! Show, where Olivia Newton-John made her debut, soaps such as Prisoner and The Box, the talk show Rove, glorious failures such as Holiday Island and, of course, Neighbours. Actor Stefan Dennis, 66, who plays property developer Paul Robinson and cut his acting teeth in the studios in Prisoner before returning later to become the enduring stars of Neighbours, acknowledges he's 'probably the oldest inhabitant' of the studios. As for saying goodbye for a second, and now seemingly final time, Dennis said he had mixed emotions. 'At the moment I'm fine, I'm just looking at it as another filming day, and that's what it is,' he said on the set yesterday. Loading 'We did this two years ago, and it's a different vibe saying goodbye to the show this time,' Dennis added. 'It's not as sad, it's happier for me than it is sad. Happy that I have had this. It's not just a show to me, it's been an era for me, it's been a great portion of my life.' Since its premiere on March 18, 1985, the goings-on at the not-as-quiet-as-it-seemed Ramsay Street, Erinsborough have – mostly – captivated the national conversation with births, deaths, marriages and all manner of dramatic twists and turns in between. But in the end, like television itself, Neighbours has had to navigate the choppy waters of declining Australian audience and changing business models. Axed two years ago, it was saved by the streaming platform Amazon who saw an opportunity to invest in Australian drama.
Perth Now
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Miley Cyrus: 'No shade to Dua Lipa, but Prisoner just isn't cohesive with Plastic Hearts'
Miley Cyrus didn't feel her Dua Lipa collaboration Prisoner was the right fit for her album Plastic Hearts. Amid the hot gossip that Miley shades Dua on the track Every Girl You've Ever Loved on her latest LP Something Beautiful, Miley has insisted she means no disrespect to her fellow pop star, but she didn't feel their collaboration worked on the 2020 glam rock album. Every Girl You've Ever Loved features the telling lyric: 'Speaks the perfect French/ She can dance the night away/ And still, she'll never break a sweat.' First of all, Dua speaks French on Charli xcx and Troye Sivan's Talk Talk remix, plus Dua has the song 'Dance The Night' from the Barbie soundtrack. In a candid interview on the Every Single Album podcast, Miley said: 'It wasn't my idea [to have Prisoner on my album] and no shade to Dua but 'Prisoner' just isn't cohesive with the album. She would have been much better on something in Endless Summer Vacation — like she would've been great on Wildcard or River." Meanwhile, Miley has admitted she fears Sabrina Carpenter will get "fried". The 33-year-old star - who shot to fame in Disney show Hannah Montana when she was just 14 years old - believes young performers should be offered regular therapy sessions and she is particularly concerned about the welfare of singers such as the Espresso hitmaker because of their hectic schedules. She told the New York Times newspaper: "Ariana [Grande] says there should be therapy for child actors, and I totally agree. There should be a weekly check-in. "I've been doing very consistent therapy since I was 17 or 18 years old, so I think I've cleared up a lot of the feelings that I had about being a child star, and now I don't notice it so much because I don't notice it in me. "I guess the only thing I notice is when people are working too hard. I met Sabrina Carpenter a couple of times, and every time I see her I have the urge to ask her if she's OK. I'll see she's performing in Ireland, and then the next day she's doing a show in Kansas. And I'm like, 'I don't know how that could be physically OK,' because I was in that situation. "I know what it feels like to fry yourself, and I don't want anyone else to get fried."
