The TV pilot so dangerous to 1973 Australia, they buried it for decades.
Adapted from the stage production of the same name, 'Basically Black' is a sketch comedy TV pilot that aired in 1973, and due to the provocative racial content, ABC never produced another episode. It stands as a historical milestone, the first television program and stage play completely created and written by Aboriginal Australians.
Writing
Sketches that weaponized laughter against white Australia's comfort.
Acting
Performances too real, too sharp, too threatening to air.
Director
Nicholas R. Parsons
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Created by the National Black Theatre in Redfern, this emerged from the same political moment as the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. The actors were activists first, performers second.
The sole surviving 16mm print was believed lost until 2014, when it was discovered mislabeled in a Sydney archive—40 years of institutional amnesia, literally miscatalogued.
US
