TV1 and Channel 1, Foxtel and Austar
Sundays @ 8pm and Wednesdays @ 7pm and 10.30pm
WORLD PREMIERE 1st April 2001
"Radio station CHAT-AM was once the 'king of the AM airwaves', then came FM, and the slow demise of the AM band as the home of the DJ. CHAT-AM's status as the number one station began to slip as listeners switched to stereo and, by the beginning of the '80s, the station was up for sale and fading fast. But then, the tide turned. AM Radio discovered talkback, an anonymous buyer discovered CHAT-AM, and CHAT-AM discovered Barry Gold. The thinking listeners were coming back to AM in their droves... as long as the Jocks were telling them what to think, and the listeners were listening to the sound of their own voices." - TV1
SHOCK JOCK is set firmly in the materialistic 80s. It’s the ultimate indulgent decade where high-flying business types are spending money faster than they can borrow it, and the banks are handing out the loans faster than you can say ‘interest rate’. It’s a time when power-dressing women wore shoulder pads you could shelter under. It’s the age of mobile phones as big as house bricks, computers with "gigantic" 1megabyte memory, the winged keel, the boxing kangaroo and Pacman. It’s Beta vs VHS, LP vs CD, Mac vs PC and the phenomenal rise of FM over AM.
A half-hour, 13 part comedy-drama series, SHOCK JOCK is set at CHAT-AM, a metropolitan talkback radio station beginning to feel the heat from FM. Inspired by the recent "cash for comment" scandals in Australian radio, SHOCK JOCK is played by a brilliant ensemble cast of Australian performers:
Barry Gold (Matthew Dyktynski) is a cheeky, street-smart young radio announcer who doesn’t have any firm opinions but knows what’s going to outrage people.
Jack Piper (Michael Veitch) is the troubled Station Manager with very little control over the station’s mad mix of personalities.
Basil Hannigan (Rod Mullinar), wealthy radio legend and host of the prized morning show, is the media dinosaur coming to the end of his time in the fame game.
Tracy Tracey (Sancia Robinson) is CHAT-AM’s producer, full of nervous energy, torn between working with Barry’s crass approach or the lecherous shenanigans of Basil.
Clive Rank (Tom Budge) is the young station all-rounder with an unorthodox wisdom and a secret crush on Tracy.
Ruth Sharpe (Fiona Todd) is the hard as steel corporate lawyer exemplifying the 80s power woman - big hair, big attitude and big shoulder pads.
Created exclusively for pay-tv’s top rating channel TV1, SHOCK JOCK was conceived by versatile writer and performer, Tim Ferguson (Mockingbird Productions). Tim is co-producer of the series. He also plays Vox, the "eye in the sky" news reporter who provides a Greek chorus to the series, tying many 80s events into the storylines.
Marc Gracie (Mondayitis TV) directed and co-produced the series. Gracie’s television comedy credits include Acropolis Now, Totally Full Frontal,
Jimeon and Comic Relief as well as feature film directorial nods for The Craic, Crimetime and A Kink in the Picasso.
Unique in Australia to both pay and free-to-air, SHOCK JOCK embraces a team writing philosophy not unlike the winning formula embraced by many US comedy series. Head Writer Chris Thompson led a team of writers whose credits include Fast Forward, Full Frontal, The Micallef Programme, BackBerner and Tonight Live.
TV1 Program Director, Selena Crowley, is Executive Producer of SHOCK JOCK and Frances McConnell, Senior Vice President; Columbia Tri-Star Productions is Creative Consultant.
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