The Sullivans - International Success

International Success

The series enjoyed success outside Australia when it was broadcast by networks in Britain and continental Europe, usually as a daytime filler. The series was sold to over 45 country worldwide.

• The Sullivans started on the ITV network on 18 October 1977, less than a year after its debut in Australia and was initially networked by Thames Television to all 15 ITV companies in the midweek Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 15.50 afternoon slot. Over the next 18 months or so, broadcasts were reduced to twice-weekly, and often only once a week, settling into a weekly Friday afternoon slot by 1979. ATV were the first region to break away from the networked episodes, and as early as January 1978 they were scheduling the programme on different days and times, and began falling behind the rest of the country. When networked repeats of the ATV drama serial The Cedar Tree ended in June 1979, The Sullivans briefly took its place in the 12.30 lunchtime slot and was stripped five days a week, but this new timelsot lasted only a matter of weeks and it was moved back to the weekly Friday afternoon slot in July. The Sullivans disappeared from schedules briefly after the ITV Strike, and in mid-November the series resumed in most regions, once again in the 12.30 lunchtime slot, initially four days a week, but reduced to three and then two episodes per week during 1980, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. STV broke away from the networked episodes in November 1979 and ATV dropped the series altogether for some months. Many other regions followed suit during 1980 and began scheduling The Sullivans on different days and times. Although most still favoured the 12.30 lunchtime slot, they showed the programme less often than Thames and rapidly began falling behind in the storyline. In 1981 ATV finally cancelled the series altogether, and Yorkshire Television followed suit in December 1982, opting for local programming instead. Border Television, Tyne Tees Television, and Ulster Television continued to screen their episodes via the Thames Television feed throughout the series's entire run, and these regions were the first to complete the series, broadcasting the final episode on Wednesday 5 October 1988. Nearly all the remaining ITV companies completed the series in late 1988 or early 1989 except for HTV, TSW and Scottish Television which took until 1993 to complete the series. When Westcountry Television took over from TSW, they initially dropped The Sullivans from their schedule, only to bring it back a while later due to popular demand. The was short-lived, however, and Westcountry then dropped the series completely, meaning that ITV viewers in Yorkshire, the Midlands and the South West never saw the entire series.

• The Sullivans has also had a lengthy run on satellite and cable television in the UK. The series was screened on Sky Channel in the mid-to-late 1980s, before it became Sky One, and aired at 11.30am every weekday morning. In the mid 1990s, it enjoyed another repeat run on satellite channel UK Gold. Again, it was broadcast at 11.30am from 1994 to 1999.

• The show was aired on RTÉ One

• The series was a Sunday night TV staple on GBC TV in Gibraltar, where The Sullivans aired as double episodes every Sunday night from 8.45pm throughout the 1980s. The series was amongst the most popular programmes in Gibraltar at the time.

• In the early 1980s, the series was syndicated in North America. Stations included WLVI Boston and CKRD Red Deer.

The Sullivans employed scores of actors in short-term and supporting roles, so becoming something of a proving ground for young Australasian talent. Many of the young actors who worked on the series during its run would later enjoy successful careers, such as Mel Gibson, Kerry Armstrong, Kylie Minogue, Dannii Minogue, Sam Neill, Gary Sweet and Sigrid Thornton. The series also employed many already-prominent actors, including John Orcsik, Gus Mercurio, Charles Tingwell, John Waters, Maurie Fields and Vincent Ball.