E Street - About E Street

About E Street

E Street was modelled on A Country Practice (Forrest Redlich had worked as a writer on A Country Practice) and could initially be seen as an 'urban' version of that soap, tackling human interest, issue-led stories over two weekly hour-long episodes, with longer-running soapier elements provided by a small ensemble cast. There were further parallels: both soaps featured a police station, a local pub and a doctor's surgery. Whereas A Country Practice featured a veterinary surgery, in E Street, this was replaced with a legal centre. A more obvious comparison with A Country Practice was with the addition of Penny Cook as E Streets' anchor character, Dr Elly Fielding. Penny Cook had previously had a tremendously popular run as vet Vicky Dean in A Country Practice from 1981–85 and she was the first of several well-known actors to cross over to E Street during its 4 year run, including Kate Raison, Joan Sydney, Anne Tenney and Josephine Mitchell. Another popular member of the original cast was Tony Martin as trendy Reverend Bob Brown and his blossoming relationship with Dr Elly spanned much of the entire run of the series. Other regulars from the beginning included publican Ernie Patchett (Vic Rooney) and his teenage son, Chris (Paul Kelman). He was romancing feisty barmaid Lisa Bennett, played by Alyssa-Jane Cook who became one of the soap's most popular stars. Sarah McKillop (Katrina Sedgewick) arrived in Westside to re-open the Legal Centre at the beginning of the series, and newlyweds Paul (Warren Jones) and Rhonda Berry (Melanie Saloman) were also settling into life on Eden Street when it began.

But what started out as a grittier version of its immediate contemporaries, E Street did not perform well in Australia when it launched in January 1989 and this led to many changes in direction. As early as 6 months in, the series underwent a revamp and, at first, the original issue-based social commentary storylines were replaced by more upbeat plots, episode titles were ditched and comedy characters were added, brightening up the whole feel and look of E Street. However, the violent demise of two original cast members - one was shot dead in a siege, the other raped and strangled to death - set the extreme and darkened tone of what was to come. By the end of 1989, the programme had an entire new look, redesigned titles, an upbeat and jazzier theme tune plus an expanded cast of more likable and younger characters. Comedy and colour was now a large part of E Street, and the younger cast featured dashing airline pilot Daniel Windsor (Chris Orchard) and his young family moving to E Street as Daniel romanced Dr Elly. His eldest daughter, Toni (Toni Pearen) became particularly popular, and other new characters, such as "Wheels" (Marcus Graham), 'Harley' Brown (Malcolm Kennard) and Alice Sullivan (Marianne Howard) all helped the soap become more and more popular and continue to develop a huge following.

During the 1990 season, E Streets viewing figures began to rapidly climb and the arrival of deranged, drug-addicted Sonny Bennett (Richard Huggett) sent ratings soaring. This character, Lisa Bennett's brother and hell-bent on revenge, signalled another shake up of the cast and no less than five established characters were disposed of during this period - three members of the Patchett family perished in a highly shocking car-bomb explosion - but it was these scenes that shook up the audience figures and the show was soon nearing the top of the ratings and became the most talked about series on Australian television. A super-bitch with shoulder-pads, Sheridan Sturgess arrived, taking over the local TV station WTV8, and the role was given to Kate Raison, another actress famous for her 4-year run in A Country Practice (as Cathy Hayden). Sheridan became central to E Streets next big storyline; the arrival of the notorious serial killer Stephen Richardson, a.k.a. 'Mr Bad' (Vince Martin). The 1991 season was dominated by this long and convoluted plot which cleverly affected every cast member over an entire year. More high-profile contract-cast were killed off during this grisly but utterly compelling storyline, leaving viewers wondering who was going to be killed-off next. The audience lapped up Sheridan's Technicolor nightmare sequences revealing the murder of a little girl called Becky Campbell by a man with his face painted half black and half silver. That person was of course Stephen Richardson, the charming Karate teacher of Claire Fielding, and as Sheridan grew more fearful of Stephen, Mr Bad's reign of terror began with the shocking murder of Dr Virginia Travis (Julieanne Newbould) followed soon after by Sheridan's brother Michael (Graham Harvey). E Street had undoubtedly moved on from its well-meaning inception; the opening title sequence was eventually dropped, the pace and melodrama breathlessly increased and cast turnover became exceptionally high, however, the soap continued to develop its audience and E Street finally topped the Australian ratings for the first time during 1991. Viewers had seemingly accepted the drug abuse, religious cults and crazy stalkers - plus the problematic re-cast of the leading character Dr Elly Fielding when Penny Cook quit and was replaced by Diane Craig - because, all along, the show did not take itself seriously and this made the relentless and sensational plots somewhat enjoyable as a form of escapism. Indeed, during the rest of 1991 and most of 1992, E Street was the most popular serial in Australia.

As the series established its own identity, several music videos and musical performances were incorporated into episodes to promote music released on the offshoot Westside Records music label, whilst some of the actresses, namely Melissa Tkautz and Toni Pearen, released singles which were massive hits in Australia. Melissa Tkautz had the biggest selling single of 1991 with her #1 dance hit "Read My Lips" and the follow-up, "Sexy (Is The Word)", made #3 the same year, all thanks to their inclusion on E Street. Hugely popular pin-up star Bruce Samazan even released a single, a rap record called "One of a Kind", and artists such as the Maybe Dolls and Euphoria also had big hits thanks to E Street. The show had developed an unprecedented look and sound all of its own, surpassing both Neighbours and Home and Away in the ratings and popularity. At the 1992 Australian Logies, E Street won the coveted "Most Popular Serial" category, sealing the success of the series in its home territory.

Ironically however, E Streets' popularity peaked in 1992 with the conclusion of the 'Mr Bad' storyline. Indeed, it was this long-running plot that kept the show at the top of the Australian ratings and even after the departure of Vince Martin, who originally played the sadistic serial-killer, and Kate Raison as victim Sheriden Sturgess, the 'Mr Bad' plot continued with a new actor playing the part - and new characters for him to torment. However, once Stephen Richardson and his murderous alter-ego were finally dead and buried, the writers struggled to keep the momentum as several high-profile characters departed and new storylines seemed lame compared to what had happened before. A big loss was Marcus Graham who completed 3 separate stints in the show as Stanley "Wheels" Kovac. Early in the series, he used a wheelchair, hence his nickname, although he was fully upright when he left E Street for good in episode 302, taking with him the hugely popular character, Sheridan Sturgess. Original favourite Lisa Bennett (Alyssa-Jane Cook) and long-running Alice Sullivan (Marianne Howard) had also left the series by this point and many others were to leave soon after. The solution was a raft of fresh faces; lovable nerd Jamie Newman (Scott McRae) arrived during the 'Mr Bad' revenge plot along with new Police Constable Sam Farrell (Simon Baker); a new bad-boy appeared - Reverend Bob's long-lost gangster brother, Jack Brown, played by Andrew Williams, poached from Neighbours where he'd spent 8 months playing Lou Carpenter's son, Guy. Melissa Bell, also ex-Neighbours, joined the cast as Bonnie Tate and fresh from her role in Home and Away, Josephine Mitchell arrived as Penny O'Brien. These characters were met with limited success, however, and Jack Brown's uninspired gangster storylines were considered a low point of E Streets final few months, as was a dream sequence involving Max turning into a werewolf, which seemed a desperate attempt by the writers to hold on to a hastily dwindling audience.