Frank Thring

Bodyline is an Australian 1984 television miniseries which dramatised the events of the 1932–1933 English Ashes cricket tour of Australia.

The producers were George Miller and Terry Hayes. The directors were Denny Lawrence, Lex Marinos, George Ogilvie and Carl Schultz. The scriptwriters for the mini-series were Robert Caswell, Lex Marinos, Denny Lawrence and Terry Hayes. The music for the mini-series was written by Chris Neal and Phillip Scott. Photography was by Dean Semler and Andrew Lesnie.

The seven-part mini-series was a ratings success, and was shown over a four-week period; however, it was regarded by those still alive who took part in the 1932-33 series or remembered it as a ludicrous travesty of the real events.

‘I can’t help feeling, with Jardine as captain … we may win the Ashes … but we may lose a dominion!’ Pelham Warner

‘Can’t we ask him to use a smaller bat …’ One of the Lords at Lord’s Cricket Ground.

The UK premiere of the 5 million dollar Bodyline mini-series was originally broadcast on BBC2 Television in 4:3 picture ratio on consecutive evenings at 9.00pm from Monday 3 June – Friday 7 June 1985 and was shown in the significantly longer, original, extended and uncut version. BBC2 divided the series into 5 parts of slightly varying lengths.