Number 96
Rating: M
Running Time: Approx. 4 hours
Distributor: Umbrella Aussie DVD

Instantly dubbed as "the night Australia lost its virginity", 'Number 96' caused a storm of controversy when it hit our small-screens in 1972. Set in a block of flats in Sydney, the series captured the outrageously over-the-top, and all-too-often-raunchy, goings-on of the characters who dwelled within.

While I was too young to be allowed to watch the show due to its frequent nudity and other grown-up themes, I was also among the many of my age group secretly crouching down behind the couch each night to sneak a glimpse of what would be the hottest subject at school the next day.

So what was all the fuss about? Much of the show no longer exists due to very poor decisions made at the time to re-record over the then-extremely-expensive video tapes to save on costs; luckily what footage has been saved is enough to deliver a great snapshot of classic Aussie television history.

'Number 96' was groundbreaking in many ways because not only was it the first show on telly featuring a full-frontal nude shot with the exceedingly boobilicious blonde bombshell, and token virgin, Bev Houghton (played by Abigail), it also tackled taboo topics of the early '70s like homosexuality, infidelity, racism, drug use and social discrimination, along with other more shocking issues like Satanism (two guesses which character was chosen for the virgin sacrifice).

Ask anyone who knows the show and no doubt they'll automatically start quoting such characters as the much-loved busybody, Dorrie "Why wasn't I told?" Evans and her long-suffering husband Herb. Then there's the long list of other notables like the mad bomber Maggie "bloody" Cameron, Arnold Feather, Aldo and Roma Godolfus, Don Finlayson, Les and Norma Whittaker, Mummy and Daddy and the always-hard-done-by Vera Collins.

Spread over two discs, what you get here are two mid-70s TV specials chock full of classic clips and quirky quips from the cast to mark both the show's 1000th episode and its eventual demise after six years. It's terrible to think that if it wasn't for these specials that nothing of the show would still be around! Then there's the big-screen adaptation for cinemas, which in itself is a scream, but add fantastic commentary from the show's writer/creator David Sale, Elaine 'Vera' Lee and TV historian Andrew Mercado and you've got an incredible document that much better explains what all the hype was about than I can here.

Steve Jones