In the 1970s, parents across Australia forbade children from watching the racy television soap opera Number 96.
Producers of the show, about the residents of an inner-Sydney apartment block, loved to shock our staid society with bed-hopping and shower scenes.
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Remembering Number 96: when TV 'lost its virginity'
Nigel Giles, author of a new book about the 1970s TV show Number 96, talks about the legacy of the groundbreaking series which featured on-screen nudity, gay couples, inter-racial romances and Aboriginal and transgender characters.
Nigel Giles, author of a new book about Number 96, says it was the first Australian series to feature on-screen nudity. Buxom blonde actor Abigail was famously blase about signing the show's nudity clause.
"It was accepted that sooner or later there'd be a bed scene or a shower scene or blokes running around in their jocks, or a nude bum – male or female," Giles says.
For the book, called Number 96: Australian TV's Most Notorious Address, Giles tracked down and interviewed more than 50 former cast and crew.
Giles, a TV historian, is a lifelong Number 96 fan. Growing up in Melbourne, he was eight when his "easygoing" parents let him watch the show in 1974, and he would fill in wide-eyed school friends.
But what hooked him was Number 96's entertaining, often funny community of characters, including 'whingeing Pom' Alf Sutcliffe, mad inventor Les Whittaker and the bitchy Maggie Cameron.
The book's release marks 45 years since "Australian TV lost its virginity" – as cheeky newspaper ads put it before the first episode aired in March 1972.
Giles says despite its salacious reputation, Number 96 was ground-breaking, featuring gay couples, inter-racial romances and Aboriginal and transgender characters. Writers explored heroin addiction, gang rape and breast cancer.
Sometimes it got silly, such as the time one character's parents were eaten by a shark. Or the "black mass" episode when a witch (Toni Lamond) tried to sacrifice a semi-naked virgin (Abigail) on an altar. The episodes about the 'Pantyhose Killer' ended with the culprit revealed to be a woman. .
In 1975, sagging ratings caused the writers to kill four characters in a bomb blast. But viewers lashed out at the loss of beloved characters like deli owner Aldo (Johnny Lockwood).
At its peak, Number 96 was wildly popular, screening five nights a week. Actors were mobbed in Melbourne's Moomba parade, and during train trips to the southern city for the Logies. There was a feature film, cast member albums, and even novels.
Giles possesses 100 memorabilia items, including a cookbook and a brochure for overseas tours with cast members.
He says the book is "partly for fans, but not entirely".
"I wanted people who don't know about the show to understand the social impact it made. There was nothing else like it, because of the diverse characters and the storylines.
"I think it should be recognised and celebrated. And people who may have heard of it, but never watched it, might like to know what all the fuss was about."