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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 443457" data-attributes="member: 23">SecretsWhen these episodes aired in late December 1981, Sons and Daughters was less than a month away from its first transmission. ACP seems to be serving as either a springboard or dry run for a number of actors who would have major regular roles in S&D. We’ve already had David Palmer in the pilot story. This episode features two more of the family: Beryl and John. Sadly, they don’t have scenes together as they’re in separate stories, but the connection is enough.This got me wondering about the shooting schedules for the series. Did they match up - with each being filmed something like 4-6 weeks ahead of transmission - or did ACP, with fewer episodes and its more upmarket hour-long format, have the luxury of shooting further in advance? If the filming-to-TX time was similar for both shows, this would mean Leila Hayes and Peter Phelps practically went straight from this to S&D. And that’s not all… I’ve noticed there’s yet another key S&D cast member in the next episode coming up.I had initially wondered if this was a way of breaking newbie Peter Phelps into television work ahead of a major role in the upcoming series, but looking at his IMDb I now realise he was fresh off a long-running role (over 600 episodes) in The Restless Years, meaning he was doing well for work. I hadn’t realised he was so experienced at the time S&D began as I’d always had the impression of him being a new “find” for that series.Leila only appears in Part I. It’s the kind of mumsy role with which she would become associated, but here it’s distorted, with her character being so insufferably overprotective of her asthmatic son, laid back Brendan is triggered enough to give her a good talking to. It’s a strong performance from Leila who isn’t afraid to show the ugly, domineering side of motherhood.I love that we’re still learning fragments of the main characters’ backgrounds. In a more conventional soap, we learn about characters more quickly by necessity, because the characters are the story. ACP is different because it’s frequently the one-and-done guest characters who supply the story, while the regulars react to it in ways that help us learn about them gradually. It feels we can go on for years and still be learning new facts about characters that feel completely organic.The previous episodes had Marta talking about her past. Here it’s Brendan. The way Mrs Burns is with her asthmatic son reminds him of his own mother, who had behaved the same way with Brendan’s asthmatic brother, making him so dependent upon his inhaler and her that he ended up dying. There’s a strong message in there about the way mental outlook can impact recovery for better or worse. By episode’s end, Mrs Burns seems to have got the message.That same theme of outlook impacting result runs through the other stories in these episodes. When Maurie Wilson’s bus is seen at the scene of an accident, Maurie denies being there most convincingly. His son, newly returned to Wandin Valley and played by Phelps - is very eager to be a bus driver but Maurie won’t let him near the bus. I really thought I knew where this was going.Then Maurie has a seizure, and it emerges he is in such strong denial, he just continues with his business, risking his life and the life of townspeople. Simon is the regular most involved, and takes it upon himself to hound Maurie into reasonableness. It works of a fashion. continued...</blockquote>

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