satirical TV comedy in Australia, featuring Australian issues and characters, and that there was a significant audience for such a show. As the first Australian-produced TV comedy series to become a national success with both critics and viewers alike, Mavis is therefore considered a milestone in the development of Australian TV. Many at the time expected that this honour would go to Graham Kennedy's In Melbourne Tonight, which was although hugely popular in its home city, did not become a fully-fledged national hit until 1969. Writer Hugh Stuckey opined that this was in part because IMT faced strong competition from the shows it followed, the top-rating American variety series The Perry Como Show and The Andy Williams Show. Mavis Bramston grew out of the recent local theatrical tradition of topical satirical revue —- most notably the popular revues staged at Sydney's Phillip Street Theatre in the 1950s and 1960s -— but it was also strongly influenced by the British satire boom and especially by the contemporary British TV satirical comedy series That Was The Week That Was and Not Only... But Also. Cast members The Mavis cast, which changed considerably over its three-year run, initially featured many imported or expatriate British alongside experienced Australian actors such as John Bluthal who was becoming well known in Britain, and Australian performers who were relative newcomers to TV but who, between them however, had decades of experience in theatre, cabaret and revue and music. During its three-year run, other regular cast members and guests included Miriam Karlin (1965), Ronnie Stevens (1965–66), Neva Carr Glyn (1966), June Thody (1966), Peter Reeves (1967), singer Bryan Davies (1964) and comic Dawn Lake (1967). Barbara Wyndon and Al Thomas guest starred in some episodes. Among the crew was a young production assistant, Peter Weir, who went on to become one of Australia's best-known and most successful film directors. Show's title There are several versions of the source of the ironic joke behind the show's title. The most frequently quoted account is that it derived from an Australian theatrical expression. The nickname "Mavis Bramstons" mocked a phenomenon common at that time on the Australian stage. In the years after World War II, overseas actors (many of whom who were considered second-rate or well past their best) were often imported to star in local productions, even though there were local performers available who were as good or better than