The Sullivans is an Australian period drama television series produced by Crawford Productions which ran on the Nine Network from 15 November 1976 until 10 March 1983. The series tells the story of a fictional average middle-class Melbourne family and the effect that the Second World War and the immediate post-war events had on their lives. It covers the period between 1 September 1939 to 22 August 1948. It was a consistent ratings success in Australia, and also became popular in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands, Gibraltar, Greece and New Zealand. Pre-production The show was purchased by Channel Nine without a pilot program being produced. They commissioned 34 hours with a view to extension. Fourteen writers were assigned to the thirteen plot lines which had been devised. The cast had not been established when they started writing the series and three months later they still had only two cast members, Vikki Hammond and Noni Hazlehurst. When researching the time period, the set designer Nick Rossendale said at the time "when you are dealing with a period of time that is well within living memory, you have to watch things very carefully". Hence, the painstaking research into the reality of the show. In 1976, the show was regarded as an ambitious project with the biggest budget ever for a commercial network series. It reputedly cost one million dollars to set up. Story and setting The story began in 1939, with the declaration of war against Germany. From the outset the series focused on the Sullivan family of fictitious address 7 Gordon Street, Camberwell, Victoria, along with neighbourhood friends, relatives and associates. The majority of the show's storylines related to the war, focusing on either the fighting itself or its effect on the Sullivan family. Scenes of battles in North Africa, Greece, Crete, Britain, New Guinea and Malaya were all filmed in or around Melbourne. However, some of the exterior scenes in the Netherlands were actually filmed in Amsterdam. The series was renowned for its high production standards. The programme's researchers went to great lengths to ensure both historical and cultural accuracy. Many scenes were timestamped and the scripts referenced actual military developments and events of the time, such as discussion of specific battles, sporting results and cinematic releases. For instance, this even went down to the weather, where the researchers checked through back copies of newspapers. Authentic