Castlereagh Line - Grace Gibson Productions radio serial

This is an extract from the 1980s radio serial Castlereagh Line, by Grace Gibson Productions.

Contributors: Ross Napier (AUT), Grace Gibson Productions (PDC).

Cast: Ric Hutton, Wynne Nelson, Deryk Barnes.

Summary: Set in 1880, The Castlereagh Line commences with the establishment of a Coach Line in northern New South Wales.

In 1934, Texas-born Grace Gibson was brought to Australia by Sydney radio station 2GB’s general manager, AE Bennett, to help sell American radio programs within Australia. Within ten years she had formed Grace Gibson Radio Productions, one of the most successful radio production companies in the world.

Gibson’s company specialised in soap operas and serials, ranging from long-running family dramas Dr Paul and Portia Faces Life, to crime serials Night Beat and Dossier on Dumetrius.

Scripts were often imported from the United States and adapted for Australian audiences, produced using local actors and then syndicated to radio stations across Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Hong Kong and Canada. Many shows were so popular that they were still produced for up to 14 years after the original American scripts ran out, employing local writers to take over.

When Gibson sold the business in 1978, Grace Gibson Productions had produced and sold around 40,000 quarter-hour episodes.