Written by Melanie Tait, Directed by Lee Lewis
Type: Nostalgic, World Premiere, Dramady
If you liked: A Country Practice, The Appleton Ladies’ Potato Race, Australian TV Drama
How to Plot a Hit in Two Days: This trip down memory lane treats some audiences to a riotous insight into the crafting of TV deaths, while others struggle to get in on the joke
Before the multitude of streaming channels, before the era of the binge series, before the reduced capacity to focus for long periods of time, there was the era of prime time TV. This was a time when millions of viewers would gather around their living rooms, eyes glued to their television sets to watch the latest weekly episode of a series that’s been running for years.
Characters on these shows were as real and human as our own neighbours. They lived, they breathed, they were corporeal. So how then, did audiences react when the writers behind these hit TV shows were forced to write a coherent storyline that saw the departure of a fan favourite? And what exactly did these writer’s room look like as they plot a hit TV show departure?
A Look Back at A Country Practice and 1980s TV
In How to Plot a Hit in Two Days, playwright Melanie Tait takes us back to 1985 in the writing room of Australian TV prime time mega hit A Country Practice to answer this. Specifically, the departure of beloved character Molly Jones whose death probably saw the most profitable year for the kleenex company in Australia.
Nostalgia runs rife in Tait’s script. Starring TV stalwart Georgie Parker, who was herself a player on ACP, there is a deep reflection on the love that audiences had for a series that they watched for fourteen years. Now in the era of streaming, seasons are only ever limited, they run for three to four seasons before wrapping up or are axed before they even move on to their second.
It’s a request that audiences pack their best walking shoes as director Lee Lewis and Tait take us down memory lane. Not only do they invest a great deal of time revelling in the many successful storylines and love for the characters of ACP, there’s also larger references to the Australian zeitgeist of the 1980s. Mick Dundee himself, Paul Hogan, features as a C-Plot for Seán O’Shea’s Bert whose wife is off working on the set of Crocodile Dundee – or as he exclaims, “that crocodile movie. Good luck to them!” The play wants us to take a seat once more in a much richer time of entertainment, where audience investment and, most importantly, getting your viewers to shed as many tears as humanly possible was the way to win the ratings war.
This world premiere separates the audience before the lights even rise on Simone Romaniuk’s intimate and detailed set with a brainstorming chalkboard, an abundance of minties and fantales on the round writers table, and a display of multiple silver logies I like to think are the real deal. For those born after 1985, you most likely did not grow up watching ACP, and so the many in-jokes and references to the iconic series will soar way above your head. It’s thankful then that a list of the character’s faces and their actor’s names is fully displayed as reference throughout so you can follow the journey.
As How to Plot a Hit embarks on the slow, and resentful journey to killing off the beloved Molly, you feel drawn into the passion felt for, not just ACP, but for the art of writing a long-running and widely adored series. There is a certain sadness at this lost art hidden between the lines.
Parker’s Judy is a reflection of the real life writer on ACP, Judith Colquhoun, who is affectionately referred to as TV’s “Most Wanted Serial Killer” due the responsibility she held for killing off many characters throughout her run writing for TV. Her mere presence in the writer’s room is a warning signal for the other writers that someone is going to be “offed” in the coming episodes.
Having Parker take on this role in this particular show about this particular series is the production’s biggest payoff. Her final monologue that paints out the final moments of Molly’s death is enough to bring one to tears all over again. Having never seen the episode in question, I felt the impact this would have had on audiences who followed her character throughout the series, my own tears welling up for a soul I’ve never met. It’s beautiful stuff.
The Ensemble Cast and Their Roles
The balance of the rest of the ensemble is well played, each lending their own soul to creating a fitting demise that not only does the character justice, but gives the audience time to grieve for them in the process. Each time O’Shea enters a stage, I smile in anticipation for his natural comedic timing he inherently imbues into any production he features. Julia Robertson’s nurse Sally is the young medical brain that gives the country practice in question its reality, which steers ACP out of the loathed “soap opera” territory. Genevieve Lemon’s Dell gifts the series her wisdom, connecting to an understanding of what audiences will cry for and what they’ll fight for. And Amy Ingram’s ex-jailbird Sharon is the cold-hearted and stoic leader that keeps the train on its tracks with a foul mouth and an unflinching objective to give the show its highest ratings possible.
Is How to Plot a Hit in Two Days Worth Seeing in Sydney?
How to Plot a Hit in Two Days is a seemingly closed off production, written in a way that will appeal to an audience of a particular era. However, if you find yourself to be of that sphere, the full bodied characters, reflection on one of Australian TV’s biggest hits, and nostalgia will be plenty to give you a rich and cathartic experience.
Before you go, let’s take a moment to pause and mourn some of Australian TV’s most tragic deaths:
- Claire McLeod – McLeod’s Daughters (2003)
- Bea Smith – Wentworth (2016)
- Lou Jackson – Love My Way (2005)
- Maggie Doyle – Blue Heelers (2000)
- Helen Daniels – Neighbours (1997)
Theatre Thought: I quite often enjoy going into shows blind, not having any pretense or knowledge of what I’m seeing and instead exploring the journey with the rest of the audience. How to Plot a Hit in Two Days is most definitely one to read the synopsis on beforehand, lest you find yourself, like me, only realising the show that was the focus of discussion an hour into the piece!
Tickets and Practical Info for How to Plot a Hit in Two Days in Sydney 🎟️
Ensemble Theatre, Kirribilli
Until 11th October, 2025
Tickets: https://www.ensemble.com.au/shows/how-to-plot-a-hit-in-two-days/
HOW TO PLOT A HIT IN TWO DAYS is a fictional play imagining the machinations of a hypothetical writers’ room. It is not affiliated with the television show A Country Practice.
Cast & Creatives
Playwright – Melanie Tait
Director – Lee Lewis
Assistant Director – Tiffany Wong
Set & Costume Designer – Simone Romaniuk
Lighting Designer – Brockman
Composer & Sound Designer – Paul Charlier
Stage Manager – Jen Jackson
Assistant Stage Manager – Sherydan Simson
Costume Supervisor – Renata Beslik
Cast
Amy Ingram
Genevieve Lemon
Seán O’Shea
Georgie Parker
Julia Robertson
This production is made possible by the Commissioners’ Circle and The Tracey Trinder Playwright’s Award.
