After 'The Seekers at home'(1966) and before 'The world The Seekers'(1968) this little documentary was filmed.
Taking advantage of the introduction of colour television to Australia. Although introduced in 1967 (the year the special was filmed) it was not implemented until 1975. Most programs were still filmed in black and white as it would not be worth the extra cost when most Australians would only see it in black and white. However, The Seekers, being an internationally recognised music group, this special would definitely be sold overseas to countries who already have full colour transmissions, so it was filmed in colour.
It's more than a look of what colour television would have looked like in Australia in the 60s. It's a great advertisement for Australia. The Seekers travel through Australia's largest capital cities, starting with the nation's capital, Canberra. The next are Sydney, Adelaide and lastly, The Seekers home town of Melbourne.
Not only do The Seekers visit some of Australia's most famous landmarks, it's an opportunity to see Australia in the 1960s. In Canberra, they visit the former parliament house, before going on a tour of foreign embassies. In Sydney, they cruise through the Harbour, before visiting the still uncompleted (at the time) Sydney Opera House. In Barossa Valley, they pick grapes at the grape vines. In Melbourne you see the brown (now yellow) Flinders Street Station. However, the best part is when they perform at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne. The year this was filmed, they performed to an audience of 200,000, which still stands as the highest audience for a concert in the Southern Hemisphere.
The only disadvantages is where The Seekers are required to "act" out scenes. They're fine when they're talking about themselves, but when they have to do a scene, it's very obvious they're delivering pre-written lines and it come out quite stale. Fortunately these scenes are far and between.
'The Seekers at home' was good, but had the huge disadvantage of being in black and white. It also had the same problem that The Seekers had in the 60s (which was fixed when the group reformed in the 90s). They use Athol Guy as the spokesperson for the group. Face facts, Judith is by far the most prominent member and not only is Athol boring, his jokes are quite unfunny.
'The World of The Seekers' had great music, but I was never sure if it was meant to be a documentary or a movie. And the poor acting already mentioned earlier in this review reeks right through it. It's partially set in Britain, but fully filmed in Australia. The guy playing their manager has an Australian accent, despite the fact that he's English.
I definitely recommend this one first. Not only a unique look at Australia in the 1960s, but a rare chance to see what was Australia's first band to make in internationally.
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