{{Short description|1974 Australian TV soap opera}} {{Use Australian English|date=September 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}} {{Infobox television | image = Classof74TitleCard.png | caption = | creator = | developer = [[Reg Grundy Organisation]] | starring = [[Leonard Teale]]<br/>[[John Hamblin]]<br/>[[Gordon Glenwright]] | narrator = | open_theme = [[Brian Cadd]] | end_theme = | country = Australia | num_episodes = 290 x 30 minute episodes | camera = | runtime = 30 minutes (with adverts) | network = [[Seven Network]] | first_aired = {{Start date|1974|3|18|df=y}} | last_aired = {{End date|1975}} }}

'''''Class of '74''''' (and subsequently '''''Class of '75''''') is a soap opera that screened on the [[Seven Network]] in [[Australia]] and produced by [[Reg Grundy Organisation]], with [[Peter Maxwell (director)|Peter Maxwell]] as EP and sometime director, the series was created by John Edwards, a former employee of [[Crawford Productions]] and devised by [[Alan Coleman]] and broadcast in [[black-and-white]] starting March 1974.<ref name="Super Aussie soaps">{{cite book|last=Mercado|first=Andrew|title=Super Aussie soaps: behind the scenes of Australia's best loved TV shows|publisher=Pluto Press|year=2004|page=75|isbn=978-1-86403-191-1}}</ref> Marist Singers of Eastwood provided back-up singing for the school choir.

The series was set at a fictional [[secondary school]] called a ''Waratah High School'' with its characters being a mix of teachers, staff and students. The series was aimed at a teenage audience. Running for 290 x 30 minutes episodes; five episodes each week were broadcast, stripped across week nights in an early evening 7pm timeslot. The series was renamed ''Class of '75'' for its second and final year. Although originally produced in black and white, it switched to colour broadcasting during its second year of production.<ref name="moran">Albert Moran, ''Moran's Guide to Australian TV Series'', AFTRS 1993 p 117-118</ref>

==Main cast==

===Teachers, staff and adults=== {|class="wikitable" ! Actor ! Character |- | [[Leonard Teale]] || as Mr. Charles Ogilvy - School Principal |- | [[John Hamblin]] || Mr. Donald Blair - Deputy Principal |- | [[Gordon Glenwright]] || Hubbard (janitor) |- | [[Jeanie Drynan]] || Mary Dunstan |- | [[Vince Martin (actor)|Vince Martin]] || Gary Evans / Jack Christiansen |- | Jan Kingsbury || Maureen Blair |- | Chuck Danskin || Glen Turner |- | Allan Lander || Father Paul Kennedy |- | Carol Vincent-Smythe || Barbara Young |- | [[Phillip Ross]] || David Willard |- | Judy Ferris || Ruth Howard |- | [[Edward Howell (actor)|Edward Howell]] || James Findlay |}

===Students=== {|class="wikitable" ! Actor ! Character |- | [[John Diedrich]] || Barry Collins |- | [[Anne Louise Lambert]] || Peggy Richardson |- | [[Megan Williams (actress)|Megan Williams]] || Ann Watson |- | [[Joanne Samuel]] || Sue Taylor |- | Carla Hoogeveen || Julie Armstrong |- | [[Kevin Wilson (actor)|Kevin Wilson]] || John Ward |- | Chris Cummings || Greg Simpson |- | Barbara Llewellyn || Nora Hayes |- | Adrian Bernotti || Tony Bianco |- | Terry Peck || |- | Sharon Higgins || Jackie Howard |- | Greg Bepper || Dean Howard |}

===Miscellaneous=== {|class="wikitable" ! Actor ! Character |- | [[Anne Charleston]] || Faith Adam |- | [[Abigail (actress)|Abigail]] || Angelique Dupree |- | [[Peta Toppano]] || Gina Ferrari |- | [[Briony Behets]] || Jorja Jones |- | [[Peter Bensley]] || Dennis Braithwaite |- | [[Angela Punch-McGregor]] || Jane Potter |- | [[Marty Rhone]] || Tom Carter |- | Peter Flett || Rick Harris |- | Bronwyn Winter || Loretta Day |- | [[Patrick Ward (actor)|Patrick Ward]] || Sam Wandsworth |}

Cast members Teale, Hamblin and Glenwright continued the program's entire run.

== See also == * [[List of Australian television series]]

==References== {{reflist}}

== External links == * [https://web.archive.org/web/20200419081833/http://members.ozemail.com.au/~fangora/class.html Aussie Soap Archive: Class of '74] &mdash; Overview and review; Archived 19 April 2020 * {{IMDb title|id=0149430|title=Class of '74}} *[http://colsearch.nfsa.afc.gov.au/nfsa/search/display/display.w3p;adv=yes;group=;groupequals=;holdingType=;page=0;parentid=;query=Number%3A138212;querytype=;rec=0;resCount=10 Class of 74 at the National Film and Sound Archive]

[[Category:1974 Australian television series debuts]] [[Category:1975 Australian television series endings]] [[Category:1970s high school television series]] [[Category:1970s teen drama television series]] [[Category:1970s television soap operas]] [[Category:Australian television soap operas]] [[Category:Australian high school television series]] [[Category:Seven Network original programming]] [[Category:Television series produced by The Reg Grundy Organisation]] [[Category:Television shows set in New South Wales]] [[Category:Black-and-white Australian television shows]] [[Category:English-language Australian television shows]] [[Category:Television series about educators]] [[Category:Australian television series about teenagers]] [[Category:Australian teen drama television series]]

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