# Colin Free > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Colin_Free > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Colin_Free.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Free > Source revision: 1337018156 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Australian writer (1925–1996) Colin Free Born (1925-09-01)1 September 1925 Sydney, Australia Died 26 May 1996(1996-05-26) (aged 70) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Occupations Screenwriter playwright radio writer novelist short-story writer **Colin Lewis Free** (1 September 1925–26 May 1996) also wrote under pen name **Colin Lewis**, was an award-winning Australian screenwriter and dramatist, best known for his work on television, but also wrote for radio and theatre, as well as wrote short stories and novels. ## Biography Colin Free was born on 1 September 1925 in [Sydney, Australia](/source/Sydney) and died on 26 May 1996 in [Goulburn](/source/Goulburn%2C_New_South_Wales), Australia.[1] At the start of his career, Free wrote for the theatre, notably *Hamlet in Shadow*, which was performed in Sydney in 1954 with a cast featuring [Moya O'Sullivan](/source/Moya_O'Sullivan).[2] By the mid-1960s, he concentrated on writing teleplays for the [BBC](/source/BBC) and the [ABC](/source/Australian_Broadcasting_Corporation),[3] as well as for radio.[4] He was most frequently associated with ABC-TV where he developed the original treatment for the popular soap opera *[Bellbird](/source/Bellbird_(TV_series))*, created the adventure series *[Delta](/source/Delta_(Australian_TV_series)),* and served as script editor on the historical miniseries *[Rush](/source/Rush_(1974_TV_series))* and*[Ben Hall](/source/Ben_Hall_(TV_series))*. ## Assessment Leslie Rees called him: An author of remarkable facility and flexibility of mind" who in his stage plays "showed a rich gift for words in dramatic and lyrical contiguity, a derisive sense of characterization, a volatile and inventive calling-up of scene both past and present, and what Alexander Archdale described as “‘Pirandellian ingenuity”—all this without quite being able to draw his reins together and spin the horse past the winning-post, meanwhile murmuring in its ear something really striking. Similar qualities of flair, energy, but inadequate clearness of line marked some of Free’s ever-ranging, elusive contributions to a further A.B.C. series, *Delta*, illustrating the investigations of a young group of itinerant scientists into dubious practices around the countryside. But in the short bucolic comedy, *A Walk Among the Wheenies*, he was entirely successful.[5] ## Selected awards - [Australian Writer's Guild](/source/Australian_Writers'_Guild) ([AWGIE](/source/AWGIE_Awards)), 1977 - Best TV series episode, *[Rush](/source/Rush_(1970s_TV_series))* (Television) – "A Shilling a Day" - [Logie Award](/source/Logie_Awards) 1977 – Best script – *[Rush](/source/Rush_(1970s_TV_series))* (Television) - [Sammy Award](/source/Sammy_Awards) 1977 – Best writer for a television series, *[Rush](/source/Rush_(1970s_TV_series))* (Television) - [Logie Award](/source/Logie_Awards) 1979 – Bit part (Television Drama) - [Logie Award](/source/Logie_Awards) – 1984, 1985, 1986 – *[A Country Practice](/source/A_Country_Practice)* (Television) ## Selected credits - *[How Do You Spell Matrimony?](/source/How_Do_You_Spell_Matrimony%3F)* (1965) - *[Contrabandits](/source/Contrabandits)* (1967–68) - *[Delta](/source/Delta_(Australian_TV_series))* (1969) - *[The Thursday Creek Mob](/source/The_Thursday_Creek_Mob)* (1971) - *[The End Product](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_End_Product&action=edit&redlink=1)* (1974) - *[Ben Hall (TV series)](/source/Ben_Hall_(TV_series)) (1975)* - *[Rush](/source/Rush_(1974_TV_series))* (1977) - *[The Rock Pool](/source/The_Rock_Pool_(film))* (1979) - *[Timelapse](/source/Timelapse_(TV_series))* (1980) - *[All the Rivers Run](/source/All_the_Rivers_Run)* (1983) - *A Walk Among the Wheenies* ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Austlit. ["Colin Free: (author/organisation) | AustLit: Discover Australian Stories"](https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A21757). *www.austlit.edu.au*. Retrieved 10 October 2017. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Hamlet Story Re-told In New Play"](http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18422174). *Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954)*. 24 April 1954. p. 17. Retrieved 10 October 2017. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Connolly, Richard (2011). ["ABC Radio: Culture and the Spoken Word"](http://johntranter.com/abc/connolly-ach1983-a5.pdf) (PDF). *johntranter.com*. Retrieved 10 October 2017. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Classic soap Flashback: Bellbird"](http://www.atvtoday.co.uk/65046-bellbird/). *ATV Today*. 31 January 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2017. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Rees, Leslie (1987). [*Australian drama, 1970–1985 : a historical and critical survey*](https://archive.org/details/australiandrama10000rees/page/385/mode/1up?q=derisive). Angus & Robertson Publishers. p. 384-385. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780207153549](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780207153549). ## External links - [Colin Free](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1420174/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier)) - [Colin Free](http://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A21757) at [Austlit](/source/Austlit) Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF National United States People Trove Other Yale LUX This biographical article related to television in Australia is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. - [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Australia-tv-bio-stub) - [t](/source/Template_talk%3AAustralia-tv-bio-stub) - [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Australia-tv-bio-stub) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Colin Free](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Free) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Free?action=history)). 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