# Starting Out > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Starting_Out > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Starting_Out.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starting_Out > Source revision: 1351912186 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{other uses}} {{more citations needed|date=May 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}} {{Use Australian English|date=March 2012}} {{Infobox television | image = | caption = | genre = [Soap opera](/source/Soap_opera) | creator = [Reg Watson](/source/Reg_Watson) | developer = | writer = | director = | open_theme = | end_theme = | composer = | country = [Australia](/source/Australia) | language = English | num_seasons = 1 | num_episodes = 85 | list_episodes = | executive_producer = | producer = [Sue Masters](/source/Sue_Masters) | editor = | location = | cinematography = | camera = | runtime = | company = [Reg Grundy Organisation](/source/Reg_Grundy_Organisation) | network = [Nine Network](/source/Nine_Network) | first_aired = {{start date|1983|4|5|df=y}} | last_aired = {{end date|1983}} | related = ''[The Young Doctors](/source/The_Young_Doctors)'' }} '''''Starting Out''''' is an Australian [television](/source/television) [soap opera](/source/soap_opera) made for the [Nine Network](/source/Nine_Network) by the [Reg Grundy Organisation](/source/Reg_Grundy_Organisation) in 1983. ==Background == The five-night-a-week series was created by [Reg Watson](/source/Reg_Watson) as the network's replacement for the long-running serial ''[The Young Doctors](/source/The_Young_Doctors)''. It was produced by [Sue Masters](/source/Sue_Masters) who had also been the producer of ''The Young Doctors''. It was set at a medical college with an emphasis on young people getting their first experience of living away from home and leading independent lives. ''Starting Out'' debuted on 5 April 1983 in Melbourne and 18 April 1983 in Sydney. It aired in an early evening slot of 6pm week night's before the network's news service.Mercado, Andrew. ''Super Aussie Soaps'', Pluto Press Australia, 2004. {{ISBN|1-86403-191-3}} p 198-200 ==Cast== {{col-begin}} {{col-2}} * [Leander Brett](/source/Leander_Brett) as Aggie Dean * [Antoinette Byron](/source/Antoinette_Byron) as Laurel Adams * [David Clencie](/source/David_Clencie) as Ben McNamara{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114074158/starting-slowly/|title=Starting slowly|last=Brown|first=Jenny|date=7 April 1983|work=[The Age](/source/The_Age)|access-date=4 December 2022|via=[Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)}}{{free access}} * [Nikki Coghill](/source/Nikki_Coghill) as Margot Fallon-Smith * [Tottie Goldsmith](/source/Tottie_Goldsmith) as Trixie Sheldon{{cite magazine|date=30 April 1983|title=Starting out together...|magazine=[TV Week](/source/TV_Week)|page=41}} * [Alexander Sebastian](/source/Alexander_Sebastian) as Simon Hamilton * [Rowena Mohr](/source/Rowena_Mohr) as Michelle Rivers * [Julie Nihill](/source/Julie_Nihill) as Tessa Staples * [Peter O'Brien](/source/Peter_O'Brien_(actor)) as Craig Holt * [David Reyne](/source/David_Reyne) as Paul Harding * [Yves Stenning](/source/Yves_Stenning) as Will Brodie * [Gary Sweet](/source/Gary_Sweet) as Rod Turner * [Paul Williams](/source/Paul_Williams_(Australian_actor)) as Peter Nolan {{col-2}} * [Maurie Fields](/source/Maurie_Fields) as Mac Rankin * [Suzy Gashler](/source/Suzy_Gashler) as Yvonne Rivers * [Caroline Gillmer](/source/Caroline_Gillmer) as Eleannor Harris * [John Grant](/source/John_Grant_(Australian_actor)) as Dr. Greg Munro * [Jill Forster](/source/Jill_Forster) as Dr. Judith Holt * [John Hamblin](/source/John_Hamblin) as Dr. James Holt * [Gerard Maguire](/source/Gerard_Maguire) as Dr. John Rivers * [Anne Phelan](/source/Anne_Phelan) as Mrs. De Soosa * [Marie Redshaw](/source/Marie_Redshaw) as Mrs. Lynch * Colin Vancao as Russell Dean {{col-end}} ==Cancellation == The series failed to gain sufficient ratings and was quickly cancelled and removed from network schedules by 20 May 1983. Some of the unaired episodes were screened sporadically out-of-ratings in late 1983. Not until a late night repeat run during the later half of 1989 several years after production did all of the 85 produced episodes go to air. ==Reception== Robert Fidgeon of the ''[Herald Sun](/source/Herald_Sun)'' named ''Starting Out'' as one of "Australia's All-time Top 50 TV Turkeys". He stated "For some reason Peter O'Brien said yes to this dumb soap about dumb teen medical students living in a boarding house. Planned 17-week run lasted three."{{cite news|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A86198811/STND?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=cb8576be|title=Top of the flops|last=Fidgeon|first=Robert|date=15 May 2002|work=[Herald Sun](/source/Herald_Sun)|access-date=11 March 2024|via=[Gale](/source/Gale_(publisher))|url-access=subscription}} Fidgeon's colleague Fiona Byrne included ''Starting Out'' in her feature about "long forgotten Australian TV dramas that made viewers switch off."{{cite news|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A632926541/STND?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=fde4ac46|title=Truly terrible TV shows that flopped|last=Byrne|first=Fiona|date=19 August 2020|work=[Herald Sun](/source/Herald_Sun)|access-date=4 October 2024|via=[Gale](/source/Gale_(publisher))|url-access=subscription}} Summing it up, she wrote "It debuted on Channel 9 in April 1983 with little fanfare. It was pulled from the network's schedule after little more than a month and naturally there was not a second season." ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== * {{IMDb title|id=0289827|title=Starting Out}} *[http://colsearch.nfsa.afc.gov.au/nfsa/search/display/display.w3p;adv=yes;group=;groupequals=;holdingType=;page=0;parentid=;query=Number%3A493544;querytype=;rec=0;resCount=10 ''Starting Out'' at the National Film and Sound Archive] Category:Australian television soap operas Category:Nine Network original programming Category:1983 Australian television series debuts Category:1983 Australian television series endings Category:English-language Australian television shows Category:Television series produced by The Reg Grundy Organisation --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Starting Out](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starting_Out) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starting_Out?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.