The Last Bastion

The Last Bastion is a television mini-series which aired in Australia in November 1984. It is a docudrama telling the story of Australia's involvement in World War II, and its often strained relations with its two main allies, Great Britain and the United States.

The running time of the series is reported as 360 minutes (6 hours) on the IMDb page, that is the screening time with ads. Each part runs for approx 90 minutes, both on VHS tape and DVD, is approximately 160 minutes implying they are heavily edited versions, as they've compressed 3 episodes into one 2 hour 40 minute film.

The 3 episodes still remain in the Screensound Archive.

Cast

 * Michael Blakemore ... John Curtin
 * John Wood ... Robert Menzies
 * Timothy West ... Winston Churchill
 * Robert Vaughn ... General Douglas MacArthur
 * Warren Mitchell ... Franklin D. Roosevelt
 * Ray Barrett ... General Thomas Blamey
 * Peter Whitford ... H. V. "Bert" Evatt
 * Max Cullen ... Eddie Ward
 * Jon Ewing ... Billy Hughes
 * Nancye Hayes ... Elsie Curtin
 * Neil Fitzpatrick ... Frederick Shedden
 * Bill Hunter ... Ben Chifley
 * Reg Gillam ... General George C. Marshall
 * Tim Robertson
 * Colin McEwan ... Frank Forde
 * John Clayton ... Arthur Fadden (3 episodes)
 * Vincent Ball ... General Sturdee
 * John McTernan

Production
The series was the result of two years work for Williamson. It was his first work for television and his first effort as producer.

Kristian Williamson helped with the research and wrote a book with the same title.