17c起草社区

In 1972 Australian TV was rocked by a controversial and provocative soap opera, Number 96 which became hugely popular for the five and a half years it was on the air.

The show, which focused on a group of flats in a Paddington apartment block, soon became synonymous with eyebrow-raising sexual content, including nudity and an openly gay character.

Now, Lebanese-Australian actor Joe Hasham, who played gay lawyer Don Finlayson for the duration of the series run, is looking back at the show which made him a star.

The Night Australian Television Lost Its Virginity

Hasham spoke with聽17c起草社区 from his home in Malaysia where he has lived since 1984, and where he runs the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre with his wife Faridah.

Hasham recalls with a laugh how the show鈥檚 publicist, Tom Greer, summarised Number 96 as 鈥淭he night Australian television lost its virginity.鈥�

鈥淚 think it brought a whole lot of stuff to Australian audiences who in those days were pretty uptight about a lot of things, particularly about homosexuality; about anything to do with 17c起草社区I; they were not very understanding,鈥� Hasham says.

The show quickly became a phenomenon. 鈥淵ou could tell when 96 came on because if you walked down the street and people had their television on, you’d be able to hear what’s going on because practically everybody was watching鈥�It was just amazing. It was truly amazing.鈥�

First Aussie TV Show To Show A Gay Relationship

What was particularly impressive was the show 鈥渨as the first show to ever have a homosexual relationship and have a gay guy who was just a normal sort of fella.鈥�

鈥�Number 96 was blessed to have had the most incredible creator in David Sale and the most wonderful producers in Don Cash and Bill Harmon,鈥� says Hasham.

鈥淭hey were very brave individuals, and they said, 鈥楲et’s do it.鈥� They went to the network and the networks said, 鈥楴o fucking way! We can’t play this! We can’t do this.鈥� But Don, Bill and David insisted that if they wanted the show, it had to be that way, otherwise they wouldn’t do it. It was the best decision the network ever made. It went from being the poorest network in the country to the richest.鈥�

Hasham鈥檚 portrayal of a gay character 聽. The show also featured a bisexual character and a trans actor playing a trans character (Sydney showgirl Carolle Lea played the role of Robyn Ross).

I Didn鈥檛 Want To Fuck It Up

While Hasham, who is heterosexual, was excited to play the role, he recalls his biggest fear was disappointing his gay friends.

鈥淚 found it harrowing for the sole purpose that I didn鈥檛 want to fuck it up. I didn’t want people saying, 鈥極h, what the hell? What does he know about being gay?鈥欌��

鈥淒uring that interview, they laid out the premise of the role my character would play and they could sense I was a bit concerned. They said, 鈥業s there something wrong?鈥� I said, 鈥榃ell, no, no, I love the idea of it, but I’m a bit frightened because I have so many gay friends that I don’t want to disappoint them.鈥欌�� Hasham notes “most of [his] friendships; emotional friendships, were placed within the gay community.鈥�

While Hasham鈥檚 character became a fan favourite and he remained one of the show鈥檚 stars for the entire duration of the show鈥檚 five-and-a-half-year run, Hasham鈥檚 father wasn鈥檛 particularly thrilled with his son playing a gay character.

Questions Over Actor’s Sexuality

鈥淲hen it was revealed that my character was gay, I happened to be at home that night. I was there purposely because I knew that was the night that the revelation was going to happen, and my father was sitting there watching it with me. As soon as my father heard the line about me being homosexual, he stood up and said, 鈥榃hy couldn’t you play the murderer or something?鈥�’

Because his character was gay, Hasham鈥檚 sexuality was also questioned by many of the show鈥檚 fans. 鈥淥ver the years of Number 96, because of the popularity of my character, I got a lot of covers in TV Week, TV Times, and Woman’s Day. My face was there all the time. When I got married and we had our first child鈥� the rumours were going around town 鈥榟e only got married because he doesn’t want people to know he’s gay,鈥� and of course, I didn’t rebuff any of this. I just let it go. You want to think I鈥檓 gay? Fine! That’s perfectly okay with me.鈥澛�

Indeed, Hasham was fully on board when it came to his character鈥檚 sex life.聽 鈥淚 had so many hunky boyfriends. That was wonderful,鈥� he says. The show never shied away from the sexuality of his character and dared to go where no one had gone before; into the bedroom.

Gay Kiss On Australian TV

Hasham recalls when his character kissed another man and 鈥渂rought television to its knees. There’s an actor, John Orcsik [who was] very handsome, very macho. And there was a scene of us in bed.鈥�

鈥淭here was a kiss and I mean, it wasn’t just a normal kiss. It was a great kiss and we both enjoyed it,鈥� Hasham says with a laugh

鈥淚 think when it went to air they edited it out鈥�I mean we had nudity. We had people running around naked鈥�we had fully naked women. We had rape, we had incest.鈥�

鈥淚 get people coming up to me saying, 鈥榶ou know when I was watching you on Number 96, my parents wouldn’t let me watch it. So I’d sneak down the stairs and I’d hide and I would watch it.鈥� It was one of the shows that you’d have to watch because it was so outrageous.鈥�

Hasham remains proud of his role and how it helped to change the public鈥檚 perception of who 17c起草社区 people were, and made ordinary Australians 鈥渁ware聽 there are other people in the world. There are there are people who are just like you but they just have different preferences.鈥�