The Outsiders

21 year old Peter Jarrett (Sascha Hehn) is expected to tow the line and follow his father Harry (Ray Barrett) into the family business but Peter is more interested in learning about his grandfather Charlie Cole (Andrew Keir) who had a falling out with Harry some years ago. An argument between Peter and his father ensues resulting in Peter taking an EH Holden Ute from his father's car yard and setting off in search of his grandfather.

Peter eventually finds his grandfather and the two travel around Australia picking up whatever work they can as they go, working as anything from shearing roustabouts to local politician! The Outsiders is excellent escapist entertainment for anyone who ever dreamed of just jumping in a car and going wherever the road may take them. It is full of rich Australian outback scenery and attitudes with a character reminiscent of an Australia which might be depicted by the likes of Henry Lawson and Banjo Patterson, had they lived and written in the 1970's.

The series features appearances from John Jarrett, David Gulpilil, and Tom Oliver amongst others. It comprises just 13 episodes which originally aired during the 3 months from 9 November 1976 to 1 February 1977. If the ABC had of persisted with this series and promoted it better, I have no doubt it would now be a cult classic.

This is the Australian TV series. It is a classic. The stories and actors are excellent. Who can forget Picker and his gramophone or Chet being ambushed? This is cult TV. The Australian actors in the series were the best of their day and have immortality in The Outsiders. What can I say timeless adventure. The music and song just fantastic. The closing credits starting with the close up of the wheel, then Keir sleeping n being jostled around and then the long shot just cannot get much better than that. All 13 episodes are equally solid in the portrayal of the Australian myth and I think this is what this series has.It does not matter that the two main characters were from overseas, I think that is the key to the series and why it is so good.

Yeah great cult TV series. Great atmosphere, top script and good performances make this a class A candidate for DVD release.

This is a seminal tour de force of Australian TV history and has that unforgettable groovy period piece soundtrack with Doug Parkinson's gravel and phlegm voice spewing 70's Australiana all over your cathode ray box as a amazingly long camera zoom out reveals the religion of the open road in all its Antipodean glory. This is a memento from another and not too distant era, and has the proud stamp of the land mighty Down Under from start to finish in all its raw freedom and gritty grandeur.

Come on ABC! Get with the program and release this cool 70's cult baby for all to enjoy - or re-enjoy if you're lucky enough to have lived the dream at the time.

I agree, it was an excellent series, and was one of the first joint projects I am aware of that the Australian Broadcasting Commission (now Corporation) with a German film company. I was fortunate enough to do a similar type of journey with my grandfather in the late 80's, and take him on a return journey to Darwin, where he served during WWII. I then returned to the outback to continue that dream. The Outsiders was an example of fine Australian drama produced by the ABC at the time, and stood out for its contemporary look at the outback when others were continuing to concentrate on period drama. I suppose that sums up much of the Australian psyche really, those in the cities dream of being the old time drover...and still think that many of us in the outback are like that...eh.

I remember seeing some episodes of this Australian 1970s TV series in the UK in the late 80's, and have since managed to track down the series via bootlegs recently . The stories are unique, with strange outback characters and stunning scenery. It's not watered down television, with Pete and Charlie running into some seriously dodgy people on their travels. Travesty that it never went past one series, and even worse that it's never had a DVD release.