Daily at Dawn is an Australian sitcom that was first broadcast in 1981 on the Seven Network. The series was written and produced by Gary Reilly and Tony Sattler, who were also writers of popular Australian comedy series Kingswood Country and The Naked Vicar Show.

The series was set in the office of a metropolitan morning newspaper called The Sun, and followed the lives of the journalists who worked there.^[1][2]

It was the first Australian comedy series to feature a regular gay character, Terry Bader as journalist Leslie Windrush.^[3]

• Noeline Brown as Phil Maguire
• Paul Chubb as Russell Ducke
• Terry Bader as Leslie Windrush
• Henri Szeps as Joe Parker
• Julieanne Newbould as Kate Ashton
• Robert Hughes as Gil James
• Theo Stephens as Danny Mason
• Maggie Dence
• Michael Aitkens
• Vincent Gil

Writer Tony Sattler claimed that the series "grew out of the contact [he and writing partner Gary Reilly] had with journalists, and the characters are based on facets of journos we've met".^[1] The series was created at the same time as Reilly and Sattler were writing and producing Kingswood Country (1980–1984).^[1][4] Julieanne Newbould believed that the series was negatively affected as a result, claiming that "that sort of thing shows up in the finished product".^[4] She stated that "the next series [...] will be a great improvement" as it "will have have their full attention".^[4]

Each episode was recorded twice before a live studio audience. The two recordings were then edited into one recording, using the best audience reaction from each recording.^[1][5]

Paul Chubb, who portrays Russell Ducke in the series, had originally approached writers Reilly and Sattler for a writing job on the series; the writers remembered he also had acting experience and later cast Chubb in the series.^[1][2] Reilly and Sattler had seen Theo Stephens in a commercial.^[1] The writers did not initially consider Julieanne Newbould for a comedy role; she was cast after Noeline Brown, Sattler's wife, who portrays Phil Magurie, recommended her.^[1] Brown was offered the role of Maguire by Reilly.^[6]

Before the first series had aired in 1981, a second series of thirteen episodes was ordered for later in the year.^[1][6] However, by June 1981, the second series had been cancelled.^[7]

The series received criticism from Sydney journalists and Australian scriptwriters, who claimed the show to be of a poor standard compared to Reilly and Sattler's earlier television series, The Naked Vicar Show (1977–1978).^[8] The series was described as being "played with the familiar Reilly/Sattler fever-pitch, comic pace".^[6] Paul Chubb's portrayal of Russell Ducke was highly praised, described as being "one of the best things" about the series,^[6] and as the show's "one saving grace".^[2] Ian Rolph, writing for The Australian Women's Weekly, described the series as "drivel", stating that it contained "all the humour of a In Memoriam section". Rolph was critical of the Sydney newspaper The Sun's involvement with the series, noting the large amount of ads promoting The Sun and its sister paper The Sydney Morning Herald, as well as Channel 7 Sydney's connections to the paper, stating that "it beats me why any newspaper would want to be associated with this mirthless muck-heap".^[2]

Television writer Albert Moran, in Moran's Guide to Australian TV Series, wrote of the series that: "As against [Reilly and Sattler's] hit series Kingswood Country, which had worked so well as comedy not least because it had a crystal clear situation and very stereotyped and easily contrasted characters, Daily at Dawn had too many characters who were not sufficiently distinguished as types from each other, and too many normal types."^[9]

• Daily at Dawn at IMDb