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Watching A Country Practice in 2021

Channel seven recently put A Country Practice onto their catch-up streaming service and we have been watching it.

For those who do not know what ‘A Country Practice’ is, it’s a drama based in a fictional regional town in New South Wales called Wandin Valley. The program aired from 1981 until 1993 and features a variety of Australian actors & actresses of all ages. Plot lines revolve around a number of recurring characters whose daily lives are entwined as a result of living in a small country town. Shenanigans ensure on a regular basis.

The show does a reasonable job of covering important topics such as anti-vaxxers, depression, drug addiction, suicide, domestic violence and more.

Watching A Country Practice was my wife’s idea

We have almost every streaming service available. They gives us plenty of choices for our evening or weekend viewing, and that is where the problem starts. What do we watch? The modern era has presented us with too many choices and as a result we often can’t choose what tickles our fancy.

One evening, back in July 2020, my wife said “let’s watch the first episode of A Country Practice for a bit of a laugh” and I stupidly agreed. You see, after 4 PM Monday to Friday and on weekends the TV Remote belongs to her. I have it all day and have chosen to give up any viewing rights after she finishes work or on weekends. Watching A Country Practice was entirely her idea! Sarah was 10 years old when A Country Practice first hit Australian screens so this would be a bit of reminiscing for her.

After watching episode one we quickly familiarised ourselves with characters we had known 40 years ago. Shirley Dean, Frank Gilroy, Terence Elliot, Simon Bowen, Brendan & Molly Jones and more.

At first it was good for a laugh, as we had originally expected, but then something weird happened. We began to love it all over again!


We quickly found ourselves appreciating humour which may have escaped us 40 years ago. We got involved in the daily lives of Vicky the Vet and many others. Vicky was a character whom I didn’t like much way back in the eighties but watching her through the eyes of a 57 year old has given me a new appreciation for her wit & sense of humour.

Bras were only for the older women

Before we realised what was going on we were four or five episodes in and looking forward to the next one. But something I’ve noticed is that the younger women never wore bras during any of the episodes. It may have gone unnoticed back in the eighties due to lower quality television pictures but it sure is noticeable now. A couple of times we noticed that Molly Jones wacky outfits were sometimes semi transparent and things which should have been hidden were not hidden! The no bra rule seemed to apply to every single guest actress under 30 years of age too. Don’t get me wrong, as a man I’m happy to look & admire the female form but I did feel a little shocked.

watching a country practice

Now that I look back at the wacky stuff Molly used to wear I realise much of it has caught on and there are many Molly Jones’ visiting our local Coles & Woolworths every day. It’s really quite bizare.

We are up to season 9 and watch it a few times a week. What we have learnt is that sometimes a lot of pleasure can be enjoyed when revisiting old things. Bringing back memories or seeing things through more mature eyes gives us both an appreciation for the writers & actors in some of these old shows.

Cookie & Bob

Vernon Locke (Cookie) and Robert Hatfield (Bob) are two of my favourite characters, and what a pair of characters they are. True ozzie ratbags in my opinion and always looking for get rich quick schemes. Everything they do in an effort to earn extra cash turns bad on them. The schemes are usually harebrained and always cost them more than they put into it.

Esme Watson

Esme, played by the wonderful Joyce Jacobs, was a character I despised 40 years ago but now that I’m older I can appreciate her more. We all know an Esme Watson and no matter how hard you try to dislike her you too will end up loving her.