Class of '74 was a secondary school

Secondary school

Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...

-based, daily soap opera

Soap opera

A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

 produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation

Reg Grundy Organisation

The Reg Grundy Organisation was an Australian television production company founded in 1959 by businessman Reg Grundy . It has since branched out into Europe and the USA. The company first produced game shows, before branching into soap operas in 1973...

 and screened on the Seven Network

Seven Network

The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...

 in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 starting March 1974. The main characters were a mix of teachers and other school personnel, and students. The series was aimed at a teenage audience. Each episode was 30 minutes; five episodes each week were broadcast, stripped across week nights in an early evening timeslot. The series was renamed Class of '75 for its second and final year. It also switched from black and white to colour during its second year on air.

Principal cast members included Leonard Teale

Leonard Teale

Leonard Teale AO , born Leonard George Thiele in Brisbane, was a well-known Australian actor of radio, television and films....

, John Hamblin

John Hamblin

John Hamblin is an Australian children's television presenter and actor, best known for presenting Play School from 1970 to 1999.Hamblin grew up in Suffolk, England, and did his national service in Cyprus before returning to England to become an actor...

, Gordon Glenwright, Jeanie Drynan

Jeanie Drynan

Jeanie Dryan is an Australian film and television actress well known for her roles in the Australian television series Class of '74 and in the 1994 film Muriel's Wedding.-Career:...

, Anne Louise Lambert, Megan Williams, Joanne Samuel

Joanne Samuel

Joanne Samuel is an actress who remains best known for her role as the screen wife of Mel Gibson in the 1979 film Mad Max....

, Carla Hoogeveen, John Dietrich, Jan Kingsbury, Vince Martin

Vince Martin (actor)

Vince Martin or Vin Martin , born Vincent Markesteijn, is a television and film actor. He mostly acted in film and television productions in Australia, where he was raised and started his career....

, Judy Ferris, Carol Vincent-Smythe, Kevin Miles, Mark Hollis

Mark Hollis (actor)

Mark Hollis is an actor who played headboy Wayne Elliott in Australian soap opera Class of '74. Other credits include Homicide for Crawford Productions.-External links:...

; and in 1975 Abigail

Abigail (actress)

Abigail is an actress who emigrated to Australia in 1968 and via the media of television became one of that country's significant sex symbols of the mid-1970s. Although born in England, she was educated in France. Her mother was a Ceylonese of Dutch Burgher/Eurasian ethnicity...

, Peta Toppano

Peta Toppano

Peta Toppano is an actress who found success in Australian television. She is best known for her roles in popular television series such as The Young Doctors, Prisoner, and Home & Away, as well as Return to Eden in which she played a "superbitch".-Early life:Toppano was born in Finsbury Park,...

, Peter Bensley

Peter Bensley

Peter Bensley was an Australian "pin-up" actor of the 1980s.One of Bensley's earliest roles was as Dennis Braithwaite on the Seven Network drama series Class Of '74...

, Briony Behets

Briony Behets

Briony Behets is a British-born actress who found fame acting in Australian soap operas of the 1970s.-Early life:...

, Angela Punch-McGregor, Peter Flett, Marty Rhone, Anne Charleston

Anne Charleston

Anne Charleston is an Australian actress currently based in Galway, Ireland and the UK. She is known for her roles as Madge Bishop in the Australian soap opera Neighbours and Lily Butterfield in Emmerdale.-Early career:...

.

Cast members Teale, Hamblin and Glenwright continued the program's entire run.

External links

• Aussie Soap Archive: Class of '74 — Overview and review
• Class of 74 at the National Film and Sound Archive