Set during the Australian gold rushes of the 1850s, the series was inspired by the life of Freeman Cobb, founder of the iconic Australian stagecoach line, Cobb and Co. However, the characters and events in the series bore no resemblance to the real Freeman Cobb or his company. Freeman Cobb did not carry a pistol or use a stockwhip to settle disputes.
The series was created by Michael Noonan and Michael Plant, and produced by Maurice Geraghty and Ben Fox at the Artransa Studios in Sydney, which were owned by ATV. Post-production was completed in the United Kingdom. Michael Plant and Ralph Peterson were story editors.[2]
Cast and characters
In his autobiography, associate producer and director of many episodes John Meredyth Lucas commented on the difficulty faced in casting the series. He wrote that actors with radio experience were generally used, because of concerns with the broad Australian accents of some performers.[3] On his return to the US in October 1960, Graves also commented on the difficulty in finding actors. "Those we got were very good, but there just wasn't enough of them," he said.[4]
Big Tom Ledward rules his settlement with a rod of iron much to his son, Dan Ledward, distaste and is determined to stop Cobb opening a new stage route.
A Cobb & Co. coach is wrecked by two bushrangers. A passenger is killed in the crash, and Cobb kills the bushrangers in self-defence. He later receives an Aboriginal death-stick, marking him to die at the next full moon. Defying the warning, Cobb takes a coach into Aboriginal territory, knowing that one of his passengers is his would-be killer.
A vicious landowner has a young farmer flogged for attempting to fence in his land with barbed wire. Cobb and Ledward find the injured man, and Cobb goes after the landowner. Stars Robert Tudawali
Cobb heads north towards Brisbane to investigate the disappearance of several female indentured servants who have vanished while travelling on Cobb & Co. coaches. He finds that the women were kidnapped and taken to a secluded inlet, where they are forced to dive for pearls.
A wealthy matriarch asks Cobb to search for her missing son rumoured to be living with an Aboriginal tribe, and stumbles across a legendary rich gold deposit, known as ‘Dutchman’s Reef’. Stars Leonard Teale
While in Melbourne to open a branch office, Cobb is asked to do a personal favour for Sir John Eddington, the Governor of New South Wales - to locate his brother, who fled England after being charged with murder.
Miners will no longer send their gold with Cobb & Co. - unless Cobb can prevent bushranger Mike Upton's raids on the coaches. During the trip, Upton waylays Cobb's coach and kidnaps a female passenger. Cobb trails Upton to his lair and rescues the girl. When their trail crosses that of the irate miners, who are intent on lynching Upton, the aspiring actress must give the performance of her career to save his life. Stars Jennifer Jayne
Cobb is paid handsomely to undertakes the transport of brandy, a trousseau and two coffins, into the heart of New South Wales. At the agreed meeting place, Cobb is overpowered and taken to meet the female leader of a group of escaped convicts. She tells Cobb that he is to marry her daughter and he will be given more gold than he can imagine. If he refuses, he will fill one of the coffins. Stars Neva Carr Glyn
Dan has vanished and when a small girl is left motherless, Cobb sets out to track down her father, a man charged with murder who has fled the law swearing his innocence and now lives with an Aboriginal tribe. Stars Nigel Lovell, Robert Tudawali
Cobb finds a dying man in the bush, and undertakes to deliver a map to the man's wife. With the help of an Aboriginal, Cobb solves the mystery of the 'frog fella' and a missing treasure.
On his way to testify at the trial of a bushranger charged with killing one of his stagecoach drivers, Cobb arrives at drought-stricken Cross Creek Way Station with two passengers, a married couple. He is met by a gang who plan to keep him prisoner until after the bushranger's trial. Stars Terry McDermott, Guy Doleman, Margo Lee
Returning to Brisbane from an outback run, Cobb's coach is commandeered to transport a prisoner, Ted Cammidge, who is to stand trial for murder, and is accompanied by his employer, Dr. Table, who plans to vouch for his innocence at the trial. Stars Rachael Lloyd, Ben Gabriel, Tom Farley.
A murderous gang abduct Cobb and a Government minister looking for a mountain pass to open up the fertile land beyond. Stars Colin Croft, Owen Weingott
Jimmy Quicksilver, a 'gentleman' bushranger who has been robbing coaches, asks Cobb to conceal knowledge of his activities from two members of his aristocratic family, who have come to Australia to take Quicksilver's son to England to be educated. Stars Stuart Wagstaff
A squatter's farm where Cobb wants to build a way station is burned down by a land-hungry neighbour who trades on people's fears by terrorising their families. Cobb undertakes a hazardous crossing of an Aboriginal burial ground to assist. Stars Chips Rafferty
Cobb is transporting miner's gold from Fury Creek to Sydney, but en route a bushranger shoots him and leaves him for dead. The bushranger takes Cobb's coach and clothes to impersonate him and get away with the gold. Stars John Gray
Cobb becomes the reluctant ally of an escaping bank robber who is sought not only by the police, but also by the outlaw gang he has cheated. Stars Leonard Teale
Upon arrival in Canoomba, Cobb and Dan Ledward find the men are away digging gold and the women are running the town. Dan Ledward finds romance in the town before being assigned the perilous task of carrying a fortune in gold from the diggings to Canoomba. Stars Janette Craig, Brenda Senders
In his Duranga office, Cobb finds Peter Hibberd, a one time star driver for the Cobb & Co stage line and now a mere husk of a man expecting death. Hibberd dedicates his last days to tracking down a bushranger who is believed to have murdered his son. Stars Gordon Glenwright
Cobb is in competition to buy three magnificent Arabian horses, and the contest soon becomes a fight to the death after he is robbed by three masked men who intend to buy the horses. Stars Chips Rafferty, Stuart Wagstaff
A white cattleman, Dillon, inadvertently interrupts the ritual killing of a bull by a tribe of Aboriginals, and must himself be killed to complete the cycle of events. Seriously wounded Dillon manages to escape. When Dillon's riderless horse returns to the homestead Cobb sets out on a desperate race against time. Stars Robert Tudawali
Anxious to obtain good grazing land for his horses, Cobb approaches the heir to a dilapidated estate to enquire about a grazing lease on the property. Cobb's request falls on unresponsive ears and a chain of events behind an Aboriginal boys stolen legacy.
A trusted Cobb & Co agent disappears in the ‘Taroomba’ (burning land),a sacred Aboriginal burial ground which is rich in opal. His alluring wife, persuades Cobb to lead a search party. Stars Robert Tudawali, Delia Williams
Cobb has a full load of passengers on the return journey from Mowamba, and it seems certain that among them are a man and a woman who have committed a brutal murder.
A group of bushrangers capture a Cobb & Co. coach, and use it in a series of raids and robberies implicating Cobb. To protect his company's reputation, Cobb tracks down the bushrangers. Stars Guy Doleman, Robert Tudawali
Cobb accepts a commission to transport a renowned artist newly arrived from France to an undisclosed destination. He again crosses the path of Jimmy Quicksilver, a 'gentleman bushranger' whose dishonesty is equalled only by his good manners and sense of humour. Stars Stuart Wagstaff
The sleepy calm of outback Ginini is shattered when Cobb accepts a challenge to race a Western Co. stagecoach over the usual route to Brindabella to win the exclusive franchise for the route.
29
"Flood Tide"
Ben Fox
Michael Plant
6 May 1961 (1961-05-06)
129
Their route cut off by a flood Cobb and his sole passenger, Sarah Bartley, spend the night in a deserted house. During the night a violent storm strikes, and all is not as it seems when a mysterious stranger arrives to seek shelter.
During a violent storm with a lame horse, Cobb is felled by an unseen foe. He recovers consciousness in an outback cabin, minus his money-belt. The cabin's other occupant is a girl who wants to travel to Sydney. She asks Cobb to take her with him, but when they set off they meet with deadly opposition. Stars Annette Andre
Cobb becomes involved in the strange story of a beautiful Spanish woman, and a disapproving family. The beginning of Australia's wool growing industry. Stars Lionel Long, Nigel Lovell
Aboriginal attacks imperil the laying of an overhead telegraph line. Cobb, contracted to freight supplies from the coast to a telegraph construction camp, discovers that the attacks are being instigated by a white man. Stars Terry McDermott, Robert Tudawali
Cattlemen at Wallaby Junction lose stock in mysterious thefts which convince Cobb that there must be a secret pass through the surrounding mountains. He sets out to find the trail and catch the thief.
Attractive, adventurous, niece of the local magistrate, is kidnapped in the outback. Cobb is mystified when he discovers that she is apparently a willing victim, and her uncle is reluctant to press on with the search for her. Stars Annette Andre, Guy Doleman, Reg Lye
Background and production
Development
Michael Noonan had created and written a British TV series shot in Australia called The Flying Doctor. Whiplash was a similar international production. The show was mostly financed by Lew Grade's ITC productions, but was aimed at the international market, leading to many Americans being in key creative roles. Post production was done in the UK.
Co-producing partners included Australia's Artransa Park Studios and Britain's ATV.
Graves told the Sydney Morning Herald that "Nearly all the American Westerns are shot within 30 miles of Hollywood and a lot of that scenery is becoming mighty familiar to TV viewers. Now this scenery here is refreshing — something entirely new to folks overseas. We're trying to keep right away from that word 'Western' by labelling the series a romantic adventure."[12]
In his memoirs, Lucas commented on the difficulties faced because of the sometimes inexperienced Australian crew.[3] Production was also initially difficult because of the competing expectations of production partners from three different countries. The production team was restructured from episode six onwards, after which Ben Fox was appointed producer with Leslie Harris as executive producer.[13]
Filming re-commenced on 4 March 1960. The budget of the series was a reported £650,000.[14]
In May 1960, it was reported the unit of 22 actors and crew had left Sydney for Alice Springs to film sequences over ten days, including scenes at Ayers Rock, the MacDonnell Ranges and the Ormiston Gorge. By that stage, ten episodes had been shot and the series sold to ATN Channel 7. Fox announced that both American and British television groups were "likely to be very interested in buying the series".[15][16]
In 1961, it became one of the original twelve programs aired by the new CTV network in Canada, and the only one produced in Australia.
Home media
On 7 December 2009, Network released a Region 2 five-DVD set.[17]
On 18 September 2012, Timeless Media Group released Whiplash - The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1. The 4-disc set featured all 34 episodes of the series.[18]
"The Australian Film and Television Companion" — compiled by Tony Harrison — Simon & Schuster Australia, 1994
Atkinson, Stephen (2007). "A Rumble in the Great Australian Silence: whiplash and the Telling of the Australian Frontier". In Liz, Liz; Dolin, Tim (eds.). Australian Television History. ACH: The Journal of the History of Culture in Australia. Australian Public Intellectual Network. pp. 37–57.
