Australian Encounters

Visiting Australia for the first time in 15 years. Ol' Blue Eyes described 'the broads who work for the press' as hookers worth 'a buck and a half'. The crooner had bitten off more than he could chew.

It was 1919 and the world's statesmen were gathered at Versailles to redraw the map of the world. Australia had sacrificed much blood and treasure to win the peace, and Billy Hughes was there to see it got its fair share of the spoils.

In December 1914, an athletic young Hawaiian strode across the beach at Freshwater, a stretch of sand between Manly and Curl Curl. He was about to perform a feat never before seen in Australia: surfing!

The imperious Australian soprano and the effusive Italian tenor had transformed La Boheme from a slow burn sleeper into a blockbuster hit that's still putting bums on seats a century later. Their double act was sensational.

What happened when Bob Hawke locked horns with Frank Sinatra, when Lionel Rose sparred with Elvis, and when Enrico Caruso slipped a hot sausage into Nellie Melba's captive palm? In the great tradition of the Australian yarn, this informative, astringent and often astonishing animated history series serves up the answers to these and many other equally intriguing questions. Based on the long-running and very popular 'Encounters' column, created by Shane Maloney and Chris Grosz, and published in The Monthly magazine, the ten-part (short form) series presents a collection of memorable meetings between well known Australians and prominent international figures. Based entirely on actual events, each one is a fabulous little story.

Just before Christmas, 1958, Rupert Murdoch, then aged 27, met a sensitive young Tamil on the dodge from the immigration authorities. A poor scholar with black skin, Kamahl's days in White Australia were numbered.

In the backroom bar of the Katsikas brothers' grocery store, amid tins of olive oil and sacks of flour, a young unknown Canadian poet met an Australian expatriate named George Johnston.

Kylie Minogue met Michael Hutchence at a bash after the Countdown Awards in 1987. By the time their two-year affair ended, it had transformed a singing budgie into a femme fatale, and set Kylie's course towards pop divadom.

Twenty-year-old boxer Lionel Rose was in Los Angeles to defend his world bantamweight title. When he received the message that Elvis wanted to meet him, he jumped under the shower and drove straight to the MGM lot.

In 1880, an unschooled Catholic bushman and a Protestant judge traded points, back and forth, neither ultimately persuading the other. 'Edward Kelly', concluded Redmond Barry, 'I hereby sentence you to death by hanging'.