Film Star

Over 6 months ago, Dad sent me a email to watch a show that he was going to be in. Unfortunately I wasn't able to view it when it aired and subsequently the email was buried only to be rediscovered tonight. I had time so decided to watch. However a quick look at SBS on demand revealed the show was no longer available. Thanks to YouTube I managed to find the episode.

The show Great Australian Railway Journeys - Adelaide to Perth : The Indian Pacific (Series 1 Episode 3) is hosted by Michael Portillo a British journalist, broadcaster and former politician. An hour long, this part of the six series documentary touches on the history of various places from Adelaide to Freo. It just so happened to touch on the British Child migrant schemes like the one Dad grew up in - Fairbridge Farm in Pinjarra. As the current President of the Old Fairbridge Dad was asked to be involved. 

A 3 hour film session at Fairbridge, ended in a 8 min segment on the show! I showed the rest of my family Dad's segment which led to many questions raised by the girls. I know times were different back then but it is still hard to fathom Dad's solo journey halfway around the world as a young child and his subsequent upbringing at Fairbridge. I'm glad that in the past decade Dad has reconnected with many old Fairbridgians and helped many discover and find their way back to their families and relatives in the UK.

Below are a few stills I've taken from the clip as unfortunately I'm not able to copy the video of Dad's interview with Micheal but if you're interested click here and fast forward to around the 44 min mark.