Acting
Elspeth Ballantyne
Born
1939-04-20 (87)
Place of birth
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Known for
Acting
Credits
21 titles
Elspeth Ballantyne (born 20 April 1939) is an Australian retired actress, who appeared in productions in theatre, television and films over a career that spanned nearly 60 years, a veteran of the industry having started her career as a child actor and becoming a staple of the theatre starting from in 1947 and by the age of 15 in 1954 had turned professional. She became best known for her role in the TV cult series Prisoner from 1979 to 1986 as original character of but fair Prison Officer Meg Jackson (later Morris). Ballantyne's parents were actors and she is the sister of film producer Jane Ballantyne. She was married to actor Dennis Miller from 1968 to 1977.
Known for
7.6Prisoner is an Australian soap opera that is set in the Wentworth Detention Centre, a fictional women's prison.
Prisoner
1979
6.6The Flying Doctors is an Australian drama series produced by Crawford Productions that revolved around the everyday lifesaving efforts of the real Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia. It was initially a 1985 mini-series based in the fictional outback town of Cooper's Crossing starring Andrew McFarlane as the newly arrived Dr. Tom Callaghan. The success of the mini series led to its return the following year as an on-going series with McFarlane being joined by a new doctor, Chris Randall, played by Liz Burch. McFarlane left during the first season and actor Robert Grubb came in as new doctor Geoff Standish. The series' episodes were mostly self-contained but also featured ongoing storylines, such as Dr. Standish's romance with Sister Kate Wellings. Other major characters included pilot Sam Patterson, mechanic Emma Plimpton, local policeman Sgt. Jack Carruthers and Vic and Nancy Buckley, who ran the local pub/hotel, The Majestic. Andrew McFarlane also later returned to the series, resuming his role as Dr. Callaghan. The popular series ran for nine seasons and was successfully screened internationally.
The Flying Doctors
1986
7.4A high-stakes Aussie police drama following the lives of Melbourne’s finest girls and boys in blue – members of a prestigious Tactical Response team.
Rush
2008
5.8Homicide was an Australian television police drama series The series dealt with the homicide squad of the Victorian Police force and the various crimes and cases the detectives are called upon to investigate. Many episodes were based on real life crime cases.
Homicide
1964
5.9City Homicide follows a group of detectives in the Homicide department of Melbourne's Metropolitan Police Headquarters.
City Homicide
2007
7.6SeaChange is a popular Australian television show that ran for 39 episodes from 1998 to 2000 on the ABC. It was created by Andrew Knight and Deborah Cox and starred Sigrid Thornton, David Wenham, William McInnes, John Howard, Tom Long and Kerry Armstrong. The director was Michael Carson. Filming was based at Barwon Heads, Victoria and St Leonards, Victoria, both locations being on the Bellarine Peninsula. A number of streets in the St Leonards Sea Change Estate have since been named to acknowledge some of the characters of the series. Many scenes were also filmed in Williamstown, including the exterior of the Williamstown Life Saving Club, which became the court house of Pearl Bay.
SeaChange
1998
Film credits
2020s · 1 titles
2000s · 4 titles
6.9Eddie is a principled man, with a wife, a daughter and a mortgage and leads a seemingly stable and happy life as a government land assessor. Yet when the forces of economic and social change threaten this, he realises just how fragile his reality and security is. After losing his job, he checks his bank balance and finds he has only 'three dollars' to his name.
Three Dollars
2005
7.0The adventures of two punk maniacs on the run after they have escaped from a psychiatric ward.
Mondo Maniacs
2007
5.3Teenager Jamie moves with his mother, sister and grandfather to an island off the South Australian coast where mum has a job running a marine research station. To his discomfort, Jamie discovers he's a "selkie" - half human, half seal - that explains the webbing on his hands and also why he changes completely into a seal as soon as he hits water.
Selkie
2000
4.8A young girl's view on belonging and loss.
The Caterpillar Wish
2006
1980s · 3 titles
10.0The story of two men from opposite backgrounds and social structures who become friends. Jack Phillips is a laid-back, wry service station proprietor in a small Australian country town. His world is disrupted when a fast talking, gesticulating, vocal Italian, Nino Patrovita bursts upon the scene.
Blowing Hot and Cold
1989
8.5A young deaf boy who calls himself "Captain Johnno" befriends Tony, an Italian fisherman in the small Australian fishing town they live in. Both feel outcast by the town and both share a great love of the sea. When Johnno's beloved sister leaves to go to boarding school, he is so upset he runs away to an island hiding place, causing much distress in the town. His friend Tony helps him understand how much he is loved and missed by the townsfolk and his family.
Captain Johnno
1988
7.0Fashion executive Jackie Wyatt discovers her boyfriend has been cheating on her. She flies to Paris and bumps into photographer Michael who she at first dislikes but grows to love.
Breakfast in Paris
1982
1970s · 2 titles
6.4Based on the children's novel by celebrated South Australian author 'Colin Thiele' , this is an emotional father and son story about tuna fishing of Southern Blue Fin tuna in South Australia's Port Lincoln fishing district. Accident prone son Snook is forever making mistakes much to the chagrin of his father Pascoe. But when tragedy strikes the fishing boat during a deep sea fishing trek in the Southern Ocean, the boy is called on to become a man in a rites of sea passage to reconcile is past mishaps and save both his father and the ship from certain disaster.
Blue Fin
1978
6.4And just when you believe there is nothing more to fear, you will begin to experience the ultimate terror of the END PLAY.
End Play
1976
Series credits
7.6Prisoner is an Australian soap opera that is set in the Wentworth Detention Centre, a fictional women's prison.
Prisoner
1979
6.6The Flying Doctors is an Australian drama series produced by Crawford Productions that revolved around the everyday lifesaving efforts of the real Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia. It was initially a 1985 mini-series based in the fictional outback town of Cooper's Crossing starring Andrew McFarlane as the newly arrived Dr. Tom Callaghan. The success of the mini series led to its return the following year as an on-going series with McFarlane being joined by a new doctor, Chris Randall, played by Liz Burch. McFarlane left during the first season and actor Robert Grubb came in as new doctor Geoff Standish. The series' episodes were mostly self-contained but also featured ongoing storylines, such as Dr. Standish's romance with Sister Kate Wellings. Other major characters included pilot Sam Patterson, mechanic Emma Plimpton, local policeman Sgt. Jack Carruthers and Vic and Nancy Buckley, who ran the local pub/hotel, The Majestic. Andrew McFarlane also later returned to the series, resuming his role as Dr. Callaghan. The popular series ran for nine seasons and was successfully screened internationally.
The Flying Doctors
1986
6.6The Flying Doctors is an Australian drama series produced by Crawford Productions that revolved around the everyday lifesaving efforts of the real Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia. It was initially a 1985 mini-series based in the fictional outback town of Cooper's Crossing starring Andrew McFarlane as the newly arrived Dr. Tom Callaghan. The success of the mini series led to its return the following year as an on-going series with McFarlane being joined by a new doctor, Chris Randall, played by Liz Burch. McFarlane left during the first season and actor Robert Grubb came in as new doctor Geoff Standish. The series' episodes were mostly self-contained but also featured ongoing storylines, such as Dr. Standish's romance with Sister Kate Wellings. Other major characters included pilot Sam Patterson, mechanic Emma Plimpton, local policeman Sgt. Jack Carruthers and Vic and Nancy Buckley, who ran the local pub/hotel, The Majestic. Andrew McFarlane also later returned to the series, resuming his role as Dr. Callaghan. The popular series ran for nine seasons and was successfully screened internationally.
The Flying Doctors
1986
6.6The Flying Doctors is an Australian drama series produced by Crawford Productions that revolved around the everyday lifesaving efforts of the real Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia. It was initially a 1985 mini-series based in the fictional outback town of Cooper's Crossing starring Andrew McFarlane as the newly arrived Dr. Tom Callaghan. The success of the mini series led to its return the following year as an on-going series with McFarlane being joined by a new doctor, Chris Randall, played by Liz Burch. McFarlane left during the first season and actor Robert Grubb came in as new doctor Geoff Standish. The series' episodes were mostly self-contained but also featured ongoing storylines, such as Dr. Standish's romance with Sister Kate Wellings. Other major characters included pilot Sam Patterson, mechanic Emma Plimpton, local policeman Sgt. Jack Carruthers and Vic and Nancy Buckley, who ran the local pub/hotel, The Majestic. Andrew McFarlane also later returned to the series, resuming his role as Dr. Callaghan. The popular series ran for nine seasons and was successfully screened internationally.
The Flying Doctors
1986
7.4A high-stakes Aussie police drama following the lives of Melbourne’s finest girls and boys in blue – members of a prestigious Tactical Response team.
Rush
2008
5.8Homicide was an Australian television police drama series The series dealt with the homicide squad of the Victorian Police force and the various crimes and cases the detectives are called upon to investigate. Many episodes were based on real life crime cases.
Homicide
1964
5.9City Homicide follows a group of detectives in the Homicide department of Melbourne's Metropolitan Police Headquarters.
City Homicide
2007
7.6SeaChange is a popular Australian television show that ran for 39 episodes from 1998 to 2000 on the ABC. It was created by Andrew Knight and Deborah Cox and starred Sigrid Thornton, David Wenham, William McInnes, John Howard, Tom Long and Kerry Armstrong. The director was Michael Carson. Filming was based at Barwon Heads, Victoria and St Leonards, Victoria, both locations being on the Bellarine Peninsula. A number of streets in the St Leonards Sea Change Estate have since been named to acknowledge some of the characters of the series. Many scenes were also filmed in Williamstown, including the exterior of the Williamstown Life Saving Club, which became the court house of Pearl Bay.
SeaChange
1998