Screening an epidemic: Australian televisual representations of HIV/AIDS, 1986-1990

<p dir="ltr">On 15th September 1986, the first episode of an Australian television drama to depict the ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic aired on the Nine Network as part of the popular medical drama, <i>The Flying Doctors </i>(1986-1992). Depicting the decline and ultimate death of an HIV-positive gay man, the episode offered Australian audiences insight into the realities of the epidemic that was running rampant through at-risk communities. Following <i>The Flying Doctors, </i>nearly all Australian medical dramas featured storylines involving characters living with or dying from HIV/AIDS at least once. With their mass appeal and popularity among audiences, these programs not only reflected public discussions about the virus, but at times, they also challenged these discourses, often providing an educational perspective on the epidemic.</p><p dir="ltr">Despite the cultural significance of these medical dramas in 1980s Australia and their representations appearing as part of a wider effort to educate the public, there has been no historical engagement with how Australian television responded to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Focusing on three Australian medical dramas – <i>The Flying Doctors </i>(1986-1992), <i>A Country Practice </i>(1981-1994), and <i>G.P. </i>(1989-1996) – and their representations of HIV/AIDS, this thesis investigates how and why Australian television portrayed HIV/AIDS within the complex and often contradictory historical context of the 1980s. Through a close analysis of these representations, this thesis offers fresh insights into how popular culture responded to the epidemic, as well as offering new historical understandings of mainstream attitudes towards HIV/AIDS, contributing to the historiography of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Australia.</p>