| Margaret Catchpole | |
| Runtime: | 60 mins[1] |
| Start Time: | 8pm |
| End Time: | 9pm |
| Country: | Australian |
| Language: | English |
| Syndicates: | ABC |
| Starring: | Bebe Scott |
| Director: | Charles Wheeler |
| First Aired: | 22 April 1945[2] |
Margaret Catchpole is a 1945 Australian radio drama by Rex Rienits about Margaret Catchpole.[3] It was one of several dramatisations of Australian historical figures by Rienits. Plays on Australian subjects were relatively rare on Australian radio at the time and Margaret Catchpole was listed by Leslie Rees as among the most notable of the 1940s.[4]
The play was repeated later in 1945 and was re-recorded in 1958. One listener called it one of the best plays of 1945.
Catchpole's life was also dramatised by the ABC in 1950 as an episode of Famous Women and she was the subject of a "talks" episode in 1953.
According to the ABC Weekly, it told "the story of a strong-minded, attractive English girl who was sent out to New South Wales early in the nineteenth century and who aroused public interest by rejecting the offer of marriage made by a well-set-up free settler of good character. Why Margaret Catchpole was transported and why she refused marriage are unfolded in this chronicle play which holds its suspense to the end."