| Series: | Australian Playhouse |
| Season: | 1 |
| Episode: | 25 |
| Teleplay: | Tony Morphett |
| Producer: | Brian Faull |
| Length: | 30 mins |
| Prev: | The Lace Counter |
| Next: | V.I.P.P. |
"Objector" is the 25th television play episode of the first season of the Australian anthology television series Australian Playhouse.[1] "Objector" was written by Tony Morphett and produced by Brian Faull[2] and originally aired on ABC[3] on 3 October 1966.
Morphett went on to become one of the leading writers in Australian television.[4]
A man is conscripted to fight in Vietnam. He wants to go to court to argue against his and his father, a war veteran, calls him a coward.[5]
Morphett originally wrote the story as a short story for the Adelaide Festival Literary Contest. It was written soon after the Federal Government introduced conscription for Vietnam, but Morphett says it is not "a propagandist play."[5]
It was filmed in Sydney.[6]
The Bulletin TV critic said the "play kept wandering from prose poetry to plain Australian and back again, like a novice punter trying to pick a two-horse race without a form guide."[7]
The Age said it was "a drama so true to life it hurt."[8] A different critic from the same paper said it "wasn't really a play. It was merely sort of a visual illustration of a voice told by a narrative in the background. The viewer was supposed to exercise his imagination... An actor is supposed to play a part."[9]
The same paper later called it "a noteworthy example how a dramatist can contribute to a worthy understanding."[10]
Filmink said " As would be expected from a script by Morphett, it’s well constructed, strong drama – one of the best scripts in the whole Australian Playhouse series."[11]