The Edge of Ice explained

The Edge of Ice
Format:drama play
Runtime:60 mins
Start Time:8pm
End Time:9pm
Country:Australia
Language:English
Syndicates:ABC
Director:Frank Harvey
Record Location:Sydney[1]
First Aired:1 September 1951

The Edge of Ice is a 1951 Australian radio play by Colin Thiele told the story of a handful of castaways in a boat in Antarctica.[2]

It won first prize for best radio drama held by the ABC and the Federation of Commercial Stations in 1951 for Australia's Jubilee (Thiele also won Best Feature for The Golden Tide about wheat).[3] [4]

Leslie Rees later wrote "Of the Jubilee winners the future holds most for Colin Thiele."

Premise

According to ABC Weekly the play was about "a group of men who, together with the captain’s wife and little son, are the only survivors from a shipwreck. The party drift in an open boat on the Southern Ocean, and when at their last gasp reach a barren island, where they live on seal meat. The play’s story is carried forward by a poetic narration which brought forth high praise from the judges. It dramatises the adventures of the boat’s party with notes of hope and tragedy."

Notes and References

  1. News: Prize Winning Play on AR . . 30,058 . Victoria, Australia . 30 August 1951 . 22 October 2023 . 1 (The Age Radio Supplement) . National Library of Australia.
  2. News: Bright Spots in Tonight's Radio . . 57 . 8,769 . South Australia . 15 September 1951 . 22 October 2023 . 9 . National Library of Australia.
  3. News: Winner Won't Write Full-Time . . 57 . 8,704 . South Australia . 2 July 1951 . 22 October 2023 . 3 . National Library of Australia.
  4. News: Author Wins Two Prizes . . 30,007 . Victoria, Australia . 2 July 1951 . 22 October 2023 . 7 . National Library of Australia.