Warning: This resource may contain references to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who may have passed away.

Behind the scenes

Welcome to Behind the scenes. In this section you will find wonderful resources and support material to link the book and TV series. Go behind the scenes to find information about the production, including scripts, cast and crew lists, the 'Clips bank' and the 'Stills gallery'. Listen to Nadia Wheatley read passages from her book and talk about her inspiration. You can also listen to producer Penny Chapman talk about the making of My Place.


Clips bank
Clips bank

Quickly find the 78 clips taken from My Place TV series 1 and 2. These clips are used as the context for the teaching activities. Each clip is accompanied by a detailed synopsis.

Stills gallery
Stills gallery

Explore the gallery to find still images from the TV production. The images feature characters, settings and action from the series.


Series synopsis

My Place, based on the children's picture book of the same name by Nadia Wheatley and Donna Rawlins, is the story of one location in Sydney over a period of 240 years. Starting in 2008, and taking us back to 1788 and Before Time, the series introduces 26 children, all with a talent for some kind of trouble, each attached to the same ancient fig tree, and each with a story to tell. It's a rare view, through a child's eye, of the history of Australia. The stories are told in 26 half-hour episodes and supported by an interactive website.

About the producers of the TV series

Penny Chapman

Penny Chapman, Producer

Penny Chapman is an independent film and television producer based in Sydney. Her recent productions include the documentaries Darwin's Lost Paradise for SBS and Rampant: How A City Stopped A Plague for the ABC. Other productions include the multi-award winning miniseries RAN (for SBS), the telemovie The Road From Coorain (for the ABC and WGBH Boston) and the television series The Cooks (for Network Ten). Penny also produced the six-part documentary series The Track (for the ABC). Penny was Head of TV Drama, then Head of Television at the ABC during the 1990s. Dramas she executive produced there include the multi-award winning dramas Brides of Christ (which she devised), The Leaving of Liverpool and Blue Murder. In 2010, Penny produced the documentary Leaky Boat for the ABC.

Helen  Pankhurst

Helen Panckhurst, Co-producer

Helen Panckhurst, along with Tony Ayres, Helen Bowden, Penny Chapman and Michael McMahon, is one of the principals of Matchbox Pictures. Helen produced Alex Holmes' Ali & the Ball, winner of the 2008 Dendy Award for Best Short Fiction and selected for Berlinale 2009. RAN: Remote Area Nurse, the Chapman Pictures six-part SBS drama miniseries that Helen co-produced, won Best Miniseries, Best Television Screenplay and Best Lead Actress in Television at the 2006 AFI Awards and Most Outstanding Actress at the 2007 Logie Awards. Helen recently produced the landmark documentary series First Australians with Indigenous filmmakers Rachel Perkins and Darren Dale, and the one-hour documentary The Matilda Candidate with Curtis Levy. She is currently producing Bob Connolly's documentary Making Music and Dennis O'Rourke's documentary feature I Love A Sunburnt Country.

About the My Place Teachers' Guide (series 1 and 2) DVD-ROM

The DVD-ROM contains the education resources available on this website plus additional teaching activities to support geography and the arts (media studies). The Australian Children's Television Foundation (ACTF) has produced the DVD-ROM for teachers to use in classrooms where web access is limited. You can purchase the My Place TV series and the My Place Teachers' Guide (series 1 and 2) DVD-ROM from www.actf.com.au