While the locations may not be obvious at first, Wyndham has played a starring role in one of this year’s most anticipated television events.
Last year, television crews and actors took to Point Cook Homestead and the Werribee International Shooting Complex to film the eight-part series Gallipoli, which screens on Channel 9 on Monday nights.
The homestead’s front room was used to portray a conservatory of General Ian Hamilton’s house in England, while the surrounding coastal park was transformed into Suvla Bay and Imbros Island, where journalists were sent to keep them safe during hostilities.
A replica ship deck was also built and trench scenes were filmed on a specially constructed set at the Werribee shooting complex.
Location manager Nicci Dillon said both sites were selected following an extensive search for landscapes similar to those experienced by the troops at Gallipoli.
“For Suvla Bay, we needed a flat area with scrubby grasslands with the beach in the background and that’s what the homestead gave us,” she said.
“We set up a mini-headquarters for the British with tents and small buildings in the sand and the stables were used for scenes with the gypsy fortune-tellers, who the Australian troops visited in Cairo before going to the front.”
Ms Dillon said an elaborate trench system was built on the shooting complex rifle range near Wyndham Vale.
“We spent five weeks filming there and the construction process took about eight weeks,” she said.
“The trenches were nearly two metres deep with reinforced concrete walls and were the same distance apart as they were at Gallipoli.
“The terrain was unforgiving … but it was nothing compared to what the troops went through.
“To be involved in telling such an iconic story was an honour and we came away with a different perspective and greater understanding of what happened during the war.”
Gallipoli star Andy McPhee, who plays Australian Major General John Antill, said working on the project was a privilege.
The father of lead actor Kodi Smit-McPhee, who plays 17-year-old Thomas ‘Tolly’ Johnson, Mr McPhee said there was an even deeper family connection to the battle besides acting alongside his son.
“My grandfather was at Gallipoli,” he said. “It’s not often you get the chance to play a role in helping to tell a major part of Australia’s history, and both Kodi and I were really proud.”
Mr McPhee holds classes at Screen Actors Australia,Werribee, every Thursday. For details call 8742 3626.
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