Bio

Hi, this is Andrew Mercado and apparently my first steps as a baby were towards my parents' black and white TV set. No wonder it became my shiny childhood friend and I dreamt of living on GILLIGAN’S ISLAND or with THE BRADY BUNCH. During those formative years I also spent every Saturday night at my local picture theatre. Located in the Brisbane suburb of Camp Hill (yes that was the name of the suburb I grew up in), it was just two blocks away and every weekend a kindly neighbour would escort me up the hill. Mrs Houldsworth would work in the Candy Bar and I would slip up a secret staircase to my very own dress circle balcony . It was all very CINEMA PARADISO but on the big screen I was actually watching wildly inappropriate double bills like DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE and FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED. No wonder I ended up becoming an Entertainment Reporter!

My first job in TV was as Location Manager on PARADISE BEACH followed by Publicist for PACIFIC DRIVE (both these shows were more fun to work on than you can possibly imagine). There was also a stint on the ever-changing NEW ADVENTURES OF FLIPPER. The cast and format flipped every season but young Jessica Alba always remained. How young was she? Let’s put it this way – when she changed from a girl into a woman the dolphins at Sea World became violent and the filming schedule had to be re-organised around her cycle.

Next came CHANNEL [V] where I started as Publicist and then got asked to do on-air to review movie. Around this time a Fat Boy Slim video clip coined the nickname SuperMercado and soon I was also working on sister channel MUSIC MAX.

To find out what I’m up to today, go to the LINKS page now. Enjoy the site!

SUPER AUSSIE SOAPS

Somewhere during all of this I also spent several years writing a book for PLUTO PRESS, SUPER AUSSIE SOAPS. It was about every Australian-made television serial drama and is now out of print now but check eBay and those second hand bookshops for any remaining copies. Some of it will be repeated here every time we discover new YouTube footage from these classic shows.

PRISONER BOXSET

I also contributed to a PRISONER book for the world’s biggest ever DVD boxset. Not wanting to repeat what I had already written in my first book, good mate Michael Idato was recruited to write the history of the show while I (stupidly because it was so time-consuming) chose to painstakingly write a year-by-year guide that includes when every character arrived and departed. Hopefully fans wanting to follow a particular storyline thread or actor find this useful.

100 GREATEST FILMS OF AUSTRALIAN CINEMA

A whole bunch of movie reviewers contributed to 100 GREAT FILMS OF AUSTRALIAN CINEMA through SCRIBAL PUBLISHING. Unfortunately by the time I was asked most of the good titles had been taken and those remaining were pretty dreary. So I submitted my own list of what should be included and that’s how I wrote about ALVIN PURPLE and STONE, two classics that deserved to be there.

SUPER AUSSIE SOAPS also led to an approach from Umbrella Entertainment who wanted me to curate their TV on DVD. We’ve now released several shows so here’s some background information on how I chose those titles and episodes.

NUMBER 96

The first volume of NUMBER 96 was a labour of love for me because it’s always been my favourite Aussie TV show ever. This DVD contains the 1974 big-screen movie, painstakingly restored from several movie prints after horny projectionists had hacked the movie’s numeorus nude scenes to pieces over the years. Sadly no trailer for the flick could be located, nor could we track down any footage of Don (Joe Hasham) kissing new boyfriend Simon (John Orcsik). Listen to the audio commentary from writer David Sale, actress Elaine Lee (who played the much-raped Vera Collins) and myself and you’ll discover that the scene was in the original print but got mysteriously snipped out some time after its Sydney premiere.

Disc 2 features the 1976 documentary which commemorated the first 1000 episodes, NUMBER 96: AND THEY SAID IT WOULDN’T LAST. Since the show then ran for another 218 episodes, I decided to reunite some key members overlooked during the first retrospective. My companion documentary NUMBER 96: THE FINAL YEARS is deliberately shot in the same style as the first which we later realised had been filmed exactly 30 years earlier. So since she had concluded the first special, Elaine Lee (Vera) was recruited to begin this new one before then handing over the reins to Sheila Kennelly (Norma Whittaker), Wendy Blacklock (Edie “Mummy” McDonald), Deborah Gray (Miss Hemingway) and David Sale.

What a thrill to have worked with all these wonderful legends of Australian TV and my childhood. Several months later, at a taping of Seven’s WHERE ARE THEY NOW, they insisted I join them for dinner because I was part of the NUMBER 96 family. A very special moment indeed.

After the success of the first DVD, Umbrella decided to release complete episodes of NUMBER 96. Unfortunately the first two years of the series had been destroyed since nobody valued black and white videotape after colour TV began in Australia on 1 March, 1975. There’s only about 30 early episodes left and one day we might release them as NUMBER 96: THE BLACK AND WHITE YEARS!

The National Film and Sound Archive still stores every colour episode made but I decided we needed to start with a bang. So the second DVD release jumped ahead a few episodes to the complete saga, NUMBER 96: THE PANTYHOSE STRANGLER. Watch from the first victim (ironically this was the first episode ever broadcast in colour) and in just 32 episodes (all of which fitted perfectly onto 4 discs) the killer is revealed. There’s an audio commentary with Chantal Contouri and myself which I can now reveal was done with her sitting in Adelaide and me sitting in Sydney.

So what happens next? Well, Breaking News: NUMBER 96 will continue the story right from this point in another 4 disc collection to be released in late 2009. I haven’t yet viewed the next 32 episodes so can’t decide what its title will be … but rest assured details will be posted here as soon as possible.

SONS AND DAUGHTERS

SONS AND DAUGHTERS: THE BEST OF PAT THE RAT covers key episodes in the life of its best known character, Patricia Hamilton. There’s the first three episodes when separated twins John and Angela re-connect as adults and then there’s another reunion as Pat the Rat reignites her love affair with truckie David Palmer (Tom Richards). The Drural dragon then flies off to Rio De Janeiro for plastic surgery (Rowena Wallace leaves the series at this point) only to return to Sydney as Alison Carr (now being played by Belinda Giblin). Nobody recognises her except for the dog.

Things then get really nutty when several hundred episodes later, boring Beryl ends up in jail (an homage to PRISONER perhaps) and meets a fellow inmate called Pamela (Rowena Wallace is back!). The uncanny resemblance to the original Patricia is explained because Pamela is her twin sister. There is no funnier moment in the entire saga than when Pamela uses her psychic powers in an attempt to cause Alison to crash her car!

Special Features on this DVD include the complete theme song, a stills gallery that revisits the souvenir magazine and an audio commentary from Belinda Giblin and Tom Richards. Rowena Wallace was also lined up to join them but sadly a greedy hanger-on rang me the day before the recording to demand twice her agreed fee. It’s such a shame he held us to ransom because I was dearly looking forward to hearing her throaty laugh when she re-watched her psychic powers episode.

There is more Woombai wackiness in the second DVD release SONS AND DAUGHTERS: CLASSIC CLIFFHANGERS. Every infamous Christmas cliffhanger is revisited including a shark attacking Wane Hamilton, a snake attacking Alison, a plane crash, a shootout and the final two episodes. There’s also one very odd episode where boring Beryl falls down a mine shaft. Leila Hayes (who played Beryl) gave me an absolute earful when I rang to ask if she wanted to participate in the first DVD. .She was upset at being called boring Beryl because she claimed she always got more fan mail than Rowena Wallace. Sorry Leila, but Beryl was boring (and so is your attitude).

Without Leila’s colourful commentary, instead we hired Ian Rawlings (Wayne) instead and Normie Rowe (Doug). Unfortunately I couldn’t go to Melbourne for Normie’s so friend Nigel Giles stepped in. To his horror, however, the episode chosen for the commentary didn’t feature Normie since he and on-screen wife Abigail had already departed the series. Ooops, sorry S&D fans.

The Umbrella website was swamped with fans wanting the whole series to be released onto DVD but Freemantle Media decided to take all their DVD releases in-house. Fingers crossed they get around to it once day.

THE YOUNG DOCTORS

It was great fun reuniting the always gracious Rebecca Gilling (Liz), two-time Cleo centrefold Eric Oldfield (Dr Fielding) and the beautiful Judy McBurney (Nurse Tania Livingston) for THE YOUNG DOCTORS: THE BEST ROMANCES. All reminisced about working on Australia’s cheapest ever soapie for a DVD documentary and audio commentaries. Sadly co-stars Paula Duncan (due to illness) and Cornelia Frances (filming HOME & AWAY) couldn’t join them but when it came time for the second DVD, Paula Duncan couldn’t participate because none of her episodes were included in the new collection.

The first DVD features key romances, over the top weddings and the very first episode. Those with a sick sense of humour will enjoy Liz getting electrocuted on her honeymoon but my favourite is definitely Tony and Tania’s wedding episode. Do listen to Judy McBurney’s gorgeous commentary.

For THE YOUNG DOCTORS: CLASSIC CLIFFHANGERS I couldn’t resist including episodes featuring a prepubescent Russell Crowe and Abigail (yes I have always been quite obsessed with her). There’s also Sister Scott falling down the elevator shaft (with Cornelia Frances finally getting her chance to chat on an audio commentary) and the last episode ever. Producer Alan Coleman explains on another that Christmas cliffhangers were always planned but rarely aired properly thanks to Nine’s notorious pre-emptions due to cricket.

E-STREET

I was convinced E STREET: THE BEST OF MR BAD was going to be a huge seller given how popular the series was in its heyday. And aren’t today’s DVD buyers the kids who grew up with it? Well, apparently not. Several retailers complained that "Best Of" in the title was putting off some customers. So we changed the second release to E STREET: MR BAD’S REVENGE. Ironically, these weren’t "Best Of" collections but rather 40 episodes in complete chronological order.

There were audio commentaries from Melissa Tkautz (Nikki), Bruce Samazan (Max) and creator Forrest Redlich but it still didn’t sell enough to justify further releases. I was really hoping we’d get to E STREET: MR BAD RETURNS so fans could check out the second incarnation as the villain returns wearing a sack over his head to disguise the fact that he is now being played by a completely different actor (and it’s not Belinda Giblin).

LES PATTERSON SAVES THE WORLD

LES PATTERSON SAVES THE WORLD isn’t the best thing Barry Humphries ever did but good on him for being brave enough to front up and discuss what went wrong. The movie isn’t as good as the BARRY MCKENZIE flicks but how can you not enjoy Sir Les Patterson and Dame Edna Everage together along with Pamela Stephenson, Graham Kennedy, John Clarke, PRISONER’S Joy Westmore (playing Les’ poor wife Lady Gwen) and Joan Rivers (outrageous as the US President).

As the off-camera interviewer, I literally had to stuff my hand in my mouth to stop laughing out loud at Barry Humphries’ recollections. He is such a delightful man and witty storyteller so watch his interview before the movie to gain a better appreciation.