A lady thought of one in every of Australia’s first actuality TV stars has died, greater than 30 years after showing on the present that briefly made her a family identify.
And in a tragic twist, it seems her dying went unreported by the media for greater than a yr after she died in Might 2023.
Noeline Donaher was the star of Sylvania Waters, a fly-on-the-wall actuality sequence that aired for 12 episodes in 1992. The present had an idea that was just about remarkable on the time: Cameras would observe Donaher, husband Laurie and their household as they went about their lives of their house within the titular south Sydney suburb of Sylvania Waters.
The Donahers allowed a TV crew into their house for a whole lot of hours, with the footage packaged up as one of many first actuality TV reveals, ever.
Sounds mundane, however the present precipitated numerous controversy, with some critics and viewers complaining Sylvania Waters depicted the household – and subsequently, all Aussies – as “materialistic, argumentative and heavy-drinking” (that quote courtesy of the SMH).
There was additional uproar when the sequence aired within the UK, leaving viewers shocked on the antics of this suburban household down underneath. The Each day Telegraph Mirror dubbed the present “a vicious putdown tailored for British audiences”.
Simply as stunning this week is the realisation that Donaher, such a pivotal determine on Australian tv, seems to have died greater than 12 months in the past with out information of her dying being picked up by the media on the time.
Australian popular culture producer Matt Fulton sounded the alarm on social media this week, sharing a Fb submit he’d uncovered dated Might 29 2023, written by Donaher’s son Mick.
An identical announcement was posted a day in a while the web site of NSW Historic Touring Automobiles, a bunch through which Noeline and Laurie have been each lively.
“Dad has requested me to share with you all of the unhappy information that Noeline Donaher, his accomplice of over 40yrs, not too long ago handed away,” Mick wrote on his father’s behalf within the Might 30, 2023 submit.
Followers on Twitter have been shocked to study Donaher had died greater than a yr in the past, one writing “vale the unique Kath Day-Knight” (the Sylvania Waters affect on Kath and Kim is tough to overlook).
“How did we miss this information? I needed to do a deep dive to seek out the data. It actually was not reported wherever,” wrote Fulton.
Within the wake of her notorious TV stint, Donaher branched out into different areas – releasing a 1993 one-off single known as No Regrets and a ebook known as The Sylvania Waters Diary – earlier than retreating from the highlight altogether.