The Restless Years was an Australian soap opera targeting a young audience and following the lives of several Sydney school-leavers and young adults. It was produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation and screened on Channel Ten from 1977 to 1981.

There was a high turnover of attractive youngsters in the cast. A small band of older characters proved more enduring with Dr Bruce Russell (Malcolm Thompson), his eventual wife Olivia Baxter (Zoe Bertram), rebellious youth Peter Beckett (Nick Hedstrom), and his former school teacher Miss Elizabeth McKenzie (June Salter) the most enduring characters.

The series made use of dramatic storylines involving murders, kidnapping, amnesia, serial killers and prostitution among the more standard elements as teenage problems, unemployment, romance, jealousy and parental problems.

Others in the cast included Victoria Nicholls, Peter Phelps, Martin Sacks, Jon Blake, Julieanne Newbould, Kim Lewis, Jacqui Gordon, Lenore Smith, Noel Trevarthen, Joy Chambers.

The show was remade in the Netherlands as Goede Tijden, schlechte Tijden and Germany as Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten (both titles literally mean Good times, bad times). Both shows are still running in their markets as of 2004 and the highest rated soap operas in their countries.

External links

• Aussie Soap Archive: The Restless Years (http://members.ozemail.com.au/~fangora/restless.html) — Overview and review