RAN Remote Area Nurse (TV series)


RAN is an Australian television program that aired on SBS on 5 January 2006. The series was filmed entirely on Masig Island in the tropical Torres Strait north of the Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost part of Australia, and the border with Papua New Guinea.
This is an important series to Torres Strait Islanders, but also to the predominantly Anglo Australian community as it highlights the difference between Islanders and mainland Indigenous Australians and the interactions between Islander and Anglo culture. Islander actors and extras are extensively used.
The series was released on DVD on 20 February 2006.

Outline

First aired in early 2006 on Special Broadcasting Service television, it follows the life of Helen Tremain, the Remote Area Nurse, charged with providing medical services to the remote Torres Strait Islanders community.

Drama

The drama comes from the RAN's necessarily close association with the island Chairman, Russ Gaibui, and his extensive and somewhat dysfunctional family of wife Ina and grown children Eddie, Solomon, Paul, Nancy and Faith and their families and friends, and other characters on the island including some white Australians.
The season of six episodes covers topics such as: whites fitting into an Islander culture; alcohol misuse and smuggling in Islander communities; family hostility and love; outsider influence on island life; family tension, life and death; seasons in the tropics and the effect on people, marriage and family.

Accuracy

The series is portrayed as telling true stories. Many of the idioms of the drama come from local situations. Islanders speak among themselves in their local dialect with subtitles provided for the wider television audience.
While non-Islanders can only guess at the accuracy of the portrayal, many extras are Islanders and that there was significant assistance from locals in the production.

Cast

Awards

The show and cast have won several awards, and been nominated in many more. Below is just some of the wins and nominations.
;At the 2006 Australian Film Institute Awards, the show won 3 awards:
;At the 2007 Logies, the show won 1 Award:
  • Most Outstanding Actress: Susie Porter
;Nominated in two other categories: