Line #18 Series/MyPlace


1	[[quoteright:526:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/06d5d517ec4418de40249a236b0b3ed4.jpg]]
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3	''My Place'' is probably the most ambitious children's story ever written about Australian history. It spans from the modern day, to before the colonisation of the continent. The story was first told in a book by Nadia Wheatley, and later adapted for TV by Creator/{{ABC3}} and the Australian Children's Television Foundation. It would be more accurate, however, to call it a loose collection of short, interlinked stories.
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5	''My Place'' takes pains to [[ShownTheirWork accurately portray the periods involved]]. Each episode provides a brief window into a different decade. Despite being a kids' show, it does not soften what life was once like - children are forced to work hard, experience racism, are mistreated by heartless masters, go hungry and even die of whooping cough. However, it's not all grim, and often heartwarming or even quite funny - the tales range from escaped convicts to conquering cricket.
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7	Most of all, though, the focus is kids being kids - whatever the era, the kids will misbehave, or screw up, and ultimately seek sanctuary in their hideaway - the same huge fig-tree. Whether it ends happily or sadly depends on the episode.
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10	!!This series provides examples of:
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12	* AshesToCrashes: In "Laura 2008", Laura accidentally sinks Michaelis' dinghy, only to then learn that the dinghyalso contained the urn holding the ashes of his beloved dog.
13	* BackToFront: The series opens in 2008 and travels back to pre-1788.
14	* BaseballEpisode: Cricket Episode.
15	* BinocularShot: Near the beginning of Michaelis' episode as he spies on his neighbours watching ''Series/TheAdventuresOfRobinHood''. Unlike some examples however, we actually see one circle instead of two.
16	* ContinuityNod: Objects that had significance in previous episodes will sometimes show up again. A boy finding an old horseshoe in his backyard, is one such example.
17	* CultureClash: Various examples, between Aboriginal Australians and white Australians, Asian Australians and white Australians, but perhaps the most interesting example is between a Vietnamese girl and her Vietnamese Australian cousin, who initially do not understand each other for cultural, but also personal reasons, ''at all''.
18	* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Used, despite it being a kid's program. Most memorably, a bastard little girl is shunned by many in her community, meaning [[TheWoobie she can't even sell her vegetables to get by in life]], and also a character who treats UsefulNotes/AustralianAborigines like wild animals. Also features a child convict who is treated like crap.
19	* DueToTheDead: [[spoiler: Lorna's]] funeral at the end of the 1928 episode.
20	* GenerationalSaga: Several are shown in reverse over the course of the series.
21	* HistoricalFiction: Only the first few episodes are set in the modern era.
22	* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Each episode is named after the year in which it takes place.
23	* LoveableRogue: Many, but particularly the Irish convict.
24	* {{Motifs}}: The fig tree, the house.
25	* ParentalAbandonment: One of the characters is a bastard little girl, and totally abandoned by her father. [[spoiler:He happens to be rich, and tells her to her face that [[KickTheDog she was a mistake he fervently wishes never happened]].]]
26	* SliceOfLife - The stories mostly focus on characters going about daily lives in the particular era. Many feature a pivotal moment in the character's life, but others are just pure SliceOfLife.

Context Series / MyPlace