The Back of Beyond

This is the story of the Great Barrier Reef, from man's ancient awareness of it, to his realisation that it is a major world wonder of great value to mankind. Beautiful, dangerous and diverse, the Reef provides escape and recreation, a vast resource and limitless retreat for the fisherman, tourist, adventurer, industrialist, scientist, artist and sportsman. But — a small increment of pollution or a slight deprivation of sunlight may set in motion a chain of events that could precipitate a decline and decay of the Reef on which little coral polyps have been working for some six hundred thousand years.

The much lauded poetic and polemical documentary about the standardisation of Australian rail gauges, emphasising the economic cost in times of peace and the possible threat to security in times of war. Heyer expertly highlights the problems involved, exploring the five changes in the size of rail track between the mainland states.

Film-maker John Heyer recounts to fellow film-maker Pat Jackson his film career, especially his award-winning film from 1954, the Australian classic Back of Beyond. At the same time as the two friends are in conversation the "original" Tom Kruse, outback mailman and the subject of Heyer's film, is retracing his journey of over 40 years before across the inland desert of Australia to bring the mail to the isolated people along the 325 mile stock-route from Queensland to South Australia. Heyer's importance to Austraian cinema is acknowledged and we get to see him as a person away from the camera too as he chats and travels across Europe with his friend.