The way we were

A new ABC series The Way We Were will features footage from the WWF film unit this year. The series which will go to air on Saturday evenings in July looks at a collection of pivotal moments in history while exploring Australian attitudes. But not in the usual ho hum way.

Put together by the same team who did the irreverent Good News Week, host Mark Trevorrow (alias Bob Down) digs among archival footage in the vaults of ABC to bare the nation's psyche. Old footage, he says, is a portal to the past.

Using interview, music and archival footage, he explores our attitudes towards an eclectic range of topics from making babies to sharks and intoxication in front of a studio audience. At the same time he interviews former figures like attorney general Lioinel Bowen, Australian icon Tom Uren and diver Valeria Taylor.

ABC archivist Wendy Borchers counts the WWF Film Unit footage as among the treasures kept in the vaults alongside ABC news and program clips.

"We're using that fabulous piece of footage of men queuing for the dole because there's just nothing else on the Depression. Cinetone thought it would be too depressing and never filmed anything. I always thought the WWF footage fabulous so we're using it for Clocking On, with archival shots of factory workers, miners and the Snowy Mountains scheme."