The program was conceived from a conversation between radio writer Richard Lane and Len Mauger, station manager of Seven Network. There was a quarter hour gap in the schedule and Mauger was keen to develop use of video tape for drama. It was decided to make a 15-minute show using skills developed by those involved in
The House on the Corner. Originally conceived under the title
Julia: An Early Autumn Affair, the title was later shortened to just
Autumn Affair. Many of the actors and writers involved in the production had previously worked on radio soap opera, and were inexperienced with television acting. Episodes were fifteen minutes in duration, recorded as
kinescopes in black and white, and were screened Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 8:45 AM. a part of the station's
Today breakfast program. There were three main conditions for the production: • it had to be written, produced and acted by Australians • it had to stand on its own as entertainment and compare with American imports • it had to be sold to other stations at comparable rates to the American imports. Ailsa McPherson, who worked on the show as script assistant, wrote "for performance quality
Autumn Affair relied heavily on Muriel Steinbeck's professionalism and her photographic memory. She had a prodigious capacity to remember lines and to be almost word perfect after reading them aloud only three or so times. It saved the episode on a good many occasions." Richard Lane wrote every episode. There were only two main sets and some small side pieces. Actors also would leave the series - Janette Craig accepted the role of Bubba in theatre production of
Summer of the Seventeenth Doll and had to be written out. Actoress Muriel Steinbeck played the title character, whilst other performers included Queenie Ashton, Diana Perryman (
MBE (the sister of actress and singer
Jill Perryman), Janet Craig, Leonard Bullen and Owen Weingott. Cast members Queenie Ashton and Janette Craig had previously appeared in a 1957 ABC TV play together called ''
Tomorrow's Child'', though it is not known if a copy of the production still exists. Every episode except for two of this series are held by the
National Film and Sound Archive. ==Later screenings==