In their comprehensive, book-length treatment of the series, John Tulloch and Albert Moran identify A Country Practice as “quality soap.” While produced on a modest budget, it was noted for the high priority given to creative script development and its sometimes provocative treatment of topical social issues. It was particularly important in the context of Australian television for staking a position somewhere between the high-cultural production values of the government-funded Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the often narrow commercialism of Australian drama screened on the privately owned networks.

Set in Wandin Valley, a fictional location in rural New South Wales, the series focused on a small medical practice, a site that provides a window into the life of the wider community. Key founding characters were Dr. Terence Elliott (Shane Porteous); his junior partner, Dr. Simon Bowen (Grant Dodwell); the doctors’ receptionist, Shirley Dean (Lorraie Desmond); and her daughter Vicky (Penny Cook), a local vet. The mainstay of narrative development was romance, the most notable instance being the evolving relationship of Simon and Vicky, which culminated, at the high point of the series’ ratings, in their wedding in 1983. Against this background and the general peace of the rural community, disruptive and confrontational episodes often dealt with illnesses or deaths encountered in the medical practice but also took up issues such as youth unemployment, the problems of aging, or the position of aboriginal people in Australian society.

Much of the interest of the series was generated by the ongoing tension between romanticism and realism. On the one hand, it was a conscious policy, as producer James Davern put it, “to reinforce the positive values of human relationships.” The series rarely featured violence, frankly presenting itself as an escape from the harsher realities of news and current affairs, and implicitly distancing itself both from the dominant strain in imported U.S.-produced drama and from other long-running Australian series such as Prisoner and Homicide. The rural setting provided ample opportunity for midrange shots of outdoor scenes as well as the inclusion of animals. It also established the series within the tradition that has been most successful in giving Australian audiovisual products international exposure, a tradition that includes feature films such as Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Man from Snowy River, and Crocodile Dundee. More recently, the international appeal of Australian settings as a site of innocence and harmonious community has been spectacularly demonstrated by the success of Neighbours and Home and Away in the United Kingdom.

On the other hand, the series became widely recognized for its topicality on medical and social issues and responded closely to the immediate concerns of its largely urban audience. Material for episodes was often directly inspired by news or current-affairs stories or by suggestions from viewers and organizations such as the Australian Medical Association. Particularly in the medical area, A Country Practice was overtly pedagogical, providing basic information on problems such as heart failure, leukemia, epilepsy, alcoholism, and leprosy. Working from the relative safety of this base of technical expertise, it also took positions on more controversial issues—for example, suggesting in one notable episode that unemployment cannot be blamed on a lack of motivation of the unemployed themselves. The series employed naturalistic dialogue, sets, and action, and it strove to avoid what is often identified in Australia as “Hollywood” sentimentality.

A Country Practice ceased production in 1993, largely as a result of staff losses. In the history of Australian television, it remains a landmark for its success in overseas markets and for setting a standard in quality, low-budget production.