Frank and Francesca
television series
Frank and Francesca is an Australian children's television series which first screened on the ABC in 1973.
The series of six 30 minute black & white episodes were based on the book of the same name by David Martin (1915-1997) which was published in 1972. It was produced by Oscar Whitbread for the Australian Broadcasting Commission and was directed by Rick Birch and Douglas Sharp.
Premise
An old vendetta between two Sicilian families reignites when they emigrate to Australia.
“Frank and Francesca” enters the record as television series. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Frank, Francesca and television can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Frank and Francesca” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Frank, Francesca and television provides the most credible route into that argument.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q24189921. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1973, 1915, 1997 and 1972.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Frank and Francesca”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Frank and Francesca primary sources, Frank and Francesca archive and Frank research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Frank and Francesca”?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Frank and Francesca” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.