The Cast
Making a docu-drama is something generally a crew of over 50 people are involved in.
Geez.....we only WISH we had a big crew helping us lug cameras and lights all over the New England district.
But you know....we love what we do, and our small team of equally multi-talented people have put their hearts and souls into this project, and we hope you enjoy watching it when it's released, as much as we have had making it over the last number of years!
Captain Thunderbolt - Clint Poulsen
Clint lives and works on a property 120 kilometres away from any town, or any type of civilisation for that matter!
He is a true Aussie bushman, horseman, and all round top bloke...perfect for playing the role of Thunderbolt, after he heard our call for actors on the local ABC radio. Apprently, he asked both his aunty and his Mum if they thought he could play the role, and luckily for us, they said he would be perfect! Thanks to his wife Jo also for helping him get in touch with us. And, everytime we need to film with him, he makes the 8 hour drive to and from his property to be involved. What a legend!!
Mary Ann Bugg - Charada Grimes
Charada is a local Toowoomba woman, who like Mary Ann Bugg, has an Aboriginal mother, and a white father.
Emily Murphy, our publicist was the person who found her for us, and with a background in acting, and musical performance, she was the perfect choice for the role. Although she never rode a horse, she learnt very quickly under the guidance of Pete Gould from Cowboy Up.
Constable Walker - John Birchley
John is a jack of all trades, working on properties all over Queensland. He's also worked in Europe, and is a master whip-cracker!
He also heard our cry for help on the ABC radio, and has brought his rugged Australian looks, his horse-riding skills, and his social personality to the role brilliantly.
And again, another top bloke who is willing to drive the distance to get to our locations for shoots.
Constable John Mulhall - William Rouse-Upjohn
William is the grandson of Bill Upjohn, owner of Harlow Park Horse riding.
Will has been around horses since he was a baby, and it shows with his incredible horse riding skills. Many a time he had to ride his horse at a full gallop, holding the reigns with one hand, and firing his gun with the other. An actor that does his own stunts!
Micheal Coughlan - Tim Rouse-Upjohn
Tim is the other grandson of Bill Upjohn, owner of Harlow Park Horse riding.
Both Tim and Will play the roles of Walker and Thunderbolt in the Uralla Thunderbolt Festival. Yet another fantastic horse rider and performer of which we are grateful for.
Blanches Inn Owner Eliza Blanche and The Hawker, Giovanni Cappacotti
- Cheryl and Brendan Nolan
Husband and wife team Cheryl and Brendan have lived in Uralla for over 2o years, and are well known local performers and business people. Both offered to play the roles for us, supply their own costumes, and share their beautiful house with us while we've been filming in Uralla. Truly a wonderful and generous couple!
Will Monckton - Lachlan Anderson
Young Lachlan came to us as a local Uralla stage actor, already experienced with lead roles in his school musicals.
His perfromance was brilliant, and he has that 'star quality' about him. We suspect he will go far in the film and TV industry!
Thunderbolt Bail Up Victims -
Dan Riley, Chris Baker, Neil Free, Peter Feitz
Recruited from the Uralla and New England district, these loveable guys agreed to help us out, and appear in our documentary. And what a great set of performances!!! There is a huge range of talent in the New England!!!
Marina Ward - Tia Hinch
Tia was the most patient, and easy to get along with child we've ever worked with! Not only did she sit around for hours waiting for her sequences to be filmed, but she also helped us carry the heavy camera equipment up and down a huge hill! And her performances were awesome!!
Police Trooper - Neville Grimes
Nev was a fantastic Trooper, although, because he is such a great guy, he found it hard to stop smiling when he needed to be serious.
Still, we got the takes we needed, so it all worked out.
Nev is was engaged to Charada (Mary Ann Bugg) when we started filming, and are now husband and wife and now with a beautiful child.
What a happy couple they are! We love 'em!
And he helped lug gear up and down the same hill Tia did!
What a trooper!.....erm...yes...punny huh?
The Interviewees
Carol Baxter
Professional historian, author and genealogist.
Writer of the book,
"Thunderbolt And His Lady
Barry Sinclair
Thunderbolt family researcher, and great nephew of Thunderbolt.
Kent Mayo
McCrossin's Mill Museum Director, and Thunderbolt master story teller
G.J. Hamilton
Professional writer, and author of the book - "Thunderbolt - Scourge Of The Ranges"
Dr David Roberts
Professional historian and lecturer at the University of New England
Joy Murrin
Professional genealogist, family researcher and transcription agent for Births, Deaths, and Marriages.
Arnold Goode
President of the Uralla Historical Society and local historical reseacher.
Donna Anderson
Descendent of Mary Ann Bugg and her Family.
Pat Lightfoot
Writer and conspiracy supporter.
Kevin Ward
Ex-Mayor of Uralla, brother in law to Barry Sinclair, and yet no actual relation to Fred Ward aka Thunderbolt.
Patrick Roberts
A young fan of Thunderbolt and the legends.
Graham Muller
Descendent of Gustav Muller, one of the musicans bailled up by Thunderbolt.
The Hon. Rick Colless
The politician responsible for pushing Standing Order 53 through parliament for the release of documents.
Betty Spencer
Related to Will Monckton who actually spent time with Will as a teenager.
Stephen Kent Ehat
A professional American lawyer, legal reseacher and writer, dedicated to finding the facts!
Peter Spencer
Related to Will Monckton who has recently published a book about Will Monckton. "Too Young To Hold A Gun"
The Crew
Producer - Joanna Cantly
Joanna (Joey) Cantly has worked alongside of Shayne now for the past 20 years. Her experience in financial control positions, and accounting makes well suited for organising the limited finances for this project. She's also great at creating costumes from scratch using her sewing skills, and is a brilliant researcher.
Joey also appears in the docu-drama in her role as the main interviewer.
Director/Writer/Editor/Visual Effects/Sound/Music/Cameraperson etc, etc, etc - Shayne Cantly
Being a small production, pretty much all of the production work is handled by Shayne cause he is one of those jack of all trades type of guys. 30 years in the film and audio production industries has seen him work with the widest assortment of people and industries, and produced hundreds of videos seen all over the world.
Shayne also appears in doco as the lead investigator, and presenter.
Digital Image Scanning/Photoshop Whizz - Brooke Farrugia
Brooke is a legend when it comes to all things Photoshop. She's scanning old photos, and digitally re-touching them so they look the best they possibily can.
And when it comes to convincing people to help us out, she's brilliant. That sweet voice....who can resist!!!
Camera Operator/Assistant - Alexander Cantly
Alexander was our cameraman when Shayne needed to do presenter pieces to camera when on location at Maitland Gaol, and Tocal Station. He also took some behind the scenes photos, as well as some background plates for our green screen effects shots.