Alan Hardy
Script Producer: 2008
Born on 17 March 1946, Alan is the son of Frank Hardy, an Australian novelist, known famously for his 1950 novel Power Without Glory and his book on the plight of Aboriginals, The Unlucky Australians.
His first involvement with the film and television industry occurred in the 1970s when Alan was employed as an actor on multiple series, including Crawford’s series Homicide, Cop Shop, and the television adaption of his father’s novel Power Without Glory.
As the 1970s concluded, Alan moved into television production. His first credit as producer was on another Crawford’s series, All the Rivers Run in 1983. Several other series including House Rules and The Henderson Kids also credits Alan as producer.
Come the 1990s, Alan produced a second series of All the Rivers Run. Following this, Alan joined the team at Grundy’s to produce Embassy for the ABC, alongside creator Ian Bradley and story editor Anne Lucas.
Alan began producing sitcoms in a partnership with director Pino Amenta and writer Philip Dalkin. Together, the trio created Nine’s hit sitcom All Together Now, as well as The Bob Morrison Show and Us and Them. In 1999, he joined the team at Beyond Simpson Le Mesurier to produce a new soap for the ABC, titled Something in the Air. The series ran from January 2000 until May 2002.
Following this, he joined Bevan Lee and Barbara Bishop at Seven to produce Marshall Law. Some years later, he was employed by the same team as story editor of the new network drama Headland. He was promoted to script producer for the second series.
Alan’s affiliation with Bevan continued in 2007 when he was asked to join Home and Away as script producer through a period of transition. He and Bevan shared the top job for six months, before Alan moved to Melbourne to head the script department for City Homicide. He remained with the series until the series finale in 2011.
Away from writing, Alan appeared onscreen on both City Homicide and Laid, a series co-created by his daughter Marieke.
Following Susan Bower’s departure from Neighbours, Alan was hired alongside Richard Jasek to steer the ailing soap in a new direction. With Richard overseeing the production side of the series, Alan worked closely with the script department. Talking to TV Tonight of Alan’s appointment in October 2011, CEO of Fremantle Media Ian Hogg told the Australia media site, “Alan is a very hands-on producer with an incredibly strong script, casting and production sense. He has worked on a huge volume of Australian productions since and has most recently lead the script team on Home & Away, City Homicide and Shortland Street. He will be a valuable addition to the Neighbours team.”
Late in 2012, Alan Hardy hired Jason Herbison as the series’ new story producer. Over the next year, the pair worked closely and when Alan left in late 2013, Jason was promoted to replace him.
After Neighbours, Alan retired from the industry.
Other Credits
Something in the Air
Producer (2000-2002)
Marshall Law
Producer (2002)
City Homicide
Head of Script Department (2009-2010)
Script Producer (2010-2011)
Neighbours
Producer (2012-2013)