[2] Stewart wanted to follow The Fire on the Snow "with a play that would be its reverse —a study of the heroic will perverted.

Looking for a character who would thus be a kind of Miltonic Satan, a hero yet thoroughly bad, I thought about doing a celebrated New Zealand murderer, but decided he was too repulsive a figure to put on the stage.

Then I thought of Ned Kelly.” He said he wanted his play to be “a study of the fascinating mixture of good and bad in Ned’s character — the boisterous good humor that made him popular, the arrogance that made him hated; the murderous impulses that could lead him to attempt to wreck a train; the amazing courage he showed when his plans went wrong; the laughter of the man and the loneliness of the outlaw; the pride that sustained him, and the pride that led to his destruction.” [3] "I have tried to show in the play that Ned Kelly is remembered because he stands for two things wholly and typically Australian — freedom and courage," said Stewart.

The outstanding thing about this play, however, is the dialogue, which may easily set the fashion for a new Australian school of radio drama.

"[8] The Advocate critic "was not, I must confess, thrillfully moved by" the play feeling "it wanted less speeches and more movement.