[3] Number 96 became one of the most popular Australian drama television series of all time, but due to its racy subject matter, it was unable to be picked up by many international markets.

Number 96 became infamous for its groundbreaking depictions of taboo subjects of the time, exploring issues such as homosexuality, abortion, rape, interracial romance, drug usage, pregnancy in later life, and transgenderism, but also its array of comedy characters with their own catchphrases, in a nod to vaudeville.

[1] The highest rating episode was when it was revealed that Lucy Sutcliffe's (portrayed by Elisabeth Kirkby) lump in her breast was benign, after which many women went to their doctors to be tested for cancer, an issue that was not discussed much at the time and long before singer Kylie Minogue went public with her diagnosis.

[1] Based during an era of mass (white) emigration to Australia, mostly from the UK, Number 96, as befitting its inner-city location, presented a much more multicultural view of suburbia.

Its longer-term British characters included originals Lucy Sutcliffe (Elisabeth Kirkby) and her husband Alf (James Elliot), who hailed from Lancashire, series writer David Sale stated he based the characters on his own parents from England, and even naming Lucy after his own mum, but whereas his own parents who had emigrated to Australia and loved the country, he depicted Alf as the archetypal whinging pom who longed to go back to his native England[1] In later years and having previously played Les Whittaker, Gordon McDougall returned to the series playing the role of Scottish aristocrat brother Lord McCraddenow, whilst Don Finlayson's Aunt Amanda von Pappanburg was a British Baroness who lived in Germany and visited Don on several occasions.

[1] Other European characters included Aldo Godolfus from Hungary, the Russian Roma Lubinski-Godulfus and the Italian deli worker Giovanni Lenzi and his aunt Maria Panucci.

[1] Number 96 was the first television program anywhere in the world to feature a full diverse range of LGBTQ characters as regulars, although many historians and scholars are unaware of this, because the show's controversial content meant it was unable to be screened outside of Australia.

[1] A second lesbian character, Marie Crowther (played by Hazel Phillips), left the series after ogling Vera Collins in the shower and being told her affections would not be returned.

[4] Bill Harmon and Don Cash had previously worked in New York at NBC, and became a partnership after arriving in Australia and producing adventure series The Rovers and a couple of unsuccessful films.

[1] Regular writers included David Sale, Johnny Whyte, who was the series final script editor, Susan Swinford, Dick Barry, Michael Laurence, Lynn Foster,[1] Ken Shadie, and Eleanor Witcombe.

Whodunits included a panty snatcher (dubbed the Knicker Snipper), the Pantyhose Strangler, the Hooded Rapist, and a bomb that exploded killing off four characters.

Later, doctor Gordon Vansard (Joe James) was struck off the books for providing drugs for an illegal abortion, while his wife Sonia (Lynn Rainbow) suffered from mental delusions, leaving but then returning for the film version of Number 96.

She had an affair with Dudley (Chard Hayward) but was secretly in love with Arnold (Jeff Kevin) and the actress became the first Aboriginal woman to appear on the cover of TV Week while publicising this role.

Carol Raye, who played Amanda and stayed on behind the scenes to do casting, had left and creator David Sale also quit in its final months, concerned about the show's change in direction.

The show's final months saw Dudley being graphically machine-gunned to death in the Wine Bar (now a disco called Duddles), and a neo-Nazi bikie gang ran amok in a violent storyline that upset some real-life bikers.

[citation needed] As ratings fell, the boldest move in the show's final months was eleven episodes containing full frontal nudity of Miss Hemingway, a delusional psychiatric patient who didn't like wearing clothes.

[citation needed] Numerous stars wanted to appear in roles, even racing identity Gai Waterhouse, who unsuccessfully auditioned after completing a drama course in England.

Also suggested was a young Bryan Brown (although having been in England, he had acquired a British accent, and was considered unsuitable by producer Bill Harmon, even though he hailed from Parramatta).

The makers of the show made a bold move, killing off several long-running cast favourite's which were revealed on the front page of newspapers on Monday 8 September 1975.

They included Les (Gordon McDougall), Aldo and Roma Godolfus (Johnny Lockwood and Philippa Baker), and then revealing scheming Maggie Cameron (Bettina Welch) as the bomber and sending her off to prison.

Other enduring characters among the high cast turnover of the later period were new blonde sex-symbol Jaja Gibson (Anya Saleky), and Giovanni Lenzi (Harry Michaels), an exuberant Italian who worked in the deli.

A week after the airing of the final episode in Sydney, a televised public auction of props and costumes from the series was held in the grounds of Channel Ten.

McKenzie Wark wrote in Celebrities, Culture and Cyberspace (published by Pluto Press, 1999): "Once, when I was a kid, I was walking down a suburban street at night, when I noticed a rhythmic flickering of light from inside the houses.

Though screened from view by the drawn curtains, the lights from a row of separate houses were all pulsing in time, and then I heard the music and I knew everyone was watching the same show ...

[1] It led to huge merchandise such as tie-in novels and magazines, singles and LP records from cast members, a disco soundtrack album, a Family Circle cookbook with an iron-on T-shirt transfer, the 1974 feature film Number 96, and a 1980 American remake.

[1] When the stars travelled from Sydney to Melbourne via train overnight to attend the Logie Awards ceremony, they were mobbed at country stations along the way during wild whistle stops.

Paperwork about the offensive material, which includes most of the Black Mass, survives with the National Film and Sound Archive, but the actual reel of footage has never been found.

The 16-hour overnight journey left from the centre of Sydney at 4:30 pm with a farewell party, complete with red carpet and jazz band in attendance; it featured whistle stops at country sidings and saw thousands of people turn out to see their favourite stars, before it arrived at Spencer Street station.

[14] The series celebrated 1,000 episodes in 1976 with a compilation special, Number 96: And They Said It Wouldn't Last, which reviewed the show's most famous story lines and recounted the exploits of its departed main characters.

An attempt to sell the show at Cannes TV Festival in 1975 by using a topless model backfired when British newspaper Daily Mirror reported it got "a swift 'No Entry' sign" from their broadcasters the BBC and ATV.