The Sundowner is an Australian radio series starring Chips Rafferty as a swagman.
It was devised by Peter Finch who wrote a pilot script in conjunction with Harry Alan Towers, who was visitng Australia at the time.
The pilot was recorded in Sydney around August 1947, after which Towers took it back with him to London where he sold the series overseas in 1948 and ordered a batch of episodes.
The show was heard in Australia on a network of 60 stations, including 2UE, every Friday at 8.30 p.m., and on Mondays from SAD at 8.00 p.m., from 3DB, 4BK, and 7HT at 8.30 p.m.[9][10] According to one listener, "The sponsors are also to be congratulated on the acquisition of the really fine script.
Chips Rafferty’s voice has rare qualities, being melodious, quiet, beautifully distinct, unhurried, unaffected, and utterly uncorrupted by any accent (“drawl” or “twang”).