A Country Practice

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A Country Practice
Main title caption in 1981, depicting the Wandin Valley Clinic.
Genre	Soap opera
Created by	James Davern
Starring	(see Cast List in Article)
Theme music composer	Mike Perjanik
Opening theme	A Country Practice (instrumental)
Ending theme	Reprise
Country of origin	Australia
Original language	English
No. of seasons	14
No. of episodes	1,088 (List of episodes)
Production
Producer	James Davern
Running time	48 minutes
Production company	JNP Productions
Original release
Network	Seven Network (1981–93) Network Ten (1994)
Release	18 November 1981 (1981-11-18) – 5 November 1994 (1994-11-05)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

A Country Practice is an Australian television soap opera/serial which was broadcast on the Seven Network from 18 November 1981 until 22 November 1993, and subsequently on Network Ten from 13 April 1994 to 5 November 1994. Altogether, 14 seasons and 1,088 episodes were produced.

The show was produced at the ATN-7's production facility at Epping, New South Wales, Pitt Town and Oakville, suburbs on the outskirts of northwest Sydney, Australia, were used for most of the exterior filming, with the historic heritage-listed Clare House, built in 1838, serving as the location of the Wandin Valley Bush Nursing Hospital.

Many other fictional locations, including Dr. Terence Elliot's (Shane Porteous) medical practice, Frank and Shirley Gilroy's house Brian Wenzel and Lorrae Desmond, the Wandin Valley Church and Burrigan High School were filmed in the Hawkesbury.^[1]

Several of the regular cast members became popular celebrities as a result of their roles in the series. It also featured a number of native Australian animals, particularly the iconic 'Fatso the wombat' adding to its appeal both domestically and internationally. After the series was cancelled by the Seven Network in 1993, the series was relaunched on the Network Ten in 1994.

At the time of its cancellation, A Country Practice was the longest-running Australian TV drama; however, by the late 1990s, that record was surpassed by Network Ten series Neighbours. At the height of its popularity, the show attracted 8–10 million Australian viewers weekly^{[citation needed]} (at a time when the population of Australia was 15 million). The series was eventually sold to, and broadcast in 48 countries.