Tony Robinson's Tour of Duty (2015 - 2015)

Toowoomba marks the first stop on Tony Robinson’s Tour of Duty as he explores this charming Queensland town’s military history. Revisit WW1 meeting the daughter of the first Aboriginal fighter pilot and stories of modern day warfare with the dog that saved an Afghanistan Veteran, not in the heat of battle but back on home turf. For the first time, experience the Tour of Duty roadshow and feel part of the community as personal memories are exchanged alongside relics of fallen ancestors. Tony digs deep through the trenches with the locals discovering a medical kit from Gallipoli with remedies and medicines to make you squirm and a Vietnam Veteran who’s past smoking habit actually saved his life.

Incredible surprises await Tony in Auckland as he travels to New Zealand’s North Island. Little known mysteries are explained and prove that despite its small population, during war times Auckland was prepared to drop bombshells…literally! Hear about New Zealand’s secret weapon of mass destruction during WW2 and the famous Hillary brothers whose war efforts were worlds apart. The bugle sounds at the stunning Auckland War Museum as the Community Roadshow begins; Tony meets a man whose photograph of his grandfather in WW1 could rewrite history and there’s a tank with a name you wouldn’t believe-¬‐ Auckland reigns with surprises.

Tony travels to the charming South Australian town of Hahndorf, nestled amongst the Adelaide Hills. It's the country's oldest German settlement, but this quaint town's war history is sure to surprise.

Tony is in the quiet NSW town of Bathurst on Anzac Day. He hears stories of reconciliation over tea and scones in Cowra and meets the man whose childhood bedroom window bullet hole was the envy of all his mates.

Take a trip with Tony through Launceston in a WW1 ambulance as he heads back to school for show and tell with a 90 year old undercover spy. See war drawings that were daringly smuggled through seven different POW camps en route to Nagasaki and drive north to the once quiet town of Legerwood where people power turned a hazardous memorial into an extraordinary thing of beauty.

What do over-worked sewing machines, dodgy scissors, a Bull and Vegemite have in common? Ballarat's military history, of course! Take a stroll with Tony down the Avenue of Honour and hear stories of locals whose community spirit is as strong now as it was during the World Wars. A wedding dress worn by seven brides and an invading army welcomed with open arms prove Ballarat really does have a heart of gold.

Picturesque Dunedin is the next visit on Tony's Tour of Duty. With a fascinating war history, this charming city retells stories of WW1 that were at times often quite scandalous! Tony ventures to the famous Otago University to learn about the surgeon whose war effort created a radical breakthrough for his patients and has a chat with the cheeky nieces of a soldier who was armed in war with a paintbrush, not a gun.

Tony's Tour of Duty heads to Darwin in the Northern Territory in Episode 9. Tony learns that the last hundred years of Darwin's war service is much more than the 1942 bombing as he discovers the untold stories; a fighting force whose weapons weren't tanks and guns but spears and knowledge of the land, and recollections of a 14 year‐old girl who became a refugee in her country.

The last stop on Tony's Tour of Duty is the Western Front…the Australian city of Fremantle. Tony meets the grandson of an unlikely celebrity, the word ‘Anzac' takes on a number of fascinating meanings, and Tony shares a beer with the son of an Australian war bride and American GI, whose extraordinary love story spans six decades and seven seas.