SHANE PORTEOUS ‘BEING A GRANDAD IS FABULOUS!’

He’s just turned 80, but the Country Practice favourite is still busy working and being a doting grandparent

- Phillip Koch

He played Australia’s favourite doctor in A Country Practice but these days Shane Porteous is happy playing a real-life grandad.

With his thatch of silver hair and deep melodious voice, Dr Terence Elliott proved to be a firm favourite with millions of mums who tuned in to beloved 1980s drama series A Country Practice each week to see what was happening in fictional Wandin Valley.

“Most of the people who write fan mail tend to be teenagers, and I may have got things like, ‘My mum thinks you’re really hot,’” laughs Shane, who celebrated his 80th birthday on August 17, and is still acting, albeit not on TV.

DISTINCTIVE VOICE

“I’m very rarely stopped in the street these days, just occasionally. Most people say my voice gives me away. That’s the one thing I can’t disguise!

“There is a little fan club, who are a lovely collection of guys who every now and then have a Zoom meeting where they get to ask questions and I try and answer them as honestly as I can. I guess at my age you start to get nostalgic and start looking back at things.”