Name: The Dish
Genre: Drama, Comedy, History
Released: 2001-05-04
Duration: 101 min
Rating: 6.8
Cast: Sam Neill, Patrick Warburton, Kevin Harrington, Tom Long, Eliza Szonert

The Dish

Transmission Overlap During Apollo 11 Mission

Cliff Buxton Sir, I'm afraid we're going to be entering overlap...

Ambassador Hutfield Oh! You mean you'll be receiving transmissions?

Cliff Buxton Yes...

Ambassador Hutfield You'll be able to hear Armstrong talking to Houston??

Cliff Buxton Yes...just by hitting a few buttons there...

[indicates the control panel behind the ambassador]

Ambassador Hutfield Ohhhh, let's do that.

[in a tone that indicates that he is almost, but not quite, sexually excited]

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Dish

Official Security Measures and Family Secrets

Janine Kellerman You've got a gun!

Rudi Kellerman Yep. Official NASA requirement, armed security.

[looking smug and officious]

Janine Kellerman Does mum know?

Rudi Kellerman No...and don't you tell her, either, Janine! She'll come here and she'll take it off me or something.

[looking worried]

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Dish

Celebration of Success in Parkes

Len Purvis That was Cliff on the phone.

[sotto voce, while discreetly handing Mayor McIntyre a note from behind]

Mayor McIntyre The pictures...they came from us! You bloody beauty!

[disbelieving; shouting, excited]

Prime minister Bloody fantastic! Here's to Parkes!

[obviously drunk; he drains his teacup full of whiskey]

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Dish

Unseen Moments of a Historic Event

Taglines Based on the true story of what we didn't see.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Dish

Houston's Additional Challenge Explained

Taglines Houston's other problem.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Dish

Gratitude and Assistance Among Friends

Glenn Latham Thanks for bringing the sandwiches.

Janine Kellerman That's all right...thanks for fixing my bumper bar.

Glenn Latham Oh, that's all right.

[holds up sledge hammer]

Janine Kellerman Maybe...

Glenn Latham I was wondering if...

[speaking at the same time as Janine]

Janine Kellerman What were you going to say?

[hopefully]

Glenn Latham Nothing. What were you going to say?

[quickly and timidly; he pauses, then, hopefully]

Janine Kellerman Nothing.

[flustered]

Cliff Buxton He ask her out yet?

[off camera]

Ross "Mitch" Mitchell No. Oh, this is painful.

[pause as he continues to observe Glenn and Janine; he turns away]

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Dish

Technical Malfunction or Parking Issue?

Al Burnett Christ! What the hell was that?

[cringing]

Cliff Buxton Drive cog must have slipped a few teeth.

Ross Mitch Mitchell Either that, or Janine's trying to park.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Dish

Uncertainty in Life and Leadership

Bob McIntyre ...Nothing is certain, no guarantees. Life, I guess.

[shrugs]

Prime minister You're joking, aren't you, McIntyre?

[in a slightly threatening tone]

Bob McIntyre Yeah. Yeah, everything's fine.

[quickly; he smiles weakly]

Prime minister You know, McIntyre, we have a saying in the party: You don't fuck up...

Bob McIntyre ...and?

Prime minister That's it.

[he looks away and moves off]

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Dish

Confronting the Apollo 11 Incident

Mayor Bob McIntyre What if you come clean, just tell NASA?

Cliff Buxton Tell them what?

Mayor Bob McIntyre th- th- that um...

[stuttering]

Cliff Buxton That we lost Apollo 11?

Mayor Bob McIntyre Well...I wouldn't say that first.

Cliff Buxton What would you say first?

Mayor Bob McIntyre Well, you know..."hey, you'll never guess what happened...”?

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Dish

Handling a Major Setback

Glenn Latham Everything's fine.

Al Burnett Except we've lost Apollo 11!

Glenn Latham Well, except for that.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Dish

Reflections on the Moon Mission

Cliff Buxton Do you know what I thought when this first came up?

Glenn Latham What, your pipe?

Cliff Buxton No. The moon mission.

Glenn Latham You beauty?

Cliff Buxton I thought, "imagine stuffing that up". Isn't that odd?

Glenn Latham What?

Cliff Buxton Well, that I was more scared than excited.

Glenn Latham I don't think that's odd. I feel like that all the time.

Cliff Buxton My wife said something, she said: "Failure is never quite so frightening as regret.

Glenn Latham Oh, that's good advice. I wish someone would tell me that.

Cliff Buxton God bless ya, Glenn.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Dish

Unexpected Encounters in The Dish

Rudi Kellerman Who goes there?

[off, in the background, we see his silhouette and a flashlight]

Cliff Buxton It's just us, Rudi!

[shouting over his shoulder]

Rudi Kellerman Oh, all right!

Rudi Kellerman Who?

Cliff Buxton Cliff and Bob!

Rudi Kellerman Ah! Hey, Bob!

Mayor Bob McIntyre Rudi!

Rudi Kellerman How are ya?

Mayor Bob McIntyre Good, fine!

Rudi Kellerman Halt! Who goes there?

[off-screen, in the distance]

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The Dish

Windy Weather Alert

Rudi Kellerman What's the bell for?

Ross Mitch Mitchell Lets us know it's windy.

Rudi Kellerman Oh, well I could'a told you that, it's blowin a bloody gale outside!

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The Dish

Admiration for Ordinary Talent in Extraordinary Circumstances

Al Burnett Not everyone at NASA is a hotshot college genius. The guy I most admire is from a one-horse town in Ohio.

Ross Mitch Mitchell And what's he do?

Al Burnett Tomorrow he's gonna walk on the moon.

Glenn Latham ...Who's the guy?

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Dish

Connecting Moonwalkers Through Rural Technology

Taglines As Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, our only link was a satellite dish in rural Australia with a few bugs (And a few hundred sheep).

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Dish

Signal Loss Confirmation from Houston

NASA network control official PKS, Houston NC.

[via radio link]

Al Burnett Go ahead, Houston.

NASA NCO I've spoken to INCO, and we're no closer to finding this breakdown...are you sure the problem is downstream?

Al Burnett PKS... ...still on-line, Houston. Confirming loss of signal downstream.

[we see Mitch and Glenn cringe]

NASA NCO Roger, PKS...will maintain alternative feed.

Al Burnett What have I done?

[putting the mic down]

Glenn Lathem Bullshitted NASA.

[offhand]

Cliff Buxton Good man, Al.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Dish

Telemetry Updates During Mission Operations

Al Burnett Columbia, Houston. Guidance systems OK. You're still go for auto.

[through radio]

Ross "Mitch" Mitchell Copy that.

[American accent through radio]

Al Burnett Telemetry reports that O2 and CO2 are OK and steady, and biomed telemetry is now reading your vital statistics as being adequate within the limits.

[through radio]

Ross "Mitch" Mitchell Copy that.

[American accent through radio]

Al Burnett ], we have you currently at 124,000 nautical miles from Earth and at an approach velocity of 32,000 feet per second.

[through radio; [Neil Armstrong|Neil]

Ross "Mitch" Mitchell Copy that.

[American accent through radio]

Al Burnett We might just let you get back to work.

[through radio]

Ross "Mitch" Mitchell Copy that.

[American accent through radio]

Rudi Kellerman Is that you, Neil?

[through radio]

Rudi Kellerman I repeat, this is sector A. Is that you, Mr. Armstrong?

Cliff Buxton That's funny. Must be a crossed line from Honeysuckle Creek.

[quickly throws a switch, cutting off the radio]

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Dish

Unexpected Visit from the Ambassador

Rudi Kellerman You've got a visitor. It's the ambassador.

[through radio]

Rudi Kellerman From the United States of America.

[through radio]

Al Burnett Oh, God.

Rudi Kellerman Is this thing working?

[through radio]

Cliff Buxton Just a minute, Rudi.

Rudi Kellerman Roger that, sector G, confirm sector A hold on.

Al Burnett Well, he asked to come visit last night...I didn't think he'd be here so soon!

Cliff Buxton He's here.

[with obviously forced patience, holding up radio to Al's face in evidence]

Al Burnett Space nut. Knows everything about Apollo 11.

[He's a]

Ross "Mitch" Mitchell Does he know where it is?

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

The Dish

A Lighthearted Comparison of Earth and Basketball

Glenn Latham Imagine the Earth is a basketball...

Ross Mitch Mitchell This should be good.

[Cliff glares]

Glenn Latham And imagine Parkes is...what's that thing you put the pump into?

Ross Mitch Mitchell The hole.

Glenn Latham Yeah, but it's got a name...oh, the valve! Well, this is the Parkes valve, and on the other side is another valve --

Ross Mitch Mitchell You know, basketballs only have one valve.

Glenn Latham Well, what's something that's got two valves?

Ross Mitch Mitchell Tuba?

Glenn Latham It's gotta be round.

Ross Mitch Mitchell Tamborine?

Glenn Latham That doesn't have valves!

Ross Mitch Mitchell Coconut! You could...

[mimes drilling holes in coconut]

Cliff Buxton Mitch!

[sotto voce]

Glenn Latham Well, imagine a basketball that's got two valves...

Janine Kellerman I get it - when the Goldstone valve can't see Apollo Eleven, the Parkes valve can!

Glenn Latham Exactly.

[relaxes]

Cliff Buxton Well done, Glenn!

[grinning]

The Dish

Tension Before the National Anthem

Ross Mitch Mitchell Cliff...That's bullshit. You just bullshitted NASA!

Mayor Bob McIntyre Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, please remain upstanding for the national anthem of the United States of America. ] theme]

[after band plays 'God Save the Queen' badly; There is a pause, then the band plays the ''[[W:Hawaii Five-0|Hawaii Five-0]

The Dish

Satellite in a rural sheep paddock

Cliff Buxton ... and it's still in the middle of a sheep paddock.

[last lines]

The Dish

Apollo 11's Journey to the Moon

Al Burnett ...I know where Apollo 11 is.

[looking out the window]

Al Burnett It's on it's way to the moon. That's your point of reference.

[turning; indicates the moon, visible through the window]

Al Burnedd If they've gone 150,000 miles, they've gotta be within 3, 4 degrees.

Glenn Latham That might be okay.

Cliff Buxton I think that might be okay.

Glenn Latham Yeah!

[brightening]

Ross Mitch Mitchell So... ...we can rub this out?

[he indicates a blackboard, completely packed with complex calculations and figures]

The Dish

Unexpected Responsibilities in Space Exploration

Reporter No offense, but NASA spends ten years, billions of dollars so that we can watch man walk on the moon and in the end it falls to you blokes! I mean, how do you feel about that?

Ross "Mitch" Mitchell A lot better before you opened your trap!

The Dish

Frustration Amidst Unpredictable Circumstances

Cliff Buxton We sit here on our arses for five bloody days. Not a breath of bloody wind. Then, on cue, out of nowhere, just when it's our turn, a bloody cyclone decides to park its arse on us! Um... I'm sorry, lads. I just... ..might just go check some bloody thing

The Dish

A Bold Opportunity for Science

Cliff Buxton This is science's chance to be daring.

The Dish

A Moment of Clarity Amidst Chaos

Mayor Bob McIntyre You remember that night at my place? Trying to sort out the contract with that fella from NASA? What about this? What about that? Two hours, and you finally speak. Gentlemen, this should be the contract: We agree to support the Apollo 11 mission. That was it - one sentence. They couldn't believe it. It was a wonderful moment.

Cliff Buxton But this isn't.

Mayor Bob McIntyre No, this is a shithouse moment.

The Dish

Precision Tracking of Spacecraft Explained

Cliff Buxton That moves the dish up and down... and that's your sideways movement.

[indicating controls; indicates another dial]

Ambassador Hutfield It's amazing, simply amazing. You can actually pinpoint a tiiiiny spaceship, thousands of miles away and lock onto it?

[he pauses, we see the entire dish operations team in the background looking tense]

Cliff Buxton ...Pretty much.

[he smiles weakly]

The Dish

NASA's Uncertainty About Apollo 11's Location

Al Burnett Are you telling me that NASA's prime receiving station has absolutely no idea where Apollo 11 is?

Glenn Latham Yeah - it's on its way to the moon.

The Dish

Moon Landing Excitement and Tea Conversations

Ambassador Hutfield I'd do the same. If I'd just landed on the moon, I wouldn't want to be sleeping.

Prime minister It's a bit like telling a kid to sleep on Christmas morning, eh, Howard?

Bronwyn Spiers More tea, prime minister?

Prime minister Ah, yes... ...lovely.

[he holds out his tea cup. Bronwyn produces a decanter of whiskey and pours it into the cup surreptitiously]

The Dish

A Step on the Moon's Edge

Taglines Man's first step on the moon nearly stumbled on earth.

The Dish Quotes