‘Etched in muscle memory’: beer ad and original Doctor Who theme music preserved by Australian sound archive

A screenshot of Victoria Bitter’s campaign with the ‘big cold beer’ tagline. John Meillon’s narration of the ad has been chosen as one of the National Film and Sound Archive’s iconic sounds of Australia. Photograph: VB

You could get it ridin’, you could get it slidin’. And it usually came on at about four.

The words immortalised by John Meillon that became an affectionate and oft-parodied incantation for generations of beer drinkers is among the 10 iconic sounds of Australia preserved for posterity under the National Film and Sound Archive’s 2024 annual Sounds of Australia collection.