Forty years later, Molly’s final farewells on A Country Practice remain a blueprint for a good death

Anne Tenney as Molly and Shane Withington as Brendan in A Country Practice: ‘These are the conversations we dream of having with those we love.’ Photograph: AAP

When I talk to Australian gen Xers about my new play, I invariably get the same response: a dramatic intake of breath, a hand swiftly covering the chest and an “Oh my God! Molly! God! I was devastated.”

The play imagines two days in the writers’ room of A Country Practice, dreaming up what they went through to kill off Molly Jones, arguably the show’s most beloved character – played with charm, wit and truth by actor Anne Tenney. Tenney had become Australia’s sweetheart and one of its biggest TV stars. It was a big deal to off her.