August 31st 2024.
After the passing of esteemed news anchor Brian Henderson, his family received an unexpected call from Peter Overton with a unique proposition. It seemed that the iconic TV studios that had been Brian's second home for over four decades were going to be taken apart by property developer Mirvac Group, who had recently acquired Channel Nine's Willoughby headquarters. In its place, they planned to build apartments and open green spaces, including a public park that they wanted to name in Brian's honor. However, this decision would ultimately rest on the approval of his family.
When asked about the proposal, Overton told 9news.com.au, "I thought it was a beautiful honor, but it was up to them to process." Mardi Henderson, Brian's wife of over 50 years, didn't hesitate for a second. She was immediately on board with the idea.
Now, three years later, Mardi sits on a bench in Henderson Park, basking in the warm autumn sun. The newly planted trees sway in the breeze, and leaves dance across the walkway that connects the two grassy lawns. Mardi had just helped to officially open the park to the public, and she couldn't be prouder.
Speaking of the opening ceremony, which was attended by family, friends, and former colleagues from Nine, Mardi says, "Brian wouldn't have known what to say." She goes on to explain that her husband was a very shy person and never sought out attention or fame. Despite speaking to millions of people every night, he hated public speaking. Mardi adds, "He would rather sit and talk to you one on one than have to stand in front of a crowd."
It's hard to imagine Australia's longest-serving news presenter as a shy man. For decades, Brian had been welcomed into homes across the nation every night. However, when he read the news from one of Channel Nine's studios nestled deep in the Willoughby campus, affectionately known as TCN-9, it was usually just him and his camera man in the room. On the rare occasion that he did have a studio audience, it was his beloved children.
Brian's daughter, Nicole, recalls, "If we had to go to dinner after the news, we would come in and be allowed to sit off to the side and watch him." Now, she sits in the park that bears her late father's name, reminiscing about the man who passed away in 2021 at the age of 89.
Overton, who had been a close friend of Brian's for many years, was among the first people the family notified when he passed away after a long battle with cancer. As he stands by a plaque bearing Brian's name and likeness, he recalls the first time they met in 1991 when Overton landed a job at Nine as a sports reporter. "I can still vividly remember that first day, going to the gatehouse and saying, 'Hello, my name's Peter Overton, I'm starting today in the newsroom'," he says.
Overton had grown up watching "Hendo" read the news every night, and on his first day at Nine, he mustered up the courage to introduce himself. He was taken aback when Brian already knew his name. "Hendo was a really magnificent man," Overton says, gazing out at Henderson Park. "And we need tributes like this to people who have contributed to our society."
The three-hectare strip of land on Artarmon road that now houses apartments and Henderson Park is widely considered the birthplace of Australian TV. It used to be a maze of TV studios where iconic programs like Bandstand, The Paul Hogan Show, The Mike Walsh Show, and 60 Minutes were filmed for decades. Overton can't help but point out the landmarks that now live only in his memory. He shows where the helipad used to be and where the iconic TCN-9 transmission tower once stood. Although the structures are gone, the history remains.
Overton returned to TCN-9 one last time in 2020, three weeks after its official closure. He found the place where he first met Brian to be vastly different. "The Channel Nine campus was a living, breathing place, and without any humans there, it quickly became silent," he says. "When people aren't walking around, it loses its whole circulation system." For him, TCN-9 and the history made there were never about the buildings; it was about the people. People like Brian.
As Mardi watches her children and grandchildren explore Henderson Park, a small smile plays on her lips, hidden behind dark glasses. She admits that being back in this place has stirred up many emotions, but it's worth it to see what the next generation of Hendersons will inherit; a piece of Brian's world, although it looks different now. "If he wasn't at home, he was here," she says. "And the history will go on."
Nine's staff has since relocated to North Sydney, and it's easy to forget that this was once the home of Australian broadcasting. However, a few things were left behind, like a set of goal posts in a TCN-9 car park where The Footy Show often filmed. Mirvac's CEO of Development, Stu Penklis, jokingly told 9news, "I have a sneaking suspicion that they have been re-erected in a backyard in the surrounding area."
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