A Wire Through the Heart

Australia in the mid 1800s was a land isolated by distance and divided by two very different cultures. John McDouall Stuart's incredible crossing of this inhospitable land enabled Charles Todd to construct a telegraph line through the heart of the continent, bringing Australia to the world and the world to Australia. Its construction heralded the start of a new communications era every bit as revolutionary as the internet. News from overseas arrived in hours rather than months, securing Adelaide's position as the centre for early colonial communications. It made Todd a hero - but it cost Stuart his life.