Does anyone know any of the history and people at Thorn in Melbourne in the 1970s?

I'm particularly looking for any information on how the T series chassis (last B&W TV model and all solid state) came to be designed and produced so late in the game.

I recently acquired one of these - I'd never seen one before which is surprising because in the early 70s I was doing warranty service on new TVs. I saw plenty of R2 chassis but this T series chassis is what Thorn SHOULD have been building instead of the R2. It's a good example of minimalist, elegant design that nevertheless works very well.

According to Thorn people in the UK, unlike the R2 it was not based on a UK design
("I can't see much in the way of Thorn brushstrokes in that circuit at all apart from the drawing of the diagram. ").

Firstly a disclaimer:

I am not a technician, nor would I pretend to have any technical knowledge of the workings of a television receiver. My interest in vintage televisions are as historical objects and furniture design pieces that I grew up with as a child of the 1970's. When researching vintage Australian TV's I like to know about both model and chassis types.

That said, I do have some basic electronics training at RMIT from many years ago.

So back to the Thorn T Series chassis:

According to the service manual the T Series chassis replaced the R Series. It would appear likely that the T Series was introduced in 1974 or thereabouts and was the last chassis type for larger screen AWA/Thorn monochrome sets just prior to the advent of colour.

I could be wrong, but at a guess I think Thorn TV models using the T Series chassis may had model numbers starting with "8xxx". For example the 24" Aquarius 7002 from 1971 possibly used the R Series chassis and possibly changed to the T Series in 1974, becoming a Aquarius 8002 with no changes in cabinet styling. I currently do not have enough information to match chassis and model types for post 1970's Thorn TV models.

The rarity of the T Series Thorn TV models may be explained by them being the last hurrah before colour!

Someone like Rod Humphris, who used to teach TV electronics at RMIT, may have some inside knowledge about the design of the T Series.