ABBA: The Movie 1977

Ashley Wallace is a naive DJ on Radio 2TW who normally hosts a late-night, country and western-themed show. Despite his usual routine, the station’s boss sends him on a bigger assignment: an in-depth interview with the group that should air on the day they leave Australia, described as “not an interview, a dialogue.” With his press card forgotten and his ability to buy a concert ticket thwarted, Ashley relies on a trusty reel-to-reel tape recorder as he follows the group across the country, starting in Sydney and then moving in order to Perth, Adelaide, and finally Melbourne. Along the way, he constantly darts around a protected perimeter kept by the group’s very protective bodyguard Richard Norton (uncredited), while his exasperated boss grows increasingly impatient with the slow pace of his reporting.

As the journey unfolds, Ashley is forced to improvise more often than not, conducting a string of roadside interviews with members of the public to gauge why people treasure ABBA. The responses are a mix of warmth, nostalgia, and candid opinions. Most comments are positive, but the movie also captures sharper notes—a man who is driven to distraction by his ABBA-obsessed twelve-year-old son, and a young woman who jokes that ABBA can be a bit much for some tastes. These snippets of everyday reaction paint a picture of ABBA’s cultural reach from a street-level perspective, adding texture to Ashley’s mission beyond the formal interview.

In Melbourne, the plot takes a decisive turn when Stig Anderson, the group’s manager, steps into the hotel foyer and agrees to arrange a proper interview. He also hands Ashley tickets to that evening’s concert, offering a lifeline just when the clock seems most unforgiving. Yet fate tests Ashley again when he oversleeps and misses the scheduled interview time, throwing his plans into jeopardy. Just as defeat seems certain, a fortuitous encounter occurs: ABBA themselves are spotted in an elevator, and they decide to grant him an interview right there and then. The spontaneity feels like a turning point, and the four members’ courtesy provides the moment of permission Ashley has been chasing all along.

With the interview secured, Ashley rushes to leave Australia for Europe, and ABBA depart behind for the continent. He returns to the city streets and the airport, scribbling notes and shaping the final cut on the back seat of a taxi. The clock ticks relentlessly as he hurries to the radio station, where he sets the finished tape on the studio playback machine. In the final, nerve-wracking seconds, Ashley sits at his control desk, listens, and breathes a quiet relief as the interview finally goes on air, completing his long, winding journey across the Australian tour and delivering the broadcast to listeners who have waited to hear what ABBA had to say, straight from the source.