wadsy

A kids show called The terrible Ten I recall the villains name was "Freckles

O'foot!

Ryan A private detective, his secretary was played by Pamela Stephenson!

MB

I've always been curious about the factors that enable Australia and New Zealand to produce such interesting TV and film..

From a distance - there seems to be a healthy respect for the people wanting to get involved and support for them, plus an understanding that 'childrens' drama and soaps deserve to be treated with respect.

Although some of the soaps might be considered cheesy - they seem to capture people's imaginations far more and genuinely reflect real life rather than zipping off into fantasy or sleazy tabloid issues - I don't think it is just the 'exotic factor'.

As a child I liked a programme called 'The children of fire mountain' (New Zealand) and 'Home' a really groundbreaking series (which ITV tried to emulate with programmes like 'Children's hospital' but never really got further than making embarrassing amdram..) also an excellent teen series 'Heartbreak High' which was actually on when I was in my twenties but was so well written my boyfriend at the time and I used to watch it..

scholes

Anybody remember 'Bluey' which starred Lucky Grills as a hamburger eating detective.
Phrases like
'bulldust' and
'stick to him like sh....sugar on a blanket '.
Then there was a programme called
'The magic boomerang', about a kid who throws a boomerang and all time stands still.

wadsy

Theres a great spoof of Bluey by a comedy team from the late show over here.

Its called Bargearse! Hilarious! it can be found on You tube!!

ollie

YouTube - Riptide 1968 (TV series opening credits)

YouTube - Bluey 1976 (TV series opening credits)

YouTube - [TV Theme] The Lost Islands (opening titles)(1976)

the lost islands intro, liked this as a kid

"Bullseye !!"

Greyandwhite

Well, Modesty... I have to say that you probably see the very best of it. There is an awful lot of dross on Aussie TV. Can't speak for NZ.

Yeah, that's me. Billy Balthorpe, the man with no name.

kris20

Re Boney. The main actor was a New Zealander

scholes

Cheers mate, Bluey as I live and breathe.
I doubt whether he'd be breathing very efficiently with a few more 10yard bursts like that though.

Lord Brett

I remember it as Police Surgeon, and by coincidence was reading a short article recently about the making of the series. It was designed to be shown by local American TV stations for a slot created by the broadcasting authorities called Prime Access Time, where stations had to show something other than networked shows.

The idea was that local documentaries would be shown, but instead cheap gameshows proliferated. Thus Dr. Simon Locke/Police Surgeon was created to be made as cheaply as humanly possible, with everything being done in one take, horrible lighting and actors having to change constumes on location behind the bushes.

Co-star Jack Albertson, an actor of very good rupute, threatened to walk off the show, and only continued when threatened with legal action. The show was financed by Colgate, and was basically given away free to stations in return for a share of the advertising revenue. Despite terrible reviews and viewer apathy, the show continued for several years because it was so cheap that stations still made money off it.

ShirlGirl

She's still a lovely person, too, I can personally vouch for that.

batman

That doesn't surprise me ... she comes across that way on screen. If you see her again tell her I said 'hello'.

"Boom boom a baby .... Banham Zoo .... Banana pants! Hahahaha"

Moor Larkin

It used to be on really late at night (after 11pm gadzooks!!). I was the only one in the house left to watch it. It was really good.

I was amazed years later for it to be condemned as patronising to Aborigines. I guess it was of its time, but I recall it as heavily skewed to be admiring of them, unlike most Aussie shows, which usually ignored them. There was also criticism that James Laurenson was effectively *blacked-up*.

Sometimes I think people don't have enough to do with their time...........



PS. Look who's talking........

ShirlGirl

That was James Laurenson. He's worked in England for most of his career and has popped up in many good movies and TV shows & series over the years.

Imdb filmography

ShirlGirl

I will! Her sister is a friend of mine. We all used to work at the same bank in Sydney a hundred years ago!

Lord Brett

Wasn't there some deregulation in the eighties which basically wrecked the Australian TV industry as a creative force virtually overnight? We really are lucky to have the BBC in the UK to keep up some sort of standards, even if a lot of their output is rubbish.