Adventure Island (TV series)

Adventure Island
Company type	Television program
Industry	Children's television
Founded	September 11, 1967; 59 years ago
Founder	Godfrey Philipp, John-Michael Howson
Defunct	December 22, 1972
Fate	Cancelled
Headquarters	Melbourne, Australia
Area served	Australia
Key people	Godfrey Philipp (producer), John-Michael Howson (co-star, writer), Nancy Cato (host 1967–68), Sue Donovan (host 1969–72)
Parent	Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)

Adventure Island was an Australian children's television program broadcast on the ABC from 11 September 1967 until 22 December 1972, with reruns of episodes from 1969 to 1972 continuing through 1976. The series was developed by Godfrey Philipp, who also served as producer, alongside actor and writer John-Michael Howson, who appeared as a co-star. Episodes typically aired Monday through Friday, with storylines unfolding over the week and concluding on Fridays.

This series represented a collaboration between Godfrey Philipp Productions and the ABC, filmed in advance at the ABC’s Ripponlea studios located in Melbourne. It marked the ABC’s inaugural partnership with an external production company. Production schedules were maintained approximately five weeks ahead of the broadcast dates. The show adopted a pantomime-inspired style and took place in the imaginary realm of Diddley-Dum-Diddley. Hosting responsibilities were initially held by Nancy Cato from 1967 to 1968 (her last episodes aired in early 1969), followed by Sue Donovan from 1969 through 1972.

Pre-production

Following the announcement in May 1967 that the widely popular children's program The Magic Circle Club, produced at Melbourne's ATV0 studios for the Independent Television System, would be cancelled, the ABC aimed to take over production of a similar show. However, rights to the original program’s name and concept were retained by the 0-10 Network's owner, Reg Ansett, preventing ABC from continuing under that title. Consequently, producers Philipp and Howson developed a comparable series under a new name.^[1]

Credit for Adventure Island goes to Philipp and Howson, with Howson reportedly formulating the entire concept and characters during a brief flight in mid-1967.Template:Fix/category^{[citation needed]}

Writing

In contrast to The Magic Circle Club, where scriptwriting was shared among Howson, Peter Homewood, and Max Bartlett, Howson was primarily responsible for scripting most episodes of Adventure Island, with Homewood providing additional writing support. Additionally, Howson authored four illustrated storybooks based on the series; these were produced in limited quantities that sold out rapidly and are now preserved within the National Library of Australia.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name

1967–68

Nancy Cato took on hosting duties for Adventure Island during 1967–68 after recovering from an accident on the set of The Magic Circle Club that ended her involvement there. Early installments featured Cato narrating tales from a magical book set against an enchanted forest backdrop. Later episodes included interactions with puppet characters such as Gussie Galah, Crispian Cockatoo, and Matilda Mouse prior to story readings. Each episode concluded with Cato addressing Samson, a cat puppet whose name was selected through a viewer competition.

1969–72

In 1969, Sue Donovan succeeded Cato as host. The format shifted to begin with Donovan engaging in conversation with a talking house—initially known as Mister House and later renamed Serendipity House—voiced by Jack Manuel and occasionally Ernie Bourne. Donovan improvised dialogues with puppets including Crispian Cockatoo and Gracie Galah on some days, and Maxie Mouse alongside Chi on others before presenting the episode’s story. Episodes typically ended with Donovan speaking to Samson or visiting Diddley-Dum-Diddley for interactions with other characters.

Premise

The narrative focused heavily on moral themes emphasizing "good triumphing over evil." Weekly story arcs generally depicted inhabitants of Diddley-Dum-Diddley confronting various antagonists causing trouble, often resolved through insights provided by the Clown character despite his comically foolish demeanor. Some storylines centered around visitors such as relatives or business figures instead of villains. To comfort young viewers during suspenseful moments, cast members reassured them by reminding that "it always turns out all right on Fridays."

The show’s melodramatic tone drew inspiration from traditional camp and pantomime elements, appealing to children through straightforward storytelling while offering adults an escapist experience.

Music

Music played a vital role in Adventure Island, featuring instrumental improvisations alongside two original songs per episode that aligned closely with each storyline. Lyrics were mostly written by scriptwriters Howson or Homewood and composed by musical director Bruce Rowland. Following Rowland's departure in 1971—who later achieved recognition for film scoring—Alan Teak took over musical direction. Songs were recorded weekly in advance to ensure precise lip-syncing; one notable exception was Howson’s live rendition of A Clown Without A Smile in episode number 1174.

Puppets

During unscripted segments, hosts interacted with various puppet characters that also displayed viewer-submitted content. Principal puppets included:

Gussie Galah (performed by Colin McEwan, 1967–68)
Crispian Cockatoo (Ernie Bourne, 1967–72)
Matilda Mouse (Marion Edward, 1967–68)
Samson (cat) (Ernie Bourne, 1967–72)
Gracie Galah (Brian Crossley, 1969–72)
Maxie Mouse (Ernie Bourne, 1969–72)

A female version of Samson appeared briefly in 1971 during Ernie Bourne’s absence.

Gussie Galah was characterized by disruptive behavior and a loud squawking voice but was replaced by Gracie Galah following McEwan’s departure. Samson was a large hand puppet resembling a muppet; other puppets were mechanical figures operated using rods to animate mouths or beaks. Puppet construction was handled by Axel Axelrad ("Axel").

Magic

All characters possessed magical abilities which were employed sparingly due to technical limitations associated with videotape editing at that time. Episodes airing on Fridays usually concluded with the hostess magically transporting herself to Adventure Island for conversations with characters. Samson was portrayed as an invisible magical cat who appeared only after correctly answering his question earlier in the week before vanishing again by week’s end.

Colour

No episodes were produced in colour since Australian television broadcasts were exclusively black-and-white during this period and there were no plans for international distribution. The vibrant set designs—primarily crafted by Paul Cleveland—led many viewers to mistakenly believe the series was filmed in colour.

In 1971, an American network expressed interest but hesitated due to the monochrome format. Howson suggested remaking episodes in colour for filming purposes; however, ABC declined this proposal. A brief colour segment surfaced only once in 1996 during ABC's fortieth anniversary celebration.

Awards

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Cancellation

The decision to cancel the series in mid-1972 sparked significant controversy when it was replaced by the American program Sesame Street. This led to public protests and a parliamentary campaign titled "Save Adventure Island," spearheaded by MP David Kennedy. Despite these efforts, the final episode (#1175) was broadcast on 22 December 1972.

In popular culture

Percy Panda's costume appeared in an ABC comedy sketch titled Shirty, the slightly aggressive bear on The Late Show, parodying children's television programming; actor Russell Crowe portrayed Shirty inside the costume.

On The Micallef Program, Shaun Micallef humorously referenced cast member Roz Hammond as "the horribly mutilated corpse from the final episode of Adventure Island."

Archival remnants

While many early episodes are missing, nearly one thousand audiovisual items are catalogued by the National Archives of Australia, mostly consisting of complete black-and-white film recordings predominantly from later seasons.

The National Film & Sound Archive holds six preserved episodes on film and video: one each from 1967 and 1971, plus four consecutive episodes from near the end of the series in 1972.

Due to ABC-TV’s videotape recycling policies during the late 1970s—which led to extensive wiping of early black-and-white programs—much footage was lost. However, closure of Sydney’s Gore Hill studios between 2002 and 2003 uncovered uncatalogued recordings from various shows once presumed lost, suggesting additional surviving material from Adventure Island may exist.

Melbourne’s Arts Centre Melbourne Performing Arts Collection houses numerous costumes, props, photographs, and documents related to the show; Canberra’s National Film and Sound Archive also retains significant production archives.

The original Adventure Island storybook used during broadcasts is preserved at Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum, having been rescued from disposal in 1988.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name

In Memoriam

Several principal cast members have since passed away:

Colin McEwan – died 22 August 2005 at age 64
Marion Edward
Peter Homewood – died 22 December 2008 aged 79
Ernie Bourne – died 21 January 2009 aged 82
Brian Crossley – died 8 September 2012 aged 85

Following Ernie Bourne’s passing in January 2009, Melbourne's Herald Sun published a tribute celebrating his cherished roles across both The Magic Circle Club and Adventure Island.

External links

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