0:00:09 > 0:00:14From deep within the Australian bush, some 40 years ago,
0:00:14 > 0:00:18came a call of the wild that was to reverberate around the world.
0:00:21 > 0:00:25It was the sound that would echo for generations to come.
0:00:28 > 0:00:30SKIPPY TUTS
0:00:34 > 0:00:36Skippy was my favourite.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38He always saved the day.
0:00:38 > 0:00:39Good on you, Skip.
0:00:39 > 0:00:43Every night after school, two vegemite sandwiches
0:00:43 > 0:00:44and Skippy on the TV.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47Go home, Skippy, get Dad!
0:00:47 > 0:00:49She has got to be the most intelligent Australian
0:00:49 > 0:00:51I have ever encountered.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54Skippy? Hold on, Skip, I'm on my way back.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57Oh, it was good. Educating for the kids.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00She's not just a kangaroo, she is a champion.
0:01:00 > 0:01:0591 episodes sold in 128 countries,
0:01:05 > 0:01:09watched by over 300 million viewers a week.
0:01:09 > 0:01:14This is the remarkable story of how a crime-fighting marsupial
0:01:14 > 0:01:15became a superstar,
0:01:15 > 0:01:19establishing an Australian identity that was embraced the world over.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22The land Down Under had arrived,
0:01:22 > 0:01:27courtesy of a kangaroo whose legacy lives on and on.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31I can imagine him being old and a fat cigar in one hand and a Scotch
0:01:31 > 0:01:34in the other and talking about his days on TV.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38What's that, Skip? You don't like to talk about it?
0:01:38 > 0:01:41But for us you will make an exception?
0:01:41 > 0:01:43Good on you, Skip.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01On 16th September 1956, something new
0:02:01 > 0:02:03and revolutionary arrived in Australia.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08'Good evening and welcome to television.'
0:02:11 > 0:02:14A conservative, colonial country suddenly had a window
0:02:14 > 0:02:16on to the rest of the world.
0:02:16 > 0:02:20# You dreamboats You lovable dreamboats... #
0:02:20 > 0:02:23But the view was mainly of America
0:02:23 > 0:02:26as US programmes flooded the airwaves.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29Australian producers couldn't get a look in.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37So, the shrewd ones targeted the American market.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40A pioneering Australian feature film maker, called Lee Robinson,
0:02:40 > 0:02:44headed to Hollywood on a research mission where he discovered
0:02:44 > 0:02:47the popular children's series, Flipper.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49- Flipper could find that box.- Flipper?
0:02:51 > 0:02:53Flipper featured a widowed marine park ranger
0:02:53 > 0:02:58and his two sons who befriend a very clever dolphin.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00'..it's at the bottom.'
0:03:00 > 0:03:04Robinson came back from the States with a feeling
0:03:04 > 0:03:07the international market had space for another kids' TV show,
0:03:07 > 0:03:10perhaps with a strong Australian flavour.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12But what could it be?
0:03:14 > 0:03:18At his local pub, Robinson threw some ideas around.
0:03:18 > 0:03:23- What style are we going to have? - Leave that to me.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25And he soon hit upon the answer.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28I think Lee had a certain genius.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30He understood marketing.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33He knew that the kangaroo was an icon.
0:03:33 > 0:03:38He knew that it was appealing, the head of a kangaroo
0:03:38 > 0:03:44is very appealing so the idea that you put it in a family situation,
0:03:44 > 0:03:50instead of the family dog, was the brilliant marketing idea.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56Robinson and film-maker friend, Dennis Hill,
0:03:56 > 0:03:59joined forces with actor, producer, John McCallum,
0:03:59 > 0:04:01forming Fauna productions.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03..Spend the rest of it on the pilot.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06Together, they made the risky decision to finance
0:04:06 > 0:04:08the first pilot episode themselves.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11We had designed a series that we said we weren't even
0:04:11 > 0:04:13going to bother to sell in Australia.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16I said it would be so Australian and so laden with the elements that
0:04:16 > 0:04:19we have always looked in the feature pictures
0:04:19 > 0:04:22to have there as our selling factors for overseas buyers,
0:04:22 > 0:04:25that the Australians would give it the big thumbs down.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31But the big question, how to film an entire series based on a kangaroo.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33He's a kangaroo handler...
0:04:33 > 0:04:37In a North Sydney pub, Lee Robinson and Jill Robb
0:04:37 > 0:04:40met Scotty Denham and his son, Australia's leading animal trainers.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43The three of them got on like a house on fire and they were
0:04:43 > 0:04:47all chatting each other up, "It'll be fine, no worries, mate.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49"We can get any number of kangaroos.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53"They are easy to train, don't worry about it."
0:04:53 > 0:04:56And I'm hanging back in the distance thinking,
0:04:56 > 0:04:59"Is this really...are we really going to set a series
0:04:59 > 0:05:03"around a wild animal?"
0:05:03 > 0:05:07And I couldn't help looking at his waist line which kept moving.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11And he could see me looking at him, the minute he opened his shirt
0:05:11 > 0:05:16he had a big python wrapped around his waist.
0:05:16 > 0:05:22I remember thinking, "This is going to be one hell of a ride!"
0:05:22 > 0:05:24Now, what are we going to call it?
0:05:24 > 0:05:28Now, the kangaroo star needed a name.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30What have you got? Chuck it at me.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32Many names were considered.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34- Jumpy...- Jumpy.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36- Hoppy...- Hoppy. Hoppy sounds good.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39- Springy...- Springy, Springy, Springy.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42It's not fun, we need something kid-like.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46They were all rejected before finally they agreed.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49The star of the show was to be called Skippy.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51Skippy, the bush kangaroo!
0:05:55 > 0:05:57Welcome to the Magic Of Music.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00But before they cast a single actor,
0:06:00 > 0:06:03or kangaroo, they needed a theme tune.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05This job went to Eric Jupp,
0:06:05 > 0:06:09an established composer with his own TV series.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12He said he had to think, "Well, it's a children's programme
0:06:12 > 0:06:17"with animals, a young boy, it has to be simple and yet memorable."
0:06:22 > 0:06:26One day he was at a party with the Fauna people and they asked him,
0:06:26 > 0:06:29"Eric, have you got anything together for us?"
0:06:29 > 0:06:33He played what he had put together and they loved it from the beginning.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36As soon as we heard it, we knew, that is it.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39The children would... It was very recognisable.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45You're a winner, mate. You are Mozart!
0:06:45 > 0:06:50It was simple, it was bouncy and, of course...
0:06:50 > 0:06:52THEY HUM SKIPPY THEME TUNE
0:06:56 > 0:07:00ALL: # Skippy, Skippy
0:07:00 > 0:07:03# Skippy the bush kangaroo
0:07:03 > 0:07:05# Skippy, Skippy
0:07:05 > 0:07:09# Skippy our friend ever true. #
0:07:11 > 0:07:14With the name and the music now in place,
0:07:14 > 0:07:16it was time to push on and make the pilot episode.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21Take one. Action.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23Hey, Mister.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29Alongside Skippy, the show featured a young boy called Sonny Hammond,
0:07:29 > 0:07:33a role destined to change the life of whoever got the part.
0:07:36 > 0:07:40It went to nine-year-old South Sydney boy, Garry Pankhurst.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42I think Sonny was very similar to myself.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46He was outdoor loving, outgoing, liked getting into mischief,
0:07:46 > 0:07:48was game to try anything once type thing,
0:07:48 > 0:07:52and I think I naturally just fitted into the role
0:07:52 > 0:07:55and I suppose I did look quintessentially Australian
0:07:55 > 0:07:58by the fact that I was comfortable in my environment.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03Skippy! Skippy!
0:08:03 > 0:08:06SKIPPY TUTS
0:08:07 > 0:08:09Go home, Skippy, get Dad. Hurry.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12Yes, I'll wait for them here.
0:08:15 > 0:08:17The other main role went to seasoned actor,
0:08:17 > 0:08:20Ed Devereaux, who played Sonny's father, head ranger, Matt Hammond.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23That explosion was a jet plane. The air force think the pilot
0:08:23 > 0:08:26- parachuted into the park. - Are you coming?
0:08:26 > 0:08:30You go with him, Mark, I'll work along the river.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32Young theatre actor Tony Bonner was cast as the handsome
0:08:32 > 0:08:35flight ranger, Jerry King.
0:08:35 > 0:08:36Tony Bonner, oh, what a legend.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39The pilot? Everyone fell for him.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42Oh, he could propel my propellers.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46Are you reading me?
0:08:46 > 0:08:49The character interested me as he was a helicopter ranger
0:08:49 > 0:08:52and I haven't played that kind of character before
0:08:52 > 0:08:54so the personal side of it interested me.
0:08:54 > 0:09:00To be honest, the family, fuzzy, sweet, softer aspect of the show
0:09:00 > 0:09:03was not my primary interest.
0:09:03 > 0:09:04His car's broken down,
0:09:04 > 0:09:06he can't get to the show, is that it, Skip?
0:09:08 > 0:09:10Come on, Skip, we haven't much time.
0:09:11 > 0:09:17Sonny's older brother, Mark Hammond, was played by 18-year-old Ken James.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20I was prepared to do anything and my own stunts.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22I remember coming back to
0:09:22 > 0:09:26Fauna Productions back in Sydney one day after a long day on set,
0:09:26 > 0:09:29and the editor greeted me at the door saying, "You are crazy.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31"You are mad." I said, "What have I done?"
0:09:31 > 0:09:35He said, "I have just seen the rushes of you jumping out of a helicopter
0:09:35 > 0:09:37"into the water where sharks are
0:09:37 > 0:09:39"and being pulled through the water by a jet."
0:09:43 > 0:09:45I said, "Yeah."
0:09:45 > 0:09:47But also, our director said, "If you do your own stunt,
0:09:47 > 0:09:50"I'll do a close-up."
0:09:53 > 0:09:58The pilot episode was hilarious, traumatic,
0:09:58 > 0:10:03terrifying, exhausting, you name it.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05I remember thinking,
0:10:05 > 0:10:07"Christ, if every episode's going
0:10:07 > 0:10:09"to be like this, I'll be worn out!"
0:10:10 > 0:10:13I hardly know which one of you to thank first.
0:10:13 > 0:10:15We were pleased to help out. The pilot's safe,
0:10:15 > 0:10:17and he'll be all right.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20You're a lucky man, Mr Hammond, to have two such fine boys.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24The pilot episode came to the first of many happy endings.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27But the series had yet to get off the ground.
0:10:27 > 0:10:32The producers needed a backer with deep pockets or perhaps
0:10:32 > 0:10:34a Packer with deep pockets.
0:10:34 > 0:10:37I don't think Australians care whether they watch
0:10:37 > 0:10:42Australian programmes or they watch Turkish, Egyptian, African.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45What they want is something that amuses them. Now...
0:10:45 > 0:10:49Media mogul Frank Packer, owner of Australia's first commercial
0:10:49 > 0:10:52TV station, TCN-9, was one of the few people
0:10:52 > 0:10:56who had the clout to do something with the Skippy pilot.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58I knew Frank fairly well.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01We used to play golf now and then. And I liked Frank.
0:11:01 > 0:11:07He was an old brigand, of course, but he was a jovial fella.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10But a very, very keen businessman.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12And he said, "Why don't you bring
0:11:12 > 0:11:16"a copy of the pilot over and let's have a look at it?"
0:11:24 > 0:11:26The three directors of the company, Bob Austin,
0:11:26 > 0:11:29John McCallum and myself were there,
0:11:29 > 0:11:33and Frank is looking at the pilot and the sound went off.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39And I said to Frank, "Mr Packer, can we stop it
0:11:39 > 0:11:41"and I'll get the sound fixed?"
0:11:41 > 0:11:44He said, "No, it's all right. I can see what's happening."
0:11:44 > 0:11:48So it went on for about three or four minutes with no sound,
0:11:48 > 0:11:50and then it got right again and it went
0:11:50 > 0:11:54about another five or six minutes and then the picture went out.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57And it happened to go out while dialogue was going on, and I said,
0:11:57 > 0:11:58"We'll stop it and fix it."
0:11:58 > 0:12:00"No," he said, "I can hear what's going on."
0:12:00 > 0:12:03And he really only saw about half the picture
0:12:03 > 0:12:05or heard half the picture.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07At the end, he said, "I like it.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10I'll take as many as you make. How much do you want for it?"
0:12:10 > 0:12:13So I told him. I thought of a figure, and he said, "All right."
0:12:13 > 0:12:15There was a handshake - no signature at all.
0:12:15 > 0:12:17And he said, "None of this option business.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20"I'll pay an initial fee, and that's it."
0:12:20 > 0:12:23Well, now, he didn't know and I didn't know that he'd play
0:12:23 > 0:12:25Skippy for 25 years, which he did.
0:12:28 > 0:12:29Action.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31I don't care who gave you permission.
0:12:31 > 0:12:33There'll be no cages erected here.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36In May 1967, Lee Robinson
0:12:36 > 0:12:41finally got Skippy The Bush Kangaroo into full production.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44We started off planning it as a children's film, but the Americans
0:12:44 > 0:12:46were the first to say, "Stop thinking in terms of
0:12:46 > 0:12:49"children's film. This is prime-time entertainment."
0:12:49 > 0:12:51Quick, Sonny!
0:12:51 > 0:12:56It was set in the fictional Waratah Park, a beautiful piece of bushland,
0:12:56 > 0:12:5835 kilometres north of Sydney.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04Did you know I got lost on the way in? I took the wrong turn!
0:13:04 > 0:13:07For the first time in 40 years,
0:13:07 > 0:13:10five members of the original crew are revisiting the set
0:13:10 > 0:13:12to reflect on the peculiar challenges
0:13:12 > 0:13:15- of working with a marsupial star. - Ah, there she is!
0:13:15 > 0:13:18She must be 45 years of age now.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21I wonder if she'll remember us.
0:13:21 > 0:13:22There's the grandson of Skippy.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25Yeah, the grandchild. No doubt. Over here.
0:13:25 > 0:13:26Over there.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29That's got to be a grandchild of Skippy.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31That was always the way.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33You had the image of this lone kangaroo
0:13:33 > 0:13:36sitting out there with nothing behind but West Head.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39And all you could see was this clear frame and one roo,
0:13:39 > 0:13:41and he was going, "Look this way. Look that way."
0:13:41 > 0:13:43The ears were going... HE WHISTLES
0:13:43 > 0:13:45And everybody said, "Isn't that beautiful?"
0:13:45 > 0:13:48And you'd pull back and see there's 29 people standing around
0:13:48 > 0:13:53with catering tins they got from the caterers, banging, making noises,
0:13:53 > 0:13:56trying to get the animal to look this way, look that way, you know?
0:14:10 > 0:14:14What's that, Skip? Those bloody tins did your head in?
0:14:14 > 0:14:18You think you might have a mild case of post-traumatic stress disorder?
0:14:21 > 0:14:23While Flipper had been able to play
0:14:23 > 0:14:26on the idea that dolphins are intelligent,
0:14:26 > 0:14:28until Skippy bounced into view,
0:14:28 > 0:14:32kangaroos did not enjoy the same reputation.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36On the pilot, we knew nothing, really, about how they would behave.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39And we only had one roo, which has a brain the size of a pea.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42You know? They're dumb. Very dumb.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45- Dumber than sheep. They are dumber than sheep.- Dumber than sheep.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48I don't think kangaroos are the cleverest animals, no.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52As I said, conditioning is a big thing. And, yeah, I'd imagine
0:14:52 > 0:14:55being on the set of Skippy would have been one big effort.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59I've been working with kangaroos for about eight years now.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01Just living with these guys day-to-day, it's hard enough
0:15:01 > 0:15:04trying to keep them in their own pen and look after them,
0:15:04 > 0:15:07let alone trying to make them do stuff for cameras.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11Scotty Denham, the animal handler, was originally a dog trainer,
0:15:11 > 0:15:15and he told me early on, "You can't train a kangaroo."
0:15:15 > 0:15:20So, basically, the kangaroo was put in its sack, its Hessian bag,
0:15:20 > 0:15:24where it was happily sat there, and brought out just for the shot.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26So it was a bit dazed more often than not
0:15:26 > 0:15:29when it came out of the Hessian bag. That's what we would do.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32It was still dazed enough not to know what was going on,
0:15:32 > 0:15:36so it wouldn't run off, cos kangaroos will normally run off.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38They'll just go for their life.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51Skippy's unbridled inclination to bolt for the bush
0:15:51 > 0:15:55was the source of one of the biggest secrets of the production.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57Skippy would be different colours.
0:15:57 > 0:16:02One minute it was brown and the next minute a little bit silver.
0:16:02 > 0:16:04I know my kangaroos.
0:16:04 > 0:16:09We had to have about ten Skippys. We kept that a secret.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11There were nine Skippys,
0:16:11 > 0:16:13because the star Skippy had a lot of stand-ins.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16There was always about 14 Skippys up at the little zoo thing
0:16:16 > 0:16:18at the top of Waratah Park.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21And one minute the kangaroo would be anorexic
0:16:21 > 0:16:24and then the next minute the kangaroo would be plump.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28We'd lose them quite a lot. Generally, what would happen,
0:16:28 > 0:16:31you would bring one of the "extras"
0:16:31 > 0:16:35in, you might say, and they would then go for a race.
0:16:35 > 0:16:37And we'd all be chasing them, eventually.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49What's that, Skip? The cast and crew couldn't really keep up with you?
0:16:49 > 0:16:51Because you were a method actor?
0:16:58 > 0:17:02With 39 episodes to make for the first series,
0:17:02 > 0:17:06Lee Robinson set out the Skippy philosophy in a writer's bible.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10The first point was Skippy is not a pet
0:17:10 > 0:17:12and it can come and go as it pleases.
0:17:12 > 0:17:14That was the first concept.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16'The parents left it on the bank...'
0:17:16 > 0:17:21Another concept was that policemen will always be our friends.
0:17:21 > 0:17:23Well, the sooner we get started the better.
0:17:23 > 0:17:28A third vital point, I remember, was that mate-ship must always
0:17:28 > 0:17:31predominate, as against authority.
0:17:33 > 0:17:35You know, Dad,
0:17:35 > 0:17:40even if they are crooks, having good mates is very, very important.
0:17:40 > 0:17:42And the key to it
0:17:42 > 0:17:46was that the little boy had all this wonderful country
0:17:46 > 0:17:49to roam about in, and the whole concept
0:17:49 > 0:17:53was always to have the feeling that he was free
0:17:53 > 0:17:56to roam the country, he knew the animals and so on.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59Freedom and a wildlife element were part of it.
0:18:03 > 0:18:05Come on, Skippy!
0:18:05 > 0:18:09Skippy is the intermediary, as it were,
0:18:09 > 0:18:13the guide to the natural environment by becoming something
0:18:13 > 0:18:16that is a native animal and on our side at the same time.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18In some ways, Skippy does represent
0:18:18 > 0:18:23the return of the lost child, so that the bush is now giving
0:18:23 > 0:18:27something back to the settler, and perhaps for the first time.
0:18:31 > 0:18:36But not everyone was sold on the idea for the show straightaway.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38- Skippy!- Even some of the writers had their doubts.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40Skippy!
0:18:40 > 0:18:43When I first heard that the star was a kangaroo,
0:18:43 > 0:18:50I thought it was a bit silly, but, um...
0:18:50 > 0:18:53cos I didn't go for Flippers and talking horses
0:18:53 > 0:18:56and all of those things that were on television.
0:18:56 > 0:19:01But kangaroos then were considered to be pests, and I always thought
0:19:01 > 0:19:06that was terrible, so I just thought, "Oh, well, the kids'll go for this
0:19:06 > 0:19:10"and it'll make them think twice about their native animals".
0:19:11 > 0:19:15And whatever Skippy did after that was OK by me.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21You won't last long, Mr Koala, if you go walking around on the road.
0:19:21 > 0:19:23One of the things that set Skippy apart
0:19:23 > 0:19:28from other marsupial actors was her no-nonsense straight talking.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30SKIPPY TUTS
0:19:32 > 0:19:35Skip, what did you say?
0:19:37 > 0:19:40That sounds pretty strong language, Skip.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42Better not let Dad hear you talking like that.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45Come on, I'll race you back.
0:19:45 > 0:19:49One of the first things I remember doing in the sound department
0:19:49 > 0:19:51in those days was getting Dennis Hill, the producer,
0:19:51 > 0:19:53up into the studio to a microphone
0:19:53 > 0:19:56to sort of show us how you make the Skippy sounds.
0:19:56 > 0:20:01'This is an original recording of Skippy's talk by Dennis Hill.
0:20:01 > 0:20:02'Take one.'
0:20:02 > 0:20:04SQUELCHING
0:20:09 > 0:20:12TUTS AS SKIPPY
0:20:13 > 0:20:14'I don't think we used those.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16'We had those two...'
0:20:16 > 0:20:18MAKES POPPING SOUND
0:20:18 > 0:20:20TUTS
0:20:21 > 0:20:24I've never heard a kangaroo going tut-tut-tut.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27I've heard a lot of tourists!
0:20:27 > 0:20:30- SKIPPY TUTS - Where did you find it, Skip?
0:20:30 > 0:20:33Skippy's unique conversational ability became her trademark
0:20:33 > 0:20:36and vital to many a story.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39Has it got anything to do with the schoolteachers, Skip?
0:20:39 > 0:20:40Did they kill it?
0:20:40 > 0:20:41TUTS
0:20:41 > 0:20:44It was one thing writing a script with a talking kangaroo
0:20:44 > 0:20:47but quite another to film it as if it were speaking.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50The crew had to be inventive.
0:20:50 > 0:20:55- Rubber band.- Rubber band. I wasn't going to mention that, but we put...
0:20:55 > 0:20:56That was a last resort.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59Trying to get the rubber band off, like this.
0:20:59 > 0:21:05Always give him a bit of something to chew on. And then he'd start chewing.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10As well as rubber bands, some tastier treats were also tried,
0:21:10 > 0:21:14like crushed-up biscuits, pieces of chocolate
0:21:14 > 0:21:16and even chewing gum.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19The best thing, ultimately, was just the grass.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22Something tough she'd have to chew on, not something green,
0:21:22 > 0:21:25fresh off the ground, something she'd have to work on.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27So she put it in her mouth, a little bit,
0:21:27 > 0:21:30she'd be gnawing away, which was enough mouth movement
0:21:30 > 0:21:33to be convincing to put the tut-tut on.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37She preferred doing action stuff, when she didn't have dialogue.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42Alongside her impressive oral ability,
0:21:42 > 0:21:44Skippy had another asset in her animal armoury,
0:21:44 > 0:21:48an astonishing manual dexterity.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07- I had them by the elbows. - Now play the drum kit.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10They have elbows, so you would get behind them,
0:22:10 > 0:22:12and they'd be only shot there.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14Whoever was operating it could go like that.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18- Yeah, with the live roo. - Yeah, a live roo.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22And somebody'd be holding the real arms back like that,
0:22:22 > 0:22:24and you'd have the other arms like that.
0:22:24 > 0:22:26Or you could use the live roo
0:22:26 > 0:22:30if it was a docile one and just get up under the elbow there.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33As long as the camera kept framing from there down,
0:22:33 > 0:22:35as long as you could just move the elbow,
0:22:35 > 0:22:37they'd be going like that.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45They were very successful at playing the piano, they were very successful
0:22:45 > 0:22:47handling the controls of a helicopter.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51You can see they're pretty much all nail. There's not a lot more to them.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53And making a phone call.
0:22:53 > 0:22:59As far as untying knots and stuff like that, I've never seen it happen!
0:22:59 > 0:23:04Speaking into the...you know, and dialling a number on the phone.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07That's about all their claws are good for, scratching.
0:23:07 > 0:23:08That's about it!
0:23:08 > 0:23:11They made the series. That's what we had,
0:23:11 > 0:23:14and we had people dedicated, enjoying doing it.
0:23:14 > 0:23:16We had a lot of fun doing it.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22The main attraction of Skippy now is to fall about laughing
0:23:22 > 0:23:27when you use the bottle-opener paws used as schematic devices.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29Part of it is, I guess,
0:23:29 > 0:23:32also that television itself wasn't that sophisticated at the time,
0:23:32 > 0:23:35and so people were...
0:23:35 > 0:23:38not that far away from the time when drama had been live
0:23:38 > 0:23:41and all sorts of peculiar things might happen on screen.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44But you just had to get over that and concentrate on the story.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47Golly!
0:23:47 > 0:23:50It's a flying saucer!
0:23:50 > 0:23:53So I think that the willing suspension of disbelief
0:23:53 > 0:23:54was more willing in those days,
0:23:54 > 0:23:58because people knew that they were supposed to be watching the story!
0:23:58 > 0:24:01I suspended disbelief until someone had a paw on a stick.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05See, isn't that disappointing? That takes all the magic away.
0:24:05 > 0:24:06Like a back scratcher.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09There was definitely an episode where he operated the radio.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12This amazing kangaroo could do everything, and I believed in him.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15- TUTTING - What's that, Skip?
0:24:15 > 0:24:17You're fed up with being called a he?
0:24:17 > 0:24:19You were always flashing your pouch?
0:24:19 > 0:24:22- God, I always thought it was a he! - He had a pouch.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26No, Skippy was definitely a boy, but I think he had gender issues.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29- Do they not all have pouches?- She?! - He had a pouch.- No!
0:24:29 > 0:24:32Skippy's a male-sounding name.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34Oh, she did, actually, yes. She did.
0:24:34 > 0:24:35Skippy will always be a man to me.
0:24:35 > 0:24:40But I didn't think about those things when I was a kid, yeah!
0:24:40 > 0:24:44It is only females that have pouches - or one very odd male, yes!
0:24:44 > 0:24:46Skippy was a woman. I could tell.
0:24:46 > 0:24:48Had a little pouch.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52And if Sonny had a mobile phone, that's where it'd be.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57Well, come on, let's humour the little lady.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01Except for Skippy, the series had an almost wholly male cast.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03I guess you must be Mr Hammond.
0:25:04 > 0:25:08- All right, fellas, I didn't hear the whistle blow.- Now, about the job.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12In Australia, the rugged outdoors was seen as a place for men.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19The girl's got some kind of examination coming up...
0:25:19 > 0:25:23It wasn't until episode nine that the producers decided to experiment.
0:25:23 > 0:25:24- She's going to live here.- What?!
0:25:24 > 0:25:27- Oh, no!- A girl, here?
0:25:27 > 0:25:32And so, into this testosterone-rich environment
0:25:32 > 0:25:35arrived pretty blonde teenager Clancy Merrick.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38Erm, your father must be pleased about getting that job.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40Yes, it means a lot to him.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42'My father worked for the BBC in London,'
0:25:42 > 0:25:46and then he applied for the job as head of drama for the ABC
0:25:46 > 0:25:50and got it, so we were all... I was 15, my sister 13...
0:25:50 > 0:25:53taken to Australia, with very bad grace.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56We didn't want to go. My friends... "Don't want to go to Australia!"
0:25:56 > 0:25:58Why would we? We were happy here.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01We didn't want to go and we just sulked all the way on the ship.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05I'm not welcome and not wanted. I've known it ever since I came here!
0:26:05 > 0:26:09It's only because you're a girl, Clancy. If you weren't a girl,
0:26:09 > 0:26:12- it'd be different. - Well, I can't help being a girl.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15'Well, Clancy, to me, was just - like me, really -'
0:26:15 > 0:26:17an ordinary girl who'd come out to live in
0:26:17 > 0:26:20this strange and wonderful place in the middle of nowhere.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23Seeing Clancy out there in nature was just my dream.
0:26:23 > 0:26:27- I remember Clancy. She was a babe. - SHE LAUGHS
0:26:27 > 0:26:30Clancy? She was the epitome of the girl next door.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32Rather plump girl with plaits, I think.
0:26:32 > 0:26:36Skippy was good with brain surgery and saving us from the nuclear bomb,
0:26:36 > 0:26:38but I think Clancy did it for me most, yeah.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42Lady of means seeks companionship of quiet educated gent.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45Not only was Clancy a girl,
0:26:45 > 0:26:47but she also spoke in a clipped English accent.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49It means she wants to find a husband.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53It was completely fine then, because I don't think the Australian accent,
0:26:53 > 0:26:57apart from real ockers out in the country, was as pronounced.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01I think everyone then wanted to sound as though they were English.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04In Australia those days, women still wore hats and gloves to go to lunch,
0:27:04 > 0:27:07and it was also the time when Jean Shrimpton came
0:27:07 > 0:27:10and caused a fuss at the Melbourne Cup by wearing a miniskirt.
0:27:10 > 0:27:15From that moment all the girls in Australia wore miniskirts!
0:27:16 > 0:27:17What's all this?
0:27:17 > 0:27:20The combination of Clancy, the boys,
0:27:20 > 0:27:25the helicopter and Skippy, of course, hit the mark perfectly.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27Audiences loved it for all sorts of reasons.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29Hello, Matt Hammond speaking.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32That telephone on the dashboard of the station wagon.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34What more could you want as an Australian child?
0:27:34 > 0:27:37That is all I ever wanted when I grew up.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40You'd run out into the bush looking for Skippy!
0:27:40 > 0:27:41And where's Tony Bonner?
0:27:41 > 0:27:44- It was real to us.- Oh, yeah, he was a bit of a spunk...
0:27:44 > 0:27:46- Mum!- Sorry!
0:27:47 > 0:27:51Surprisingly, Skippy caught on internationally
0:27:51 > 0:27:53before it did in Australia.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57In Britain, it first aired on ITV in the Midlands
0:27:57 > 0:28:01in the autumnal gloom of October 1967.
0:28:01 > 0:28:05Where's its mother, Skip? Koalas don't leave their babies about.
0:28:05 > 0:28:09I think all the kids watched it at that time, and most of the programmes
0:28:09 > 0:28:12were either English programmes or American ones.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15This was one of the few that didn't come from England or America.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18So there was a certain exotica about it.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21So as a kid, yeah, it just looked different.
0:28:21 > 0:28:26One ex-pat Australian academic came upon Skippy by chance
0:28:26 > 0:28:28in a cold, wet Britain.
0:28:28 > 0:28:31It was one of those dead moments, and I kicked on the television,
0:28:31 > 0:28:34and there was Skippy.
0:28:34 > 0:28:39And I watched it absolutely hypnotised,
0:28:39 > 0:28:45because it was very sunny and there was a cobalt-blue sky,
0:28:45 > 0:28:47grey vegetation, ruddy-brown rocks,
0:28:47 > 0:28:51and that was what I was staring at,
0:28:51 > 0:28:52just staring at it,
0:28:52 > 0:28:57because I don't think I even realised how homesick I was
0:28:57 > 0:28:59until I saw those tree shapes.
0:28:59 > 0:29:03And thereafter, I used to hunt it over the schedules,
0:29:03 > 0:29:07and I used to watch it with the sound turned off,
0:29:07 > 0:29:08because the sound is hysterical.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11Every time something sinister happens, it goes...
0:29:11 > 0:29:12Boomp! Jarrrr...ding!
0:29:15 > 0:29:19HE LAUGHS EVILLY
0:29:19 > 0:29:22There were all kinds of things about it that were unbearable,
0:29:22 > 0:29:24but the landscape and the light...!
0:29:26 > 0:29:30Ironically, the natural filmic charm of this Australian landscape
0:29:30 > 0:29:33was being recorded by English directors.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36There was a feeling we couldn't do it ourselves,
0:29:36 > 0:29:37we had to have English directors.
0:29:37 > 0:29:41Australians weren't good enough, or they weren't experienced enough.
0:29:41 > 0:29:45Talk to him. Say, "Hello, Skippy." That's it.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48Look as though you like him very much. That's it.
0:29:48 > 0:29:50Good boy. Try and enjoy it.
0:29:50 > 0:29:52Take four.
0:29:52 > 0:29:57Somehow or other, the Englishness in them showed the Australianness in us,
0:29:57 > 0:30:01and so it often takes someone from another country to see
0:30:01 > 0:30:03the beauty of this country.
0:30:03 > 0:30:05And I remember that Max Varnel used to
0:30:05 > 0:30:09want to do wide shots all the time, as we used to call him Vista Varnel.
0:30:09 > 0:30:11The wider the shot, the happier he was
0:30:11 > 0:30:16to get that bushland in and the sky, and the red dirt and what have you.
0:30:21 > 0:30:24While the leafy landscapes and bright light
0:30:24 > 0:30:28were familiar to most Australians, to foreigners, they weren't.
0:30:28 > 0:30:29Tourists.
0:30:29 > 0:30:31One of those who felt the culture shock
0:30:31 > 0:30:35- was regular guest star, Elke Neidhart.- I'm Dr Steiner.
0:30:35 > 0:30:40Alongside Clancy, she was the only recurring female character.
0:30:40 > 0:30:41We've been expecting you.
0:30:41 > 0:30:45My character of Dr Anna Steiner
0:30:45 > 0:30:48obviously had to be very German,
0:30:48 > 0:30:51that wasn't so hard.
0:30:51 > 0:30:55And was based on someone being totally out of her depth,
0:30:55 > 0:31:02which also was very much true to the real me, being in Australia.
0:31:04 > 0:31:08- She'll end up getting lost in the bush.- She carries a compass.
0:31:08 > 0:31:09Then she's lost for sure.
0:31:09 > 0:31:14The day I see a woman read a compass correctly, I'll marry her.
0:31:15 > 0:31:18In Skippy, hapless females were always getting lost,
0:31:18 > 0:31:21getting it wrong and even managing to shoot themselves.
0:31:21 > 0:31:22GUNSHOT
0:31:30 > 0:31:31That...
0:31:31 > 0:31:34What can I say, I can't say a thing, it's obviously awful.
0:31:38 > 0:31:41It belonged to a past era.
0:31:41 > 0:31:46It was a '50s, '60s series, not a '60s, '70s series.
0:31:47 > 0:31:50And for the women working at Waratah Park,
0:31:50 > 0:31:53these were rather unenlightened times.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56The guys were really tough to the women.
0:31:56 > 0:32:00They put us down constantly, to toughen us.
0:32:00 > 0:32:05It was like you had to prove that you could take it.
0:32:05 > 0:32:09You had to grow a thick skin, and...and I did.
0:32:10 > 0:32:12The cameraman often amused themselves
0:32:12 > 0:32:15by surreptitiously filming the girls.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18Women were definitely not allowed to wear jeans.
0:32:18 > 0:32:22Definitely not trousers.
0:32:22 > 0:32:25You had to wear a dress or skirt, and they could be mini-skirts,
0:32:25 > 0:32:27that was the period of mini-skirts.
0:32:27 > 0:32:29You were often quite indecently dressed
0:32:29 > 0:32:32in these absolutely minute mini-skirts, myself included.
0:32:32 > 0:32:36But on Saturdays, you were allowed to wear slacks.
0:32:36 > 0:32:39Not jeans, not trousers, slacks.
0:32:46 > 0:32:49There was an occasion when in the ladies' loo,
0:32:49 > 0:32:51a sort of shack down the track,
0:32:51 > 0:32:54some brown snakes had set up home in the ladies' loo
0:32:54 > 0:32:57and I'm going, "I can't go to the loo",
0:32:57 > 0:33:01and they said, "Just go in the bush then, just don't go in there."
0:33:01 > 0:33:05It was terrible, any girl on the set, the continuity girl,
0:33:05 > 0:33:06me and the make-up girls,
0:33:06 > 0:33:09they were always filming us going, it was just awful.
0:33:09 > 0:33:12So in the rushes, you'd see this poor girl looking round,
0:33:12 > 0:33:17hoping nobody could see. Oh! Awful. Riotous laughter.
0:33:26 > 0:33:27Hello, Mr Hammond.
0:33:27 > 0:33:29Breakfast's nearly ready.
0:33:29 > 0:33:33- Oh, Clancy, you shouldn't have bothered.- It's the least I can do.
0:33:33 > 0:33:36I also filled your car up for you. I always do that for Dad.
0:33:36 > 0:33:40Clearly influenced by these types of gender divisions, Germaine Greer
0:33:40 > 0:33:43was soon at work on her classic feminist text, The Female Eunuch.
0:33:43 > 0:33:45Oh, no!
0:33:45 > 0:33:49But surprisingly, she can empathise with poor Clancy's plight.
0:33:49 > 0:33:54'I was 15, and I stayed on a farm.'
0:33:54 > 0:33:56One morning I decided,
0:33:56 > 0:33:59just like she does, that I'm going to cook the breakfast.
0:33:59 > 0:34:02I was cooking breakfast for about 12 men, and you had to go
0:34:02 > 0:34:05milk the cow, get the eggs, dah-dah-dah,
0:34:05 > 0:34:11light the big two-fire stove, get the big, heavy skillet hot,
0:34:11 > 0:34:13get the bacon melted in the oven,
0:34:13 > 0:34:17get the guys' boots warmed in the other oven.
0:34:17 > 0:34:20I can remember breaking two dozen fresh eggs
0:34:20 > 0:34:22into this huge iron skillet
0:34:22 > 0:34:24and then dishing up all these eggs and the bacon
0:34:24 > 0:34:27and the porridge and everything.
0:34:27 > 0:34:30And I felt as if I'd climbed Mount Everest.
0:34:30 > 0:34:32I was so, so proud.
0:34:33 > 0:34:36I have no objection to the division of labour.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39It's just that women's work should be regarded
0:34:39 > 0:34:41with as much respect as the men's.
0:34:41 > 0:34:45First law of survival, Sonny. Never argue with a woman.
0:34:45 > 0:34:47- Mark.- 95, take one.
0:34:47 > 0:34:49Action.
0:34:49 > 0:34:50Come on.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53The women may have had a tough time on the show,
0:34:53 > 0:34:56but the army of animals had it even tougher.
0:34:56 > 0:34:58Remember the one where Sonny was sick?
0:34:58 > 0:34:59- Oh, yes.- And all the animals...
0:34:59 > 0:35:01Who wrote that bloody thing?
0:35:01 > 0:35:04It was in the room here, his bedroom's there.
0:35:04 > 0:35:08The emu, the goannas, the koala bears.
0:35:08 > 0:35:12Have you ever seen a koala bear go through a set of Venetian blinds?
0:35:12 > 0:35:14You get back to bed. You're next!
0:35:18 > 0:35:20- Remember Hector the emu?- Oh, yeah.
0:35:20 > 0:35:22We used to get him up in a wheelbarrow.
0:35:22 > 0:35:24He was an emu with attitude.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27We used to have to give him a drink before he came on set.
0:35:27 > 0:35:31He used to stand there like... He was so drunk, he'd go...oh no!
0:35:31 > 0:35:33You could see the look on his face!
0:35:33 > 0:35:35But he would stay where he was put.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37Not without whisky.
0:35:37 > 0:35:40He had to have at least a double Scotch, at least.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43That would wear off. It was all right for rehearsals.
0:35:43 > 0:35:48When we get to the real takes, we'd have to give Hector another drink.
0:35:48 > 0:35:51The things that were dangerous were the wombats.
0:35:51 > 0:35:54They're ferociously bad-tempered, so you had to be really careful.
0:35:54 > 0:35:59I remember one scene when I had a baby possum on one shoulder
0:35:59 > 0:36:01and a baby koala or wombat on the other.
0:36:01 > 0:36:05They were terrified of the lights, hanging on to my plaits.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08They peed all over me, and we're in the middle of...
0:36:08 > 0:36:12I made a huge fuss. "They've peed!" I didn't have any spare clothes,
0:36:12 > 0:36:14just dry off in front of a lamp, you'll be all right.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17Squirt a bit of water. I stank, unbelievable.
0:36:17 > 0:36:20I also got lice from them, they all had lice.
0:36:20 > 0:36:25So I remember storming into John McCallum's office and going, "Look!"
0:36:25 > 0:36:28and shaking all these lice out of my head onto his desk.
0:36:28 > 0:36:31He went, "Calm down, calm down." SHE SQUEALS
0:36:31 > 0:36:35The next day on set, all the animals were white with louse powder.
0:36:35 > 0:36:40On a one to 10 scale of difficult shooting, I always use the episode
0:36:40 > 0:36:43of Skippy with the hot air balloon.
0:36:43 > 0:36:47When you're dealing with hot air balloons, animals and kids.
0:36:47 > 0:36:50I always used that from then on, like, "How difficult is it?
0:36:50 > 0:36:52"Has it got hot air balloons?
0:36:52 > 0:36:56"Has it got a kangaroo in it? A kid? Speedboat? Oh, it's not that hard."
0:36:56 > 0:36:58- TUTTING - What's that, Skip?
0:36:58 > 0:37:00It was bloody hard?
0:37:00 > 0:37:02But you were young and always bounced back?
0:37:02 > 0:37:04- Jump!- Here we go, Skip.
0:37:08 > 0:37:12For the crew, it wasn't only children and animals
0:37:12 > 0:37:14they had to deal with, but also extreme heat.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17It used to be so hot in here. Remember how hot it was?
0:37:17 > 0:37:21I can remember operating and going, "What the hell is that?"
0:37:21 > 0:37:25And it was the boom swinger dripping perspiration on to you.
0:37:25 > 0:37:27You'd go, "Oh, yuck! Stop it!"
0:37:27 > 0:37:29He had a terrible time.
0:37:29 > 0:37:33In those days, they had to have booms with mics on the end.
0:37:33 > 0:37:37Filming in the house, this poor guy up a ladder I remember one day,
0:37:37 > 0:37:39temperatures of 40 or 45, and he fainted.
0:37:39 > 0:37:41I mean, it was extraordinarily hot.
0:37:41 > 0:37:44Not all the time, in the winter it was all right,
0:37:44 > 0:37:46but in the middle of the summer it was very...
0:37:46 > 0:37:49One time I remember there were bush fires all round us,
0:37:49 > 0:37:51and it was so bad that they said,
0:37:51 > 0:37:54"We'd better go inside then, because we can't film outside."
0:37:54 > 0:37:57Rather than leave the area, which would be the sensible thing!
0:37:57 > 0:38:00Literally the sky went black. So we went and did interiors.
0:38:08 > 0:38:10There's your bush fire down there.
0:38:10 > 0:38:12Can you imagine having that today?
0:38:12 > 0:38:15Whose permission did we get to light the bush fire?
0:38:15 > 0:38:18- No-one's. - Didn't it nearly get out of hand?
0:38:18 > 0:38:20It wasn't just fires.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23The crew took a generally relaxed attitude
0:38:23 > 0:38:25to all the dangers of the bush.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28I think we were filming in Narrabeen somewhere.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31I'm in the water and I said, "What about sharks?" Because it's famous.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34They said, "It's all right, we've got a guy looking out.
0:38:34 > 0:38:37"It'll be OK. You'll be all right." And I thought...
0:38:45 > 0:38:49As well as the obligatory Skippy heroics, the scripts had to uphold
0:38:49 > 0:38:52fine Australian family values.
0:38:52 > 0:38:55It was children's television, so there had to be
0:38:55 > 0:39:00some sort of equitable outcome that was a moral tale for the kids.
0:39:00 > 0:39:03We were all very much aware of the fact that there was
0:39:03 > 0:39:06often a statement made, the closing statement for the episode.
0:39:08 > 0:39:10Skippy and me.
0:39:10 > 0:39:12Mark, and Dad too,
0:39:12 > 0:39:15we wouldn't have thought much of you if you'd let him down.
0:39:15 > 0:39:19'Some little pearl of wisdom would come forward.'
0:39:19 > 0:39:22We used to vie to see who was going to say it,
0:39:22 > 0:39:25it was myself or Ed Devereaux who'd deliver it.
0:39:25 > 0:39:29It might help to remember in future that rules are made for a purpose.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32Skippy soon became famous for what was known as the "wash-up"
0:39:32 > 0:39:34at the end of each episode.
0:39:34 > 0:39:38It's always been the biggest pain to writers and editors
0:39:38 > 0:39:43because it's like a commentary on what you've just seen.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46I think you'll find he has more friends than he realises,
0:39:46 > 0:39:49now that he knows he's got to make an effort to face up to responsibility.
0:39:49 > 0:39:51I always hated it.
0:39:51 > 0:39:55He was my mate, Sonny but not any more.
0:39:55 > 0:39:58He lied to me and mates don't do that.
0:39:58 > 0:40:04Some of the lines were, I suppose in hindsight, fairly hammy.
0:40:04 > 0:40:06It fairly makes me shudder when I think
0:40:06 > 0:40:09where I'd be today if I'd neglected my schooling.
0:40:09 > 0:40:14There's an old saying, it's an ill wind that blows no man good.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18See? Hector knows what I mean.
0:40:18 > 0:40:23The wash-ups should be all collected together in a book
0:40:23 > 0:40:25of how to live your life!
0:40:27 > 0:40:28What's that, Skip?
0:40:28 > 0:40:32You never lived your life but that moralistic nonsense?
0:40:32 > 0:40:35You worked hard and played even harder?
0:40:38 > 0:40:42A star with such a burgeoning international reputation as Skippy
0:40:42 > 0:40:46easily attracted a stream of high quality guest actors
0:40:46 > 0:40:49and many a glittering career was launched at Waratah Park.
0:40:51 > 0:40:55She even attracted a genuine Hollywood superstar, Frank Thring.
0:40:55 > 0:40:59- You'd be Matt Hammond?- Skippy was becoming bigger than Ben Hur.
0:40:59 > 0:41:01Dr Alexander Stark.
0:41:01 > 0:41:05Frank Thring played the arch villain, Dr Alexander Stark,
0:41:05 > 0:41:08and he was wonderful. He'd sit there on the set and regale us with
0:41:08 > 0:41:12amazing stories of Hollywood, "I cut off Tony Curtis's arm, darling".
0:41:12 > 0:41:16Come here, my little beauty.
0:41:16 > 0:41:19He used to scare me because he was so big. He was the one
0:41:19 > 0:41:22in Ben Hur, he played Pontius Pilate and he gave the thumbs-down.
0:41:22 > 0:41:24The whole world hated him.
0:41:26 > 0:41:29Do you remember what Frank Thring said one day?
0:41:29 > 0:41:33He said to the assistant director, "There's something in a bag
0:41:33 > 0:41:34"over there and it keeps moving".
0:41:34 > 0:41:37Scotty said, "Oh, that's Skippy".
0:41:37 > 0:41:39He said, "My God, if that's the star's
0:41:39 > 0:41:41"dressing room, what's mine like?"
0:41:41 > 0:41:46And then he sauntered off with his cane down this dirt bush track
0:41:46 > 0:41:50to the location and Gary and I were killing ourselves laughing at that.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53That story, I've heard it round and round and round.
0:41:53 > 0:41:55Everybody knows the story, it has a life of its own.
0:41:55 > 0:41:5751, take four.
0:41:57 > 0:41:58Action!
0:41:58 > 0:42:02Allow me to introduce myself. Alfred Aloysius Mortimer,
0:42:02 > 0:42:04or known to his adoring public as...
0:42:04 > 0:42:07Barry Crocker, who went on to sing the Neighbours theme tune,
0:42:07 > 0:42:10made a guest appearance as a magician with dubious motives.
0:42:10 > 0:42:13But what are you doing in Waratah National Park?
0:42:13 > 0:42:15A fair question.
0:42:15 > 0:42:19I decided I'd make him very British because Australians traditionally
0:42:19 > 0:42:23hate Poms. We don't really but it's part of the game that we play.
0:42:23 > 0:42:28I, Alfred the Great, shall make this young lady disappear.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32So I thought I'd make him a little more hateful, being English.
0:42:32 > 0:42:36He's quite a nice chappie really, just that he was a thief, a shyster.
0:42:36 > 0:42:38Aloysius.
0:42:38 > 0:42:40No!
0:42:40 > 0:42:42Ally-oop. Ta-dah!
0:42:44 > 0:42:49What we tried to do was to give the world what Australia might be like.
0:42:49 > 0:42:52For Skippy, it was that kangaroos jump down the main street
0:42:52 > 0:42:54and you could pat a koala on every corner.
0:42:54 > 0:42:58It was like a giant bush town. The city was hardly ever mentioned.
0:43:04 > 0:43:08Skippy was the first series internationally to put Australian
0:43:08 > 0:43:13characters and Australians settings on screen with confidence
0:43:13 > 0:43:16in a way that rung bells with people around the world.
0:43:16 > 0:43:19Of course I remember Skippy! We had it in Germany and watched it.
0:43:19 > 0:43:21OK, I used to watch Skippy
0:43:21 > 0:43:24every Thursday because that's when school is off in France.
0:43:24 > 0:43:28We used to love it. We used to watch it with a whole bunch of people.
0:43:28 > 0:43:30And I thought it was American.
0:43:30 > 0:43:33We thought it was in Africa because we didn't know about Australia.
0:43:33 > 0:43:36I never imagined it could be Australia because I didn't even know
0:43:36 > 0:43:38Australia existed.
0:43:38 > 0:43:42By the time the second series was into production in mid-1968,
0:43:42 > 0:43:46the formula of a heroic kangaroo, endless Aussie sunshine and simple
0:43:46 > 0:43:50stories with happy endings was working. Everywhere.
0:43:50 > 0:43:52THEY TALK IN FRENCH
0:43:56 > 0:44:00THEY TALK IN SPANISH
0:44:05 > 0:44:07THEY TALK IN JAPANESE
0:44:10 > 0:44:15When it became a success in Japan, and then England, Ireland, Scotland,
0:44:15 > 0:44:18Wales and then took off in Europe.
0:44:18 > 0:44:22Enormous success in Holland, Germany, France and Malta.
0:44:22 > 0:44:25I landed in Japan in this plane, and there were all these
0:44:25 > 0:44:28people at the airport. I thought, "Wow, I must have been travelling
0:44:28 > 0:44:30"with somebody really famous".
0:44:30 > 0:44:34All these journalists came out and I presumed it was for these major English actors.
0:44:34 > 0:44:38I'm looking round and it was for me. It was absolutely staggering.
0:44:38 > 0:44:42And they came through all these people to me.
0:44:42 > 0:44:44We were met with limousines and taken
0:44:44 > 0:44:49to meet the girl who did my voice as Clancy on Japanese television.
0:44:49 > 0:44:51You think, wow!
0:44:51 > 0:44:54It was huge, everywhere I went, I was recognised, everywhere.
0:44:56 > 0:44:58Well, almost everywhere.
0:45:06 > 0:45:11In Sweden child psychologists deemed it dangerous for children to grow up
0:45:11 > 0:45:13believing animals could talk.
0:45:13 > 0:45:18Children that were exposed to such perversion, they said, were likely
0:45:18 > 0:45:20to grow up as misty eyed fools,
0:45:20 > 0:45:24fondly watching documentaries that celebrated such nonsense.
0:45:24 > 0:45:26Sweden never bought Skippy.
0:45:26 > 0:45:31Norway did, Finland did and other states in the Baltic.
0:45:31 > 0:45:35I phoned up the leading television station and said, why?
0:45:35 > 0:45:39It's a success but you turn down every time our agent suggests Skippy.
0:45:39 > 0:45:42They said, "We don't want our children thinking that animals can do
0:45:42 > 0:45:45what they really can't." It was a point of view.
0:45:45 > 0:45:49I said, "What about cartoons?" They said, "That's different.
0:45:49 > 0:45:51"Yours is a reality film."
0:45:57 > 0:46:00Sonny has no child friend.
0:46:00 > 0:46:03If I were a Swedish child psychologist I would say,
0:46:03 > 0:46:06that's the significant part there.
0:46:06 > 0:46:10The child has no peer group interaction at all.
0:46:10 > 0:46:14He is always dealing with people older than he is.
0:46:14 > 0:46:18And I think that's what's really wrong.
0:46:18 > 0:46:20In real life, too,
0:46:20 > 0:46:25child star Garry Pankhurst was mostly in adult company.
0:46:25 > 0:46:28During lunchtimes, the other crew and cast used to play poker...
0:46:28 > 0:46:32for money.
0:46:32 > 0:46:35And I suppose because I was one of the cast members, they couldn't
0:46:35 > 0:46:40not let me play but I used to join in and play with them
0:46:40 > 0:46:42and I was quite good at it, actually.
0:46:42 > 0:46:45Quite often, I'd be the major stake winner for the session.
0:46:45 > 0:46:47That used to irk some people.
0:46:56 > 0:46:59Popular worldwide, and with a clear star of the show,
0:46:59 > 0:47:03Skippy was the perfect vehicle to pioneer a marketing campaign
0:47:03 > 0:47:08and cash in on merchandising, an entirely new concept in Australia.
0:47:08 > 0:47:13Skippy fans were able to collect Skippy items. Some still do.
0:47:13 > 0:47:15It all started with this plate.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18I remember having one when I was very young.
0:47:18 > 0:47:21I wanted that sort of reconnection with the show.
0:47:21 > 0:47:23There was a lot of stuff done at the time,
0:47:23 > 0:47:26not just in Australia but also overseas.
0:47:26 > 0:47:30Books, books from Spain, books from Germany, France, jigsaw puzzles from
0:47:30 > 0:47:35Amsterdam, jigsaw puzzles from England, magic slate from America,
0:47:35 > 0:47:40cards from Germany, money boxes, ashtray,
0:47:40 > 0:47:44T-shirts, cups, talcum powder, too, which I believe is from Avon.
0:47:44 > 0:47:47At least I think it is talcum powder!
0:47:47 > 0:47:48SKIPPY TUTS
0:47:48 > 0:47:53What's that, Skip? You never made a cent out of those bloody plates?
0:47:53 > 0:47:55You wish you'd played Darth Vader instead?
0:47:58 > 0:48:02The merchandising helped build Skippy into a cult hero
0:48:02 > 0:48:04and she and Sonny went on tour
0:48:04 > 0:48:09throughout Australia, making live appearances in every capital city.
0:48:09 > 0:48:12The freckle-faced kid and the kangaroo drew more people than the
0:48:12 > 0:48:17visits of the Queen Mother and US President Lyndon Johnson combined.
0:48:17 > 0:48:21When you see the crowds of people that actually make an effort
0:48:21 > 0:48:24to come out and to meet you or to see you,
0:48:24 > 0:48:28maybe a fleeting glimpse in the distance type thing,
0:48:28 > 0:48:33we used to stop streets and cause traffic jams and that sort of thing.
0:48:33 > 0:48:35It was just quite amazing.
0:48:37 > 0:48:40I probably found the public adulation, I suppose,
0:48:40 > 0:48:41a little bit overwhelming.
0:48:41 > 0:48:45I didn't really think that my character sort of warranted
0:48:45 > 0:48:49this sort of star treatment, type thing, and people's reaction to you.
0:48:53 > 0:48:57Come on, Skippy. Skippy the Bush kangaroo.
0:49:00 > 0:49:02Skippy the Bush kangaroo!
0:49:02 > 0:49:06- Often on a Sunday night we would all be watching.- It was Skippy.
0:49:06 > 0:49:08It was an absolute scream.
0:49:08 > 0:49:10I really remember lining up.
0:49:10 > 0:49:14- We lined up very happily.- I thought we were in order.- Jump off to bed.
0:49:14 > 0:49:17- The oldest to the youngest.- Our Dad would always make us do it too
0:49:17 > 0:49:19because we were a little bit older.
0:49:19 > 0:49:21I can remember hopping.
0:49:23 > 0:49:25Skippy, Skippy, Skippy the bush kangaroo.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33The end of 1969 saw the world premiere
0:49:33 > 0:49:37of Skippy and the Intruders, a feature length movie.
0:49:37 > 0:49:41On TV, Skippy was being shown in 128 countries,
0:49:41 > 0:49:44translated into 25 languages
0:49:44 > 0:49:50and watched every week by a global audience of over 300 million.
0:49:50 > 0:49:53This huge audience gave the producers a loud voice
0:49:53 > 0:49:57in tackling more complex subjects such as Aboriginal stories.
0:49:57 > 0:50:01It's all right, Sonny. These people will never hurt you.
0:50:01 > 0:50:04Would your son be humbled, live with my people?
0:50:04 > 0:50:06No.
0:50:06 > 0:50:09Lee Robinson had absolute respect for Aboriginal people.
0:50:09 > 0:50:11He had worked alongside them.
0:50:11 > 0:50:15He admired their affinity with the land. He respected
0:50:15 > 0:50:18them as people, he respected them as an ancient culture.
0:50:18 > 0:50:21It was part of Robinson's background.
0:50:21 > 0:50:23It was part of the way he thought.
0:50:23 > 0:50:26It was part of the holistic way he thought about Australian society.
0:50:26 > 0:50:30So it doesn't surprise me that he would have had Aboriginal characters
0:50:30 > 0:50:33included in the Skippy storylines.
0:50:33 > 0:50:36Force has many faces.
0:50:36 > 0:50:43You took away my people with fine clothes, clever toys. With wonder.
0:50:43 > 0:50:46Do not speak to me of force.
0:50:46 > 0:50:49I cannot deny what you say, old one.
0:50:49 > 0:50:52I can only promise you that it will not be so now.
0:50:52 > 0:50:58In 1967, the same year as Lee Robinson was writing these scenes,
0:50:58 > 0:51:01a referendum was held in Australia.
0:51:01 > 0:51:04It finally gave indigenous people the same citizenship rights
0:51:04 > 0:51:07as white Australians.
0:51:12 > 0:51:17As the series progressed, the need to constantly turn out scripts
0:51:17 > 0:51:20led to increasingly bizarre stories.
0:51:20 > 0:51:22It's the scene, it's idiotic.
0:51:22 > 0:51:25No self-respecting actor should be asked to appear
0:51:25 > 0:51:27with animals or children.
0:51:27 > 0:51:29One episode, called The Last Chance,
0:51:29 > 0:51:33appeared to be a self-parody, where a film crew making a feature
0:51:33 > 0:51:36in the park starring an ageing actor realised that the real star
0:51:36 > 0:51:39of the film should be, of course, Skippy.
0:51:39 > 0:51:42What do you think of that, Skippy? You're going to be a film star!
0:51:42 > 0:51:44You can't take her out of the picture. She's the star.
0:51:44 > 0:51:47- She must have her chance. - Calm down, gentlemen.
0:51:47 > 0:51:48You'll both end up with ulcers.
0:51:48 > 0:51:51We both already have ulcers, haven't we?
0:51:51 > 0:51:53But that is besides the point.
0:51:53 > 0:51:55I don't think Ed Devereaux hid the fact that he was being
0:51:55 > 0:51:57upstaged by a kangaroo all the time.
0:51:57 > 0:51:59He used to make jokes about it.
0:51:59 > 0:52:03But it took me a long time to wake up to the fact that
0:52:03 > 0:52:05the jokes were really not jokes.
0:52:05 > 0:52:08I'll be a laughing stock. Playing second fiddle to a kangaroo?
0:52:08 > 0:52:11I think I understand your position.
0:52:11 > 0:52:15Almost inevitably, the unexpected scale of success put pressure
0:52:15 > 0:52:17on the cast and crew.
0:52:17 > 0:52:22Lee Robinson was working long hours and expecting others to do the same.
0:52:22 > 0:52:27To go into Lee's office on a Saturday afternoon and saying to him,
0:52:27 > 0:52:31"I've got a big date tonight and I want to be out of here at 5 o'clock".
0:52:33 > 0:52:36He would just raise his eyebrows at you and say, "I don't think that's
0:52:36 > 0:52:39"going to be possible."
0:52:39 > 0:52:42I would go, "Lee, I've done a 70 hour week already."
0:52:43 > 0:52:45"Talk to me later. I'm busy."
0:52:49 > 0:52:53Long hours, remote locations and tough working conditions
0:52:53 > 0:52:55were taking their toll.
0:53:01 > 0:53:05Midway through production on the third series, broadcasters had
0:53:05 > 0:53:11stockpiled many episodes and for the time being did not need more.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14And so, just as Skippy was being enjoyed by countless millions
0:53:14 > 0:53:18the world over, it looked like the end of production was nigh.
0:53:19 > 0:53:22I think it had a use-by date built in to its concept.
0:53:22 > 0:53:26And then when you add to the fact that the hero
0:53:26 > 0:53:31was a young boy, a middle-aged man or a young man in their 20s can go
0:53:31 > 0:53:34on being young men in their 20s for longer than young boys can,
0:53:34 > 0:53:37aged nine or 10 or whatever Sonny was.
0:53:39 > 0:53:43I think when Skippy came to an end, I was very disappointed.
0:53:43 > 0:53:46I was quite upset about it because even though it was hard work,
0:53:46 > 0:53:51I enjoyed doing it and I wasn't fully aware of the circumstances
0:53:51 > 0:53:55but it seemed to have ended just all of a sudden.
0:53:55 > 0:53:58I can remember going to the final day's shooting
0:53:58 > 0:54:00and people were very emotional.
0:54:00 > 0:54:02The crew were hugging each other
0:54:02 > 0:54:05and sort of teary and that sort of thing.
0:54:05 > 0:54:08It was a difficult time when it did end and the show finished.
0:54:10 > 0:54:13In September 1969, after 91 episodes,
0:54:13 > 0:54:17production finally came to an end.
0:54:20 > 0:54:21But it was not the end of Skippy.
0:54:21 > 0:54:24She was to live on for generations
0:54:24 > 0:54:27and made many cameo appearances over the following years.
0:54:27 > 0:54:31You can't shoot her, she's a national treasure! Syndicated in 67 countries!
0:54:31 > 0:54:36Don't worry, love. I'll let you have one of her paws for a bottle opener.
0:54:45 > 0:54:46Good one, Skippy.
0:54:46 > 0:54:49Um... Let's not concentrate on your opponent.
0:54:50 > 0:54:53Skippy's psychotic cousin, Skipper,
0:54:53 > 0:54:56pulled no punches in a powerful performance on BBC Three.
0:54:56 > 0:55:00Skipper, Skipper, the kangaroo!
0:55:15 > 0:55:19Comedian Sanjeev Baskar created Skipinder, a drunken
0:55:19 > 0:55:23Indian version of Skippy on the hit UK show, Goodness, Gracious Me.
0:55:23 > 0:55:26I'm going to sink a couple of jars and then I'm going to twat
0:55:26 > 0:55:29that git over the head with the biggest stick I can find!
0:55:29 > 0:55:31What's that? Oh, bollocks!
0:55:33 > 0:55:37I was at a cashpoint machine in London. There was a guy behind me
0:55:37 > 0:55:39and he said, "So, what have you got against Australians?"
0:55:39 > 0:55:44And I said, "I haven't got anything against Australians at all."
0:55:44 > 0:55:45And he said, "You hate us, don't you?"
0:55:45 > 0:55:48And I said, "No, I don't hate Australians at all".
0:55:48 > 0:55:50That's ridiculous. I've got Australian friends."
0:55:50 > 0:55:53And he said, "What have you got against Skippy?"
0:55:53 > 0:55:55And I said, "Well that's the real question.
0:55:55 > 0:55:59"This is about your national emblem in some way being defaced."
0:55:59 > 0:56:02Baskar risked facing further Antipodean wrath when he tried
0:56:02 > 0:56:03to put Skippy into Room 101.
0:56:03 > 0:56:08The thing is that, as a kid, I quite liked Skippy.
0:56:08 > 0:56:10For those people who don't know,
0:56:10 > 0:56:14he was the kind of Mel Gibson of his time.
0:56:14 > 0:56:16- Absolutely.- Very bright.
0:56:16 > 0:56:19- Brighter than the human beings. - Brighter, probably, than Mel Gibson.
0:56:19 > 0:56:23It wasn't him, per se, but it was the notion of that programme.
0:56:23 > 0:56:27I then realised, particularly putting Skipinder together,
0:56:27 > 0:56:30how little of the programme relied on Skippy
0:56:30 > 0:56:32and how much of it rested on Skippy.
0:56:32 > 0:56:34And it was mostly just the kid
0:56:34 > 0:56:37running around a lot and not really losing any weight.
0:56:37 > 0:56:40I really love you, man, you're my best friend... Don't drop me.
0:56:40 > 0:56:41SKIPPY TUTS
0:56:41 > 0:56:42What's that, Skip?
0:56:42 > 0:56:46You could drink that Punjabi piss pot under the table any day?
0:56:46 > 0:56:48Friends, Romans, countrymen.
0:56:48 > 0:56:51Lend me your beers.
0:56:51 > 0:56:54I think you only make fun of something that people are going
0:56:54 > 0:56:56to know about, and go for it.
0:56:56 > 0:56:59It's fantastic. I don't mind it. I love it. I've laugh at it.
0:57:01 > 0:57:04For many, Skippy represents a long gone
0:57:04 > 0:57:06but never forgotten vision of home.
0:57:06 > 0:57:09# ..the bush kangaroo
0:57:09 > 0:57:13# Skippy, Skippy
0:57:13 > 0:57:16# Skippy a friend ever true. #
0:57:16 > 0:57:19Everything about it is home.
0:57:19 > 0:57:24The arrogance, the optimism, the sloppiness.
0:57:24 > 0:57:26Of course I recognise it all as home.
0:57:26 > 0:57:29There is no chance of putting Skippy to bed.
0:57:29 > 0:57:33You've only got to go to YouTube and find that Skippy is alive and well.
0:57:33 > 0:57:36I'm extremely proud to have been involved in it.
0:57:36 > 0:57:38I have worked with young people and when I tell them
0:57:38 > 0:57:42I've work on Skippy, one woman said to me, "You are a legend."
0:57:42 > 0:57:48Funnily enough, it's probably taken me 30, 35 years to really come to
0:57:48 > 0:57:53grips with what Skippy meant and what my part in Skippy was all about.
0:57:53 > 0:57:56Quietly, I feel very proud about it.
0:57:56 > 0:57:58For me, it was a very lucky break.
0:57:58 > 0:58:03- A career, at last. - Memorable, happy and fun.
0:58:03 > 0:58:05- Positive, professional.- Iconic.
0:58:05 > 0:58:08Historic television milestone.
0:58:08 > 0:58:10Simple and wholesome.
0:58:10 > 0:58:12A true bloody Australian.
0:58:13 > 0:58:16# Hippity hop, she'll stop the traffic
0:58:16 > 0:58:20# When she passes by and stop and wish that you know where she's going
0:58:20 > 0:58:23# Hoppity hip, she'll skip into your heart
0:58:23 > 0:58:28# You'll wonder why the world is all a-glimmer and a-glowing
0:58:28 > 0:58:31# Cute as a koala and as busy as a bee
0:58:31 > 0:58:34# Happy as a kookaburra laughing in a tree
0:58:34 > 0:58:38# Hippity hop, she's up, she's up away, she'll wave goodbye,
0:58:38 > 0:58:41# That's when you'll want the whole wide world to know
0:58:41 > 0:58:44# That you love Skippy, Skippy
0:58:44 > 0:58:46# Our friend, ever true. #
0:58:51 > 0:58:53SKIPPY TUTS
0:58:53 > 0:58:56What's that, Skip? You're exhausted after all your heroics?
0:58:56 > 0:58:58Totally stuffed.
0:58:58 > 0:58:59Good on you, Skip.