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Skippy
is a true icon of Australian
entertainment and was one of the
first Australian shows to make
it big overseas. Now thanks to
the AV Channel and Umbrella we
can once again thrill as Skippy
saves the day before settling
down for a spot of piano
playing. As the cover makes
plain it’s non stop marsupial
action all the way.
Skippy
was set in Warataah’s National
Park and ran from 1967 to 69.
Skippy was the pet Kangaroo of
Sonny (Garry Pankhurst) and Mark
Hammond (Ken James), sons of
Chief Ranger Matt Hammond (Ed
Devereaux), also involved was
teenager Clancy Merrick (played
by a young Liza Goddard) and
pilot Jerry King (played by the
ubiquitous Tony Bonner). Every
episode there would be some
shenanigans or a villain of the
week and it would be upto Skippy
to alert Matt and the boys
usually just by going “tsch
tsch tsch tsch” Sonny of
course would know exactly what
was wrong and the rescue would
be on.
This
fantastic single disc release
contains seven episodes, one of
which No Tresspassers features
the great Chips Rafferty. Other
episodes include The Long Way
Home (sinister Dr Alexander
Stark - played by Frank Thring -
wants Skippy for his own zoo),
No Time For Clancy (Clancy’s
Piano playing drives the family
mad), The Honeymooners (a
newlywed wants a fur coat - made
out of skippy’s fur), Double
Trouble (this is a true classic
- Matt Hammond comes face to
face with his evil twin), The
Last Chance (actor Byron
Cresswell has his chance of a
comeback spoiled by Skippy) and
The Bushrangers (Burglars target
Ranger headquarters).
This
is subtitled volume one so we
can only hope there are further
volumes on the horizon.
Australian TV has been sorely
under represented on DVD so far
so it’s great to see this
release, some canny company
should look into getting the
rights to The Rovers, Barrier
Reef, Chopper Squad (the list is
endless in fact) and bring them
out too. Great stuff!!!
Extras:
Special features include a very
amusing interview with a
typically over the top Ken
James, the mid sixties
“Skippy’s Club” TV ad, a
late sixties black and white
kids TV special called
Skippy’s Playground hosted by
Roberta Paterson which was
filmed on the Skippy set. There
is also a complete audio
adventure told by John McCallum
and taken direct from a crackly
old vinyl LP released to tie in
with the show. There is
also a stills gallery featuring
15 high quality black and white
stills.
SPECIFICATIONS
Format:
PAL All Region Total
Running Time:
7x25 minutes Certificate:
G
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