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Friday Flashback: Round the Twist

Next week marks 30 years since an Aussie kid's classic hit our screens.

Next week marks 30 years since Round the Twist first aired on Australian television (it actually aired in the UK before Australia).

The show adapted from stories of author Paul Jennings revolved around the Twist family living in a lighthouse on Victoria’s shipwreck coast. In episode one they discovered that the outside dunny was haunted.

Directed by Esben Storm (who played Mr. Ralph Snapper), it originally starred Richard Moir, Sam Vandenberg, Tamsin West, Rodney McLennan, Robyn Gibbes, Bunney Brooke, Frankie J. Holden, Judith McGrath, but would go on to feature Jeffrey Walker, Mark Mitchell, Andrew Gilbert, Christine Keogh, Trudy Hellier and more.

In 2015 Mark Mitchell told TV Tonight, “It was revolutionary in many respects and it was designed to appeal to different age groups.

“We’d look at different themes that would appeal to the Under 7s, Under 12s, adolescents and the adults.

“It had everything in it. One of the principal characters was dead. We didn’t make a big deal about it, but it was implicit in everything. I don’t know if anyone realised!

“It had ghosts, water spirits, and it was quite ‘animist’ in that respect.”

The series ran for 4 seasons from 1990 – 2001 on Seven, produced by the Australian Children’s Television Foundation -both were at loggerheads over the 8:30am Sunday morning timeslot.

“8.30am on Sundays is hardly a blockbuster, cut-throat slot, which makes me wonder why Channel 7 is about to close down The Mouse Factory (whatever it is) and replace it with Round The Twist,” Lawrie Masterson wrote for TV Week.

“I mean, how many other Australian series which cost $3 million to make have been shown at 8.30AM Sundays? If this is a new trend in programming, it requires an explanation.”

But the show endured and remains one of Australia’s all-time favourite TV shows, regularly topping nostalgic polls.

You can read more at ACTF.

5 Responses

  1. Some episodes creeped me out while others I found hilarious. First series had the best casting while I liked The Viking Book of Love story line in the third season. The ABC has played it as well.

  2. I agree with Mark Mitchell’s comments. It was a show that was successful because of the understanding of the sort of notions that the target audience would resonate with, much attributed to Paul Jennings’ storytelling. The take away is to really understand what the target audience would like to see for prospects of success.

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