The New Adventures of Blinky Bill

The New Adventures Of Blinky Bill
Format	Children's television show
Created by	Dorothy Wall (book); Yoram Gross (original film)
Country of origin	Australia
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	28
Production
Producer(s)	Yoram Gross
Running time	26
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Picture format	PAL (576i)

The New Adventures of Blinky Bill was an Australian puppet series that ran on ABC Television from 1984 to 1987. After production ended, it remained on air in repeats until 1991. Twenty-eight 30 minute episodes were made and the producer was Richard Smith.

Plot

The show was a follow on from the original Blinky Bill books by Dorothy Wall. Set in Bollygum National Park, characters include Blinky Bill, Mrs Magpie, Angelina Wallaby and Walter Wombat from the books, and new characters such as Charlie Goanna, Eric Echidna, Sybilla Snake and Kerry Koala from neighbouring Acadia Ridge park.

Cast

Actor	Character	Notes
Ross Browning	Blinky Bill, Eric Echidna	Ross appeared in an acting role as Max, a plain clothes ranger from Head Office.
Janet Ashelford (aka Janette Dalgliesh)	Angelina Wallaby, Mrs Magpie, Kerry Koala
Alan Highfield	Charlie Goanna, Mr Wombat, Sybella Snake
Robert Hughes	Ranger Bill	Portrayed the park ranger character Ranger Bill in the first two seasons. Gordon Poole and Ben Franklin also played ranger roles.

Most episodes also featured at least one guest actor in a human character role. These guests included David Waters, Maggie Kirkpatrick, Joanne Samuel, Paul Chubb and many others. Actor

Episode List

Season 1 (1984)

1. Hello Stranger, Goodbye Ranger
2. Ho-Ha at Bollygum
3. (title not available)
4. Spaceship Shuttlecock
5. (title not available)

Season 2 (1985)

1. Frills and Feathers
2. High Water
3. Computer Capers
4. Mine Too!
5. Bikies from Outer Space*

Season 3 (1986)

1. Rock 'n' Roll Blues
2. Legend in his Own Lunchtime
3. Times Flies When You're Feeling Young
4. Blinky Hits The Jackpot
5. (title not available)
6. Twice Bitten
7. The Visitor
8. Food For Thought

Season 4 (1987)

1. Say Snake*
2. Hot Wheels
3. A Time For Testing
4. (title not available)
5. Media Wars
6. April Fools
7. School's In
8. (title not available)
9. Horseplay
10. Diplomatic Relations

• The episodes marked * were penned by Morris Gleitzman who is now a well known author of young people's books.

Production

The series was unique for its production style. The puppets were designed and made by the late Beverley Campbell-Jackson, who chose to use a thick and fluffy yarn to knit the outer skin of the marsupial characters, which gave them their furry look on camera. Charlie's skin was made from a patterned lurex which gave him a distinctive look in sunlight. She designed internal mechanisms which used triggers to control the movements of each character's head, mouth and eyelids; while rods to each hand controlled arm movements. Each puppeteer used one hand for the trigger mechanism, and one hand to control both arm rods (this skill is somewhat like advanced chopsticks technique). Similar techniques are seen in some forms of Japanese puppetry.

At the time of shooting, the ABC network owned studios in the Sydney bush suburb of Frenchs Forest, and the show was recorded using multi-camera and live sound recording on the back lot, with the puppeteers voicing the characters at the same time as operating the puppets. The Outside Broadcast unit provided crew, equipment and the control room. Some sets, including the ranger's hut and Walter Wombat's general store, were built permanently on location, while others were constructed as required for each episode. Sets were raised by a metre or so, to allow space underneath for puppeteers to stand or kneel. Only one scene - featuring a rock and roll performance by Blinky, Kerry and Charlie - was shot in a studio.

Ross Browning, Janette Dalgliesh, and Alan Highman were responsible for writing half of the total number of episodes. Other writers and co-writers included Heather March, Mark Page and Morris Gleitzman, who is now a well-known author of children's books.

In 1994, Blinky Bill returned to ABC television in the animated series, The Adventures of Blinky Bill, after which the ABC did not screen the puppet series again.