Round the Twist

• Helen "Nell" Rickards (Series 2 as Nell Sands) – the old woman who lives in a cottage next door, whose brother, Tom, had been the former lighthouse keeper. Her father, mother, and sister died when the ship they were on sunk. The family's spirits, as well as Tom's, haunted the lighthouse.
• Harold Gribble – a greedy real-estate agent and one-time Senate candidate, who often tries to force the Twists to move out of the lighthouse.
• "Matron" Cecilia Gribble – Harold's supportive wife who is a nurse. She is just as scheming as her husband.
• James Gribble – Harold's no-good son. He is a bully at school who often antagonizes Pete.
• "Rabbit" – one of James Gribble's friends.
• "Tiger" Gleeson – one of James Gribble's friends.
• Fay James – Bronson's schoolteacher; Fay James is a love interest for Tony, and lives with the Twists in Series 3 and 4.
• Ralph Snapper – Pete and Linda's teacher. He is a harsh disciplinarian who does not respond well to children's insolence, but is socially awkward around adults.
• Fiona Richmond – Linda's friend, and Pete's sometime girlfriend.
• Hugh Townsend – Linda's love crush in Series 1.
• Anthony – A well-meaning nerd with a crush on Linda in Series 3 and 4.
• Padre, Sacha, and Emily – Three girls Pete tries to win over in Series 4.

Characters who appear briefly in each episode of a series include:

• Ghosts of Nell Rickard's family members – her parents Stanley & Louise Rickards, her siblings Tom and sister Sarah Rickards.
• Ghost Matthew and Ghost Jeremiah – ghosts of two men whose spirits were trapped in the lighthouse during Series 2 after they failed to guide a boat to shore one hundred years earlier.
• Ariel – a girl from the "Isle of Dreams" who wants to take Pete away in Series 4.
• Mr. Nic Papadelioises – a local small deli owner who gave Bronson his first job.

The first series had the following episodes:[11]

• "Skeleton on the Dunny"
• "Birdsdo"
• "A Good Tip for Ghosts"
• "The Cabbage Patch Fib"
• "Spaghetti Pig Out"
• "The Gum Leaf War"
• "Santa Claws"
• "Wunderpants"
• "Lucky Lips"
• "Know All"
• "The Copy"
• "Without My Pants"
• "Lighthouse Blues"

The lighthouse is haunted by eerie music coming from upstairs. In the final episode, "Lighthouse Blues", the music is revealed to be played by the ghosts of Nell's deceased family. The ghosts help the Twists prevent one of Gribble's business associates from destroying the lighthouse.

In a subplot, Tony falls in love with Fay and spends the series developing a relationship with her, culminating in a marriage proposal at the finale. The answer to the proposal is left open-ended.

The series provides a lot of laughter and suspense and retains the surprise endings which made the books so popular among modern young readers.[12]

The second series reintroduces the Twist family and the local identities from the coastal town of Port Niranda.[13] The thirteen stories in the second series were completely new tales.[8] They shared elements in style, characterisation, theme, location, and genre with the first series but each storyline was unpredictable and fresh.[8]

The second series has the following episodes:

• "Second Time Around"
• "Copy Cat"
• "Little Squirt"
• "Pink Bow Tie"
• "Nails"
• "Sloppy Jalopy"
• "Smelly Feet"
• "Grandad's Gift"
• "Ice Maiden"
• "Yuckles"
• "Quivering Heap"
• "Little Black Balls"
• "Seeing The Light"

Richard Moir reprises his role as Tony, but his children have been recast.[13]

The lighthouse is haunted again by two ghosts who reveal themselves as Matthew and Jeremiah, who are being punished because, 100 years ago, they failed as lighthouse keepers to stop a ship carrying Matthew's love, Jane, from being wrecked on the rocks. In the final episode, "Seeing the Light", the ghost ship comes again, and this time, all of the characters from the show help turn on the lighthouse light and save the family who was lost at sea and redeem the ghosts.

Tony and Fay become officially engaged, but Fay becomes concerned that Bronson does not want her to marry Tony, which leads to the engagement being broken off. They are re-engaged at the end of the series.

In this series, Mr. Gribble is not concerned with removing the Twists from the lighthouse; rather, he campaigns for a Senate seat with the fictional Progressive Conservative Party. Disagreeing with his policies, Nell runs against him in a party similar to the Australian Greens and ultimately wins in a landslide.

The demand for more Round The Twist worldwide led Edgar to proceed with Series 3 and 4, which were made back-to-back with the same child cast.[3] Storm led the workshops to create scripts for the third and fourth series, which have the following episodes:[3]

• "The Big Burp"
• "Viking Book of Love"
• "Whirling Derfish"
• "UMI"
• "Truth Hits Everybody"
• "The Nirandathal Beast"
• "Mail-Boo"
• "Brainless"
• "Toy Love"
• "Tears of Innocence"
• "The Ice Cream Man Cometh"
• "If the Walls Could Talk"
• "The Big Rock"

The third series recast most of the characters. In this series, Mr. Gribble plans to turn Port Niranda into the honeymoon capital of the world by tearing down the lighthouse and building a casino in its place. Fay has moved in with Tony and the kids for a trial period to see if they can live in harmony with each other.[14]

The fourth series has the following episodes:

• "Welcome Back"
• "Monster Under the Bed"
• "Linda Godiva"
• "Dog by Night"
• "TV or Not TV"
• "Face the Fear"
• "Hair Brain"
• "Princess and the Pete"
• "Bird Boy"
• "The Shadow Player"
• "Radio Da Da"
• "Skunkman"
• "The Isle of Dreams"

In each episode, a knight in armor enters the lighthouse through a magical door. At the beginning of the series, the knight's face is hidden behind a visor; in the second half, the visor is raised. In the final episode, "The Isle of Dreams", the stranger is revealed to be a girl, Ariel, who offers the children a perfect life on the Isle of Dreams if Pete will become her husband. In the end, they decline, and Ariel disappears forever, along with the enchanted isle.

A subplot in this series is Fay's pregnancy with Tony's baby, named Ariel, who is born in the series finale.

The first series of Round The Twist went into pre-production in March 1989 and production began on 4 April and ran for 13 weeks. Filming took place at Melbourne Film Studios and the lighthouse on the Victorian coast.[15]

Throughout the series, several locations in Victoria, Australia, were used for external shots. Exterior scenes of the Twist family's lighthouse home were shot at the Split Point Lighthouse in Aireys Inlet. The school and some town scenes were shot in Williamstown, Point Lonsdale, and Queenscliff.

The seventh episode of series one was supposed to be "Frozen Stiff", but that had to be changed as it was too expensive to freeze a house and thirty animals inside large ice blocks.[16]

Nell was supposed to die in "Lighthouse Blues", but Storm told Jennings, "it's too depressing after thirteen weeks. We can't finish the series by killing off a well-loved character."[16]

The first two series were written by Jennings and edited by Storm. Jennings made cameo appearances, including as the ghost of Ben Byron in "Without My Pants".

Following the success of Round the Twist both in Australia and in overseas markets, the ACTF developed a second 13-episode series.[17] The second series was in pre-production in April 1992.[18] Filming took place from 23 March to 19 June 1992 and finished on 23 June 1992.[18][19]

Edgar continued as executive director, and Jennings and Storm wrote the scripts.[17] Storm was the main series director, Steve Jodrell also directed episodes in the second series, and Antonia Barnard was the co-producer of the second series.[17] Adult cast members remained the same as in the first series, except for Mr. Gribble and Matron Gribble, who were recast with Mark Mitchell and Jan Friedl. Auditions were held in 1991 to find new child actors to replace characters like Pete, Linda, and Bronson.[17] The second series was in post-production until 30 November 1992.[13] It was pre-purchased by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the British Broadcasting Corporation, Ravensburger Film, and TV Gmbh (for German-speaking territories), and Tri Star Gmbh (for Italy).[13]

The third and fourth series were written by various writers and re-used the same characters, but they did not draw from Jennings' material. Two years before the third series was aired, Jennings' stories were being adapted into a different show called Driven Crazy, which failed to match the popularity of the early Round the Twist and of which only one series was produced.

The ACTF started development of a new series of Round The Twist in 1997.[20] It was produced by Edgar with Bernadette O’Mahony and written by Storm, Chris Anastassiades, and Ray Boseley. The series was directed by Boseley, Storm, and Pino Amenta. The series was pre-sold to the ABC, BBC, Nickelodeon UK, and Disney European channels, and financed by the Australian Film Finance Corporation. The scripts were completed by November 1997, and official pre-production of the series commenced in November 1998.[20] An Australia-wide search for the child leads was conducted, and more than 800 children auditioned for the roles of Linda, Pete, Bronson, and the Gribble gang, Rabbit, Tiger, and Gribbs.[21] Filming took place on location at Aireys Inlet and Crawford Productions' studio in Melbourne in early 1999.[20] The series was completed and distributed to broadcasters in November 1999.[20]

Storylines for the fourth series were being written in 1998 following a creative workshop directed by Storm in early September at the ACTF's offices.[22] In 2000, the ACTF completed the development of the fourth series of Round the Twist, which was written by Storm, Boseley, Louise Fox, Christine Madafferi, and Robert Greenberg.[23] The pre-production of the fourth series commenced in November 1999, with principal photography starting in February 2000 and ending in May 2000.[23] Edgar was executive producer and producer, and the line producer was Helen Watts, with directors David Swann, Arnie Custo, and Boseley.[23] Filming for the series started on 7 February 2000, and continued for three months in and around Melbourne, in the Crawford Productions' studio, Williamstown Primary School, and Airey's Inlet.[23] Most of the main cast from Season 3 returned for Season 4.[23]

A full-length Round the Twist feature film was developed and written by Storm and Boseley. Under Storm's guidance, a storyline workshop for the feature film was held in October 1994.[24] Production was planned for 1997–98, but funding for the project was not granted.[21] Edgar explains in her book Bloodbath that feature films based on television are rarely financed by distributors, must compete with big-budget films, and are typically launched during the school holidays, among many other complicating factors. Despite Edgar's best efforts to have the Round the Twist feature film come to fruition, the project was scrapped.

In 1995, TV 4 Sweden advised that the Round the Twist series won its time slot in the afternoons with a 25 percent audience share. TV 2 Denmark also screened the series during the year and reported excellent ratings. In Denmark, Round the Twist is called “The Children Of The Lighthouse”; in Germany, it is called “Twist Totale”. The Finnish Broadcasting Company and Wharf Cable in Hong Kong acquired Round the Twist in March 1995, while AVRO, a Dutch public channel, acquired the second series in June 1995.[24]

The ACTF received letters and phone calls from viewers of Les Twist Famille in France, many of whom had watched the program on Canal J, the French children's channel.[24] In Canada, CBC Television started screening the program in May 1995, while the French-language version was broadcast on sister channel Télévision de Radio-Canada later that year.[24] The CBC reported that a significant number of university students had been among the correspondents writing to them to express their appreciation of the series.[24]

The second series was pre-sold to the BBC and Ravensburger in Germany, and received an upfront distribution advance from DARO for Spain, Portugal, Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Rumania, USSR, Africa (excluding South Africa), Ireland, Greece, Belgium, New Zealand, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Iceland, and South Korea.[8]

In 1995, Series 1 of Round the Twist screened in Sweden for the first time by TV4.[25] It was so popular that TV4 contacted the ACTF to acquire the second series so that it be immediately aired.[25]

The second series of Round the Twist aired on TV 2 in Denmark in January 1995, and was shown on Canal J in France. The ACTF received letters and telephone calls from young viewers in France who loved the series.[25]

In 1997, Round the Twist was named "Kids’ Vid of the Week" and given four stars by The Age Green Guide.[26]

The acquisition of Round the Twist by FOX Network coincided with the repeat of series one on BBC1 in the UK.[26] The series reached number two in the Top 10 Children's Programs.[26]

There were 6109 hits on the Round the Twist website from Finland during the second week in July 1997, which reflected local viewer interest.[26]

Round The Twist series 1 and 2 sold and resold in 54 countries including the US.[27]

To launch the program, the ACTF and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) transformed one of the ABC's Elsternwick studios into a Round the Twist set. Four Foundation staff members attended the MIPCOM market in Cannes, France, in October 1992 to launch the second series of Round the Twist and Lift Off on the international market.[28]

The second series of Round the Twist was a major success when it was screened on BBC1 in the United Kingdom in early 1993. It was rated the first most popular children's program in the United Kingdom by the time it had finished airing. BBC Enterprises entered into a contract with the ACTF for the release of Round the Twist in the United Kingdom.[28] Series 2 was also sold to Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Zimbabwe, and Thailand in 1993.[28]

Throughout 1994, the ABC presented a family viewing hour, Family Album, from 6.00 pm to 7.00 pm on Saturday, from 26 February 1994 to January 1995. The slot was conceived by Edgar in recognition of 1994 being the International Year of the Family.[25]

The Foundation produced a study guide to accompany the Family Album series, which included information on individual programs and activities for students to supplement Round the Twist, and was sent out to all schools in Australia.[25]

The ACTF donated 210 videos to the Starlight Fun Centre Trolley program operating in pediatric wards in hospitals around Australia; Round the Twist and Lift Off were particularly requested.[29]

Round the Twist rated number one on the BBC in the middle of 1998.[22] The BBC screened the third series at 4:30 pm on Monday afternoons from 10 January – 10 April 2000. Figures supplied by the BBC Broadcast Strategy Channel Development group indicated that the BBC audience viewership in the 4:30 pm slot increased by 13–18% share over the period when the program aired. The BBC's average audience in those weeks was approximately two million people or 37% of the audience watching television at that time.[23]

In Finland, the series aired daily during the summer holidays in June 2000.[23] Yle described the screening as a "great success" with an average rating of 8.0.[23] The audience share achieved was never less than 55% and it peaked at 75% in the 10- to 14-year-old age group.[23]

Series 3 was a critical and popular success. In the 5.00 pm time slot, season 3 was consistently watched by 323,300 people, including:[23]

• An average of 61% of children between the ages of 5–12 years old (compared to averages of between 9-19% on the other networks at this time)[23]
• Over 31% of children in the 13-17 year age group[23]

The Foundation hosted Queen Elizabeth II during her Australian tour in March. She visited the Melbourne set of the fourth series on 23 March 2000, where she was greeted by Edgar, Janet Holmes à Court, and Dame Margaret Guilfoyle.[23]

The Queen included Round the Twist as part of her itinerary in recognition of the ACTF's achievements on behalf of young people since its inception in 1982.[23] Round The Twist was the most commercially successful and popular Australian children's drama series ever made.[23] The third series (which was screened on the ABC and BBC when the Queen visited the set) attracted 2.1 million viewers in the UK in 2000 and was the highest-rated program for 5–12-year-olds in the 5:00 pm timeslot in Australia.[23]

Studio City at Melbourne Docklands opened in 2002. The ACTF signed a contract for a major children's attraction at the proposed Paramount-branded theme park,[30] and the attraction included the characters and adventures of the popular series, and featured a tree spirit, a Viking shipwreck, and a hall of distortion that culminated in a slide from the series’ lighthouse icon.[30]

Edgar said the attraction would enable local families and overseas visitors to interact with the characters and storylines from Round The Twist.[30]

We have been in discussion with Studio City for some time. Our interest is to provide a unique, thoroughly Australian experience. Round The Twist provides the right ingredients. It's scary, outrageous, quirky, surprising, with a big ‘yuk’ factor and lots of laughs. Strange things will happen in the Round The Twist attraction at Studio City.

— Patricia Edgar

Studio City, backed by Viacom, comprises a theme park, film and television studios, and a recreational precinct.[30]

The cast members from Round the Twist were at the Big Box Family Children's Festival.[31] Two episodes from the fourth series, filmed earlier in the year, were screened at the new Melbourne Museum's theatre. Many fans met their favourite characters from Round the Twist at the Festival on 29 October 2000; the Festival was jointly hosted by the Melbourne Festival and the Melbourne Museum.[32]

The cast were the emcees for the day, and they introduced national and international performers including Ethiopian Circus and Wild Moves.[32]

In 1989, the television rights for the thirteen 25-minute drama series were pre-sold to the Australian Television Network.[11]

The series was promoted at MIP-TV in April 1989 and sales were achieved during MIPCOM in October 1989.[15]

As part of a package distribution arrangement, Round the Twist was sold to Spain, Portugal, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, USSR, Yugoslavia, Africa, Ireland, Greece, and Belgium.[15]

The ACTF sold the program on videotape and reported 3,602 copies sold on 30 June 1991.[17]

The ACTF distributed the Round the Twist 1 videotapes and to 30 June 1993 had sold more than 5,800 units.[28]

By 30 June 1994 7,207 copies of Series 1 videotapes were sold to schools.[33] Compilation videotapes of the series were sold in department stores by CEL.[33]

In 1992, Round the Twist was sold in Italy, Israel, Ireland, and Thailand. The ACTF also sold more than 5,000 copies of the series by the end of the 1992 financial year.[13]

Penguin Books Australia released the first Round the Twist graphic novels to coincide with the series premiere.[34] The first volume featured the stories "Pink Bow Tie" and "Nails".[34]

The ACTF sold the French language versions of Series 1 and 2 to TFO in Canada; the French dub of the second series was also sold to France 2 and Canal J in France.[33] The Knowledge Network in Canada acquired both series of Round The Twist in English.[33]

CEL Home Video released Round The Twist 2 compilation videos on 25 December 1993.[33] It continued to sell Round the Twist videos in 1996.[35]

Series 1 and 2 were sold to the NHK in Japan. The ACTF received a large quantity of fan mail from Japanese children who enjoyed the series.[35]

The BBC re-licensed terrestrial rights in both series of Round The Twist, while cable and satellite rights in both series were acquired by Nickelodeon UK.[35]

In 1996, the Foundation finalised the sale of Round the Twist to the FOX Kids Network in the United States.[36]

Series 1 and 2 were acquired by broadcasters in Ghana, Hungary, the Cook Islands, and Spain. Both series were re-licensed by the BBC in the UK.[36] The first series went to air on BBC 1 in April and May 1997, where it was named the second most popular children's program in the ratings published by Broadcast magazine during that period.[36] Alliance Canada acquired the Canadian video rights for both series, while Tring Plc in the UK acquired the rights for the first.[36]

The ACTF also entered into a distribution agreement with Southern Star Sales for the distribution of Series 1 and 2 into South America.[36]

Series 1 & 2 were acquired by Pakistan Television Corporation, FETV in Panama, United Family Communications (for pay television across Latin America), and the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation.[20]

Pre-sale commitments to the third series were acquired from the ABC, the BBC, Walt Disney Television International (for European Disney Channels excluding the UK), and Nickelodeon UK.[20] The ACTF successfully applied to the Australian Film Finance Corporation Pty Limited (FFC) for investment in the series.[20]

Series 4 was delivered to the ABC in December 2000 and pre-sold to the BBC, Buena Vista International (for its Disney Channels in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain), and Nickelodeon UK.[23]

In 2001 the fourth series was released and immediately sold to Yle and TV 2.[23] Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation and The Disney Channel Australia acquired both Series 3 and 4.[23]

In 2003, ABC Enterprises later released a compilation CD featuring the Round the Twist theme, along with other themes of shows produced by the ACTF (The Genie From Down Under and Li’l Elvis Jones and the Truckstoppers).[6] Series 4 was sold on DVD through distributor Magna Home Entertainment.[6]