The Ferals

Last updated

The Ferals
The Ferals logo.jpg
The Ferals' cast
Also known asFerals
Genre Children's television
Created by
  • Wendy Gray
  • Claire Henderson
Starring
Voices of
  • Danielle Baker as Kylie (Series 2)
  • David Collins as Rattus P. Rattus
  • Mal Heap as Modigliana Wydebottom/Keith
  • Emma deVries as Mixy M. Toasus
  • Terry Ryan as Derryn
  • Kelly Wallwork as Kylie (Series 1)
ComposerPeter Dasent
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
No. of series2
No. of episodes30
Production
Running time25 minutes
Original release
Network
Release11 April 1994 (1994-04-11) 
26 June 1995 (1995-06-26)

The Ferals was an Australian children's comedy television series which screened on the ABC from 1994 to 1995. It was created by Wendy Gray and Claire Henderson and featured a mixture of people and animal puppets known as the "Ferals". It was lauded for its irreverent humour and distinctive characters, some of which featured on other ABC programming. Garth Frost was responsible for the puppet design. [1] The opening theme was written by Peter Dasent and Arthur Baysting and performed by Dave Dobbyn. [2] In the UK, the show aired on satellite television via Nickelodeon UK.

Contents

Plot

The Ferals are an eclectic group of animals that live together in a backyard shed. There is a rat called Rattus, a feral cat called Modigliana, a rabbit called Mixy, and a feral dog called Derryn. The humans are two university students, and their landlord, who clash with each other and the Ferals.

They include the uptight, neurotic landlord Joe King who is determined to remove the ferals from his garden; the affable science student Leonard, and medical student Robbie, who attempt to shield the ferals from eviction, but are sometimes exasperated with their antics.

There were also the 'Bozos From The Bush' as Modigliana liked to call them, Keith, a koala and Kylie, a kangaroo. These two characters often clashed with the Ferals, thinking they were above them due to their status as native Australian animals. [3]

They were also quite nasal and whiney in their characteristics. Other characters included White Ants (Tina Bursill, Robert Hughes), Rock Wrangler (Tina Matthews) and Fat Cat (Taylor Owynns)

Characters

Puppets

Humans

Episodes

SeriesEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
1 1511 April 1994 (1994-04-11)18 July 1994 (1994-07-18)
2 1520 March 1995 (1995-03-20)26 June 1995 (1995-06-26)

Feral TV

Later in 1995 a five-minute show called Feral TV was launched. The Ferals had been exploring the sewers, due to Joe demolishing the shed in the final episode, and had discovered the cable to a TV station. They started their own TV channel, calling it Feral TV, running under the TV boss Kerry, a loud gruff toad with an explosive temper, [8] and his obsequious assistant the cockroach Rodney. [9] Kerry's character is modelled on the Australian media magnate Kerry Packer, who at the time, was the owner of Channel Nine (despite the show airing on ABC). Keith from the original show also returned for this show as well as a character from The Ferals' pilot episode called Berry the Bat. [10] Kylie was the only one of the original six main puppet characters not to return since having two puppeteers (Kelly Wallwork and Danielle Baker) didn't make her a strong character to work with. The show ran for 55 episodes. [11] From July to August 2023, Modigliana and Keith's actor, Mal Heap uploaded a long lost second series of the show on his YouTube account, That Puppet Bloke. [12] The series was also shown on the same UK network as the previous series (Nickelodeon UK).

After the Ferals

Although few of the human actors went on to achieve successful television careers, some of the puppet characters continue to feature regularly in ABC programming. Mixy, in particular, was used as a host introducing the shows on the ABC Kids programming block (Mixy), as well as having her own show and website. [13] Rattus and Modigliana were featured in the ABC School's education maths program, Numbers Count (Mixy and Derryn were mentioned in one scene). Also Modigliana went on to feature as co-host of the show Creature Features. [14] Derryn is the only one of the quartet not to appear in ABC's other programmes. Rattus, Modigliana and Mixy appeared in the 2022 edition of ABC New Year's Eve Early Night Show.

Mixy
Network ABC
Launched16 February 1998
Closed26 July 2002
Country of originAustralia
Original language(s)English

Mixy was an Australian program block on the ABC that hosts Mixy Rabbit from The Ferals. After the Ferals' series ended, Mixy has been used as a host for her new program block and introducing the shows in the morning.

In 2000, the puppeteer Mal Heap, who played Modigliana the cat and Keith the koala from The Ferals, introduced the role of Joe the Kangaroo alongside Mixy.

After the programming block finished in July 2002, Mixy kept appearing in ABC idents and her own website episodes until around the mid-2000s.

Hosts
Toys
Programming

Programs in alphabetical order

Video release
Website

In the early 2000s, Mixy's website was shown at the ABC Playground Website in-between shows behind painted blobs. Mousing over the green blob would display Mixy. Clicking on the character's image would present options of games, videos, fan messages and Joe the Kangaroo's corner.

Arturo has now taken over as a main character as he shows very similar characteristics to the original ferals.

Ferals Funtastic Fanbook

1996 saw the publication of The Ferals Funtastic Fanbook by Garth Frost, Wendy Gray, David Witt and Tina Matthews. [15]

The Ferals Podcast

The Ferals Podcast logo.jpg
Desc-i.svg
The Ferals Podcast logo

On 17 May 2015 the first episode of an unofficial podcast simply titled *The Ferals Podcast* was released.
On 10 January 2016 they posted their last episode.

In the podcast, hosts Monkey Boy, Swinny & Mike took an in-depth look at the cult-classic children's television show.

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "The Ferals". IMDb . Retrieved 28 January 2010.
  2. "The Ferals Intro".
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "1994: January 15-21". televisionau.com. 26 April 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  4. "Meet Rattus P. Rattus". Archived from the original on 2 June 2001. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  5. "Meet Modigliana Wydebottom". Archived from the original on 2 June 2001. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  6. "Meet Derryn". Archived from the original on 2 June 2001. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  7. "Meet Mixy M. Toasus". Archived from the original on 2 June 2001. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  8. "Meet Kerry". Archived from the original on 2 June 2001. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  9. "Meet Rodney". Archived from the original on 2 June 2001. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  10. "The Ferals: Pilot Episode (1993)".
  11. "Feral TV (1995 - 1997) - the Screen Guide - Screen Australia".
  12. "Feral TV Season 2 (1997)". YouTube .
  13. "Mixy". Australian Broadcasting Corporation . Archived from the original on 25 February 1999.
  14. "Creature Features". Australian Broadcasting Corporation . Archived from the original on 12 December 2002.
  15. Frost, Garth; Gray, Wendy; Witt, David; Matthews, Tina (1996). The Ferals Fantastic Fanbook. Sydney, Australia: ABC Books. ISBN   978-0-7333-0471-2.