7.4 /10 1 Votes
6.8/10 TV No. of seasons 2 Running time 25 minutes First episode date 11 April 1994 Language English | 7.9/10 IMDb Country of origin Australia No. of episodes 30 Original network ABC TVNickelodeon Final episode date 26 June 1995 Number of seasons 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Starring Kylle HogartMiguel AyesaBrian RooneyMal HeapEmma deVriesDavid CollinsTerry Ryan Networks Nickelodeon, Australian Broadcasting Corporation Cast Mig Ayesa, Kylle Hogart, The Umbilical Brothers, David Collins, Terry Ryan Similar Johnson and Friends, Snobs, Mr Squiggle, The Genie from Down Under, The Wayne Manifesto | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Ferals was an Australian children's comedy television series created by Wendy Gray and Claire Henderson and produced by the ABC. It ran from 1994 to 1995, and it 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 still feature today on ABC programming. Garth Frost was responsible for the puppet design. the series was still continued to be repeated on the ABC and ABC1 until 23 January 2004.
Contents
Plot
The Ferals are an eclectic group of animals that live together in a backyard shed. There's 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 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 'Bogans 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. 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 Owens)
Characters
Episode List
30 episodes were produced:
Feral TV
Later in 1995 a five-minute show called Feral TV was launched. The Ferals had been exploring the sewers, 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, and his obsequious assistant the cockroach Rodney. Kerry's character is modelled on the Australian media magnate Kerry Packer, who at the time, was the owner of Channel Nine. Keith from the original show also returned for this show.
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, as well as having her own show and website. Rattus and Modigliana were featured in the ABC School's education maths program, Numbers Count. Also Modigliana went on to feature as co-host of the show Creature Features. This makes Derryn the only one of the four to not appear in a subsequent show.
Ferals Funtastic Fanbook
1996 saw the publication of The Ferals Funtastic Fanbook by Garth Frost, Wendy Gray, David Witt and Tina Matthews.