The Genie from Down Under facts for kids

The Genie from Down Under is an Australian-British children's comedy television series. It was a co-production between the ACTF, the BBC and the ABC from 1996 to 1998. It was released on video in the 1990s, and is available for order via the ACTF website or Purchase on iTunes. The Genie From Down under is based on an idea from Steve J Spears which was developed into a series concept with a ‘Round The Twist’ flavour. Esben Storm, Steve Spears and a team of writers work-shopped the storylines. Patricia Edgar was looking for a new idea for a comedy series which would capture the debate about Australia becoming a Republic - a significant issue in Australia at the time. She invited a few writers to submit original ideas then chose the concept submitted by Steve Spears to workshop its potential. She asked Esben Storm, who had been the co-author and Director of the successful Round the Twist series to lead the development workshop.

Following the demonstrable success of Round the Twist on the BBC, the head of children's television Anna Home agreed to put up half the $4.1 million budget for a co-production. This was half the budget which was the highest level of finance the Film Finance Corporation (FFC) had ever seen from an overseas co-production partner. The program met the BBC requirements for a UK production and was also able to meet the objectives for programming produced by the Foundation in Australia. Even though the entire series was shot in Australia, the story was set in both Australia and the UK and one of the lead cast and one of the directors was British. Produced by Patricia Edgar and Phil Jones and directed by Esben Storm, Jeremy Swan (of the BBC) and Brendan Maher, the series is a comedy with distinctive Australian humour. With this project, the ACTF broke new ground with a production financing structure.

The first series went to air in the UK in 1996 on BBCI in the critical 4.30 to 5pm timeslot. It won two and a half million viewers – 40 per cent of its audience. The success story was repeated in over 20 countries. In Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Malta, New Zealand, Poland, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand and The Netherlands, children – and adults – loved the Australian humour.

The Genie From Down Under is one of Australia's favourite comedy series for children and adults alike. Broadcast Magazine recorded The Genie From Down under (series 2) as the 10th highest rating children's series in the United Kingdom during its broadcast by the BBC.

Plot

The honourable Penelope Townes is a 13-year old aristocrat from England who lives with her widowed mother, Lady Diana, with their housekeeper Miss Mossop at Townes Hall. Townes is a stately but crumbling mansion in Wilshire, England.

Penelope comes into possession of an opal pendant when she explores the dusty attic of her family's decaying mansion. The opal contains two Australian genies, Bruce and his son Baz, who have been living inside the opal for 130 years since Penelope's great, great grandfather, Sir Claude, brought them to England. This is the setting for a battle of wits and a clash of class and culture. Penelope is a selfish snob who sees the Genie as her property and has the power. Bruce, the Genie is an ocker and has the magic.

So when Penelope – in an ungarded moment – wishes she were somewhere else, Bruce whisks her overseas, to her inheritance, Townes Downs, a rundown property in the middle of 800 square kilometres of Australian outback. Penelope hates Australia and is constantly trying to get back to Townes Hall in Wiltshire. Bruce thinks Townes Downs is heaven on earth and Townes Hall is hell.

Typically, an episode revolved around the consequences of one of Penelope's flippant wishes, or the efforts of an outside party to steal the opal (and thus, the genies).

When Penelope inherits a property in Australia (Townes Downs), Bruce and Baz are very happy because it means that they can spend more time in their own country. When they go to inspect the property, they meet Otto von Meister, who runs tours of outback Australia. His forefather stole the opal from the Aborigines and then lost it in a card game to Penelope's ancestor, Sir Claude. Otto is determined to return the opal to its rightful owner – him! When he finds out that Penelope has the opal, he tries to steal it from her. He often enlists his nephew, Conrad, to help him. Penelope falls in love with Conrad, which gives Otto far more opportunity to steal the opal. The battle for possession of the opal sees Otto become King of England and Bubbles lead his band of Merry Chaps in green to plot the end to King Otto's reign.

Things are further complicated when Bruce (the genie) falls in love with Penelope's mother, Lady Diana Townes. She is already supposedly in love with Lord 'Bubbles' Uppington-Smythe, however, it is revealed that this is only because of his money, and she in turn falls in love with Bruce.

In the end, Penelope accepts that Bruce and her mother are in love, and gives the opal to her mother, allowing Bruce to reveal his true identity. Bruce and Diana end up marrying.

Cast

• Alexandra Milman as Penelope Townes
• Rhys Muldoon as Bruce (series 1)
• Sandy Winton as Bruce (series 2)
• Glenn Meldrum as Baz
• Anna Galvin as Lady Diana Townes
• Monica Maughan as Miss Mossop
• Mark Mitchell as Otto von Meister
• Fletcher Humphrys as Conrad Von Meister
• Ian McFadyen as Lord Bubbles Uppington-Smythe
• Emily Milburn as Marcia (Season 1)
• Petra Yared as Marcia (Season 2)
• Jacinta Stapleton as Sophie Mills

Characters

• Bruce (the genie) is the laconic larrikin who doesn't think much of Poms, but can't help falling for Penelope's widowed mother, Diana. He's 5,000 years old, but looks 35, and his magic-making gesture is the Aussie Wave – the swat used by mortals to brush away flies.
• Penelope Townes is brave, self-centred, and snobbish – if it's not English it doesn't rate. Penelope quickly finds out that she can control Bruce's behaviour, but not his heart. She has a secret slave but she can't make him like her.
• Miss Mossop, the tough and loyal old housekeeper devoted to the Townes family.
• Conrad von Meister, Otto's nephew, an unscrupulous Antipodean Adonis with the power to make Penelope weak at the knees. He is determined to get back the von Meister opal – and sell it.
• Otto von Meister, who runs Crocodile Otto Outback Experience. Married five times, he considers himself a ladies man. Otto believes that if Sir Claude hadn't stolen the opal from his fore-father everything would be different.
• Trish Emu, an Aboriginal who is Otto's Experience Coordinator. She's the tour translator (she speaks fluent Japanese); cook; aerobics instructor; entertainments officer; driver; and purser. Trish is attracted to Bruce but he's shy – and in any case, he's attracted to Diana.
• Lady Diana Townes, who carries the heavy burden of the Townes tradition and, to save Townes hall, is considering marrying Bubbles, a wealthy man she doesn't love... until Bruce comes along. More than class and culture separate them however. Unknown to her, Bruce isn't human.
• Baz, the eight-year-old son of Bruce. Like his dad, Baz has the power to grant any wish. And like him, he has a large larrikin streak that causes him to put a little spin on your wish.
• Bubbles is a filthy rich, terribly wet and rather a good egg. An honours graduate from the university of upper class twits, he wants to marry Diana.
• Darlene, Otto's tourist co-coordinator is caring where he is mean. Where he is grumpy, she is friendly. And she's smart – smart enough to convince Otto to give her half the business when he gets behind in the wages.

Series overview

Episodes

Episode information retrieved from Australian Television archive & IMDB.

Season 1 (1996)

Season 2 (1998)

Awards & Nominations