A friend ever true

Anyone who ever watched an episode of Skippy The Bush Kangaroo has to watch ABC1 on Thursday night. A doco - Skippy, Australia’s First Super Star - will screen at 8.30pm telling the story of how a crime-fighting marsupial conquered the world. Skippy was produced between 1967 and 1969 in Sydney, selling to 128 countries and being translated into 25 languages.

The one-hour show apparently includes everyone involved in the production of the original series, including actors Garry Pankhurst, Ken James and Tony Bonner (The blond-haired strapping chopper pilot who I always thought of as particularly handsome!).

It is said to give a remarkable insight into the pioneering show and some of its less savoury aspects, like how the animals were regularly plied with alcohol so they performed for the cameras while the women who worked on the show were treated like sex objects and made to wear mini-skirts to work.

Simply mandatory viewing in my book. I would just be unAustralian to miss it.