Finger Blast from the Past: Classic Aussie TV Shows

Finger Blast! Finger Blast! Finger Blast from the past! Right, Luce, this week's finger blast, I think we're going to keep on topic. So I have just announced that I am going down under Shruth to do my Sophie McCartney's Titan Tested Stand Up Comedy Tour down in Australia and New Zealand. But because I announced Australia... Australia New Zealand and when I did my announcement video I dove back in time and looked at some of my inspirations and some of my favorite things as a childhood

And they were Australian TV programs. No offense, New Zealand, but Australia did lead the way in the 90s for that. I think globally, it was insane, wasn't it? Some of my... My early vocab was to my sister going, wreck off your dag. Any British kid in the 90s, we were just absolutely pummeled with this Australian dream of all these beautiful surfer dudes called either...

Shane, Brad or Billy. And that was just, it's just what we wanted. So let's finger blast from the past Australian TV programs that we grew up with. I'm going to kick it off with the very obvious Neighbours. Yes. Because that's when good neighbours become good friends. That was a staple of every millennial's childhood, right? Twice a day.

Yeah, you've got to watch it twice a day. And if you'd had a day off sick from school, you would still watch it twice, wouldn't you? Used to be on it, 1.25, didn't it? Well done. And 5.35. Yeah. Oh, my God. Before the news. Before the news. I always remember having, I must have been off sick once, and it was the episode where Hannah, remember Hannah? Helen's granddaughter.

He's dead annoying. No offence, Hannah. Now I was growing up as an actor. Something was going on and Helen... like Hannah was acting really weird so I was watching this at lunchtime and Helen I must have been about eight maybe nine and Helen had gone into this sort of utility room and come out and gone Hannah's just got her first period because she'd found the pants in the utility room right now I was

so we used to watch it it's a family of four in the evening and I had to leave the room when I knew that bit was coming because I was like I can't I knew I was I can't be sat in the room when with this I was in Hannah's period pants Helen Daniels pulling up Hannah's bloody knickers That is one episode that I will always, always remember.

There were so many, there was always so much drama. When I was doing this video for my announcement of the tour and Jack had come in and he was like, mommy, what's this? And I was like, well, this is a TV program for neighbors. And he said to me, is this the program where everybody in the road marries one another? And I went, no. And then went.

actually yes yes it's very close knit street i don't know the neighbors on our road i know the people directly next to me the people over the road and then i don't know the other people so we definitely wouldn't have that kind of relationship but there was a high proportion could be a hot surface

dude called Brad a couple of doors down babe I need to I need to go and do knock and run don't I but yeah there was a high proportion of um yeah marriage uh affairs and death a lot of people died in Ramsey Street very young and tragic um do you remember when Libby's husband, Drew, died. Do you remember Libby Kennedy? You don't remember Drew Kirk? Dark-haired. He looked like a Disney prince. You've got to Google Drew Kirk. Libby and Drew.

No, like in some sort of in the country retreat or something at the time. I can't remember how he died. All I remember is the funeral and sobbing my heart out as Libby singing Laddie Boy over his funeral. Was that... Absolutely devastating. Drew was beautiful, wasn't he? Drew was beautiful. Do you remember they kept killing off Toadie's, Toadie's Toadie, they kept killing off Toadie's missus, so do you remember we got married to Dee?

And they drove off into the sunset and then somehow drove off a cliff. D was dead. And then I think they brought D back, but as an evil twin at some point as well. So there's a lot of evil twins. And then... and then I think Toadie married Steph and I think Steph something happened to Steph and she might have got amnesia or something like he had no luck Can we also just give it up to the producers of Neighbours for running the ultimate PR stunt of 2022?

I feel absolutely scammed. Neighbours is no more. Oh my God. Hashtag save Neighbours. The biggest social media campaign. Let's get Kylie back. Let's get Jason back. Let's get whoever he was. Guy Watson's chops back. Let's all get them back.

What's that? What's that? We're just going to bring you back to a streaming service six months later. Psych! Honestly, my friend Carly is the biggest Neighbours fan. Like, you know, she was literally... devastated she goes to all of the you know like the neighbors did like a tour and it was like they went around the uk and there was like a she was she was genuinely in tears when she heard about neighbors coming to an end i was like oh my

God, and there are some people, I think I put a little poll up going, does anyone still watch Neighbours? And the percentage of people who said, yes, I've not watched Neighbours since. Since probably I was at uni, I couldn't tell you the relevant plot lines that are going on now, but I could probably take a stab that somebody had just died and somebody was having an affair and a neighbour had married another neighbour.

But no, not down with it. Is Harold still there? Yeah, I think so. I think Harold's still there because he went away. He had amnesia, didn't he? He fell off a cliff. He fell off a cliff and came back with amnesia. Oh, and then he came back. Yeah. Yeah. So Paul Robinson is still there. I don't know if Lou is still there.

carl and susan are still there so i saw alan fletcher he came and did like the university circuit when i was at uni he came to leeds with this band i think it was the right prescription or was that what he was called her neighbors and we were all like swooning after carl like if carl

a day like one of us would not me what one of my mates they would have banned carl if the opportunity had a reason imagine that for bragging rights you've shagged carl kennedy oh my god oh my god carl kennedy he he was alan fletcher

yeah and I think there's there's something about Carl Kennedy any of my friends that have gone traveling in to Australia are always like I don't met Carl Kennedy it's almost like he's just he's there at the airport he's like the official welcome wagon of Australia and he's just like come on ladies

Come on, ladies. Oh, God, that's gross. Okay, so if you were into Neighbours, were you into Home and Away? Because I kind of feel that they were rival soaps in that sense. They were, but that was on at 10 past five. So I'd watch Home and Away and then flip over to Neighbours. At 5.35. So I wasn't, I kind of, I gave Herman away the time of day when Deesa Brummer, that era, he was so fit. Shane and Angel era.

Shane, that was probably the only time that I watched something. So interesting fact of the day, when I was diving around doing my research for this video, I actually discovered that Shane, Dieter Brummer, is actually, he's passed away really. life it was about two years ago yeah you thought you said that it's really sad really sad but he was my absolute fave in in summer bay but i still remember all the words do you let me be the one The children too. I want to stay forever.

Closer each day. Yes. Home and away. The school uniform from Summer Bay. Iconic. Yeah, Summer Bay. With that big white collar. Big white collar, a nice bit of plaid. Oh, it was fun. I have to say, no country does a school uniform. They're summer dresses. Yeah, well, just in general. And they all have hats. They're all in shorts and knee socks. Yes. They go for it.

Also, when we were talking about your announcement, we were sort of reminiscing, weren't we, about other Aussie TV moments. And I was so excited when I discovered that Pugwall... Pugwall Summerhead was Australian. I remember watching that at my granny's in Ireland. There's a chance I'm gonna take it.

and i used to fancy him so much with his flippy floppy curtains i just feel we were all sold this dream of this is what australian boys look like and they all had so it was billy trimester carl and susan's son billy was the same that kind of blonde

floppy hair brad brad and neighbors he was the same blonde floppy hair pug wall he was blonde and floppy hair as well and it was yeah all at the same time as around about leonardo dicaprio and titanic as well wasn't it well that was probably a few years on from there to be honest

But we were all just hellbent on having this blonde-haired surfer dude. That's what I thought I'd marry. I married a dark-haired man called Steve, not like some hot surfer dude called Shane. Yeah, if you'd asked me what my type was when I was eight. blonde yeah that that would have been it blonde time surfer and tell you what other program that i loved and i'm gonna sing it for you i know what you're gonna i think i know what you're gonna do have you ever ever felt like this

When strange things happen, when you're going round the twist. It was an absolute banger of a tune, wasn't it? Yeah. When I was in Australia many moons ago, we did a road trip. We went along because it's on the Great Ocean Road. And we drove to it, to the lighthouse from going around the twist. And I think that was, for me, a standout moment of Australia's moment. I was like, oh my God, it's me! Whereabouts in Australia is that?

so it's South Australia so it is so once you've done Melbourne and then you head on to the Great Ocean Road so as if you're going then towards Adelaide and then we so we did

Melbourne, Adelaide. I can't remember if it falls before Adelaide or after Adelaide, but we were driving from Melbourne up to Ayers Rock in the middle. So we did an absolutely mammoth road trip and you go along the Great Ocean Road and you have that. I think they're called the Apostles. You know, the big rocks in the sea? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway.

it's down there it's on the south coast yeah very very very cool and also like thinking back to do you remember particular episodes of these tv brand programs so for example around the twist i remember you know the little the little kid the little the youngest boy the youngest brother yeah yeah I'll always remember the episode where

um he was at school and he was gutted because they used to do like this peeing competition where they'd see who could get over the wall with their pee and I remember like he had to train himself and he was gutted because he couldn't do it and then on the last day he managed to do it

Oh, I don't know if that was a real episode, Luz. Is this like a weird going around the twist fantasy dream that you've had water sports with some weird blonde floppy haired kid from Australia? Gosh, no, that's what I'll always stand out. I'll tell you another one that I loved. And as soon as I...

started looking at programs from the 90s and it hit me like a ton of bricks did you ever used to watch flying doctors was that not on the afternoon as well couldn't tell you what time that it was on i think you were a bit of a skyver oh oh why 100 we so we got kittens when i was about 10 and I used to always be like

I can't go to school today and then I used to film myself on the camcorder like I was the I was the worst person at incriminating myself film myself on the camcorder playing with the kittens like absolutely right it's rain and then my mum be like what's this on the camcorder

Yes, I did. I can't count for shit, but I had a lovely time staying at home watching Australian TV programs. See, The Flying Doctors, it was about a bunch of Aussie doctors. I think they were based in the Outback, you know, that maybe people weren't close enough to a hospital. And yeah, it was like high drums, because they were in the sky high, but high drums all the time. Loved it. Bloody loved a bit of Flying Doctors.

yeah I don't remember that one as well I remember it being on I think it was on at the afternoon so like I say my parents were both teachers so we weren't ever ever ever ever allowed a day of sick i'll see my mom's a teacher but i was i was very good at putting on a sick day extremely i know i know my own tricks the best and now my kids just get sent in whatever i'm like i'll just wait for the phone call off you go yeah

oh do you know what we could probably talk for days about australian tv but this is just a snack at least just a snack at so there we go another finger blast from the past done and tested for this week we are back with the main episode on a monday and we'll be back with another little finger blast on thursday