The Ferals
Encyclopedia
The Ferals is 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.
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)
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.
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.
.
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
television series created by Wendy Gray and Claire Henderson and produced by the ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
. 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.
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 scienceScience
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
student Leonard, and medical student
Medical Student
Medical Student may refer to:*Someone studying at medical school*Medical Student Newspaper, a UK publication...
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
Tina Bursill
Tina Bursill is an Australian actress usually seen on television playing sophisticated and coolly self-reliant women such as Louise Carter in Skyways. Det. Sgt...
, Robert Hughes), Rock Wrangler (Tina Matthews
Tina Matthews
Christina "Tina" Matthews is a New Zealand musician who played bass guitar in bands such as The Wide-Mouthed Frogs, and The Crocodiles. She is also an author and puppeteer.-Biography:...
) and Fat Cat (Taylor Owens)
Characters
- Rattus P. Rattus (He's the leader of the bunch) Puppeteer - David Collins: The leather-jacket wearing leader of the ferals, Rattus is a black ratBlack RatThe black rat is a common long-tailed rodent of the genus Rattus in the subfamily Murinae . The species originated in tropical Asia and spread through the Near East in Roman times before reaching Europe by the 1st century and spreading with Europeans across the world.-Taxonomy:The black rat was...
with a mischievous sense of humour and a love of foul odours. He enjoys taunting the cat Modigliana ("fur ball"), but is often thumped in return. He is obsessed with procuring a carČarČar is a village in the municipality of Bujanovac, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the town has a population of 296 people.-References:...
of his own, often concocting several outlandish schemes to acquire one and jumping at any opportunity that will provide even the slightest chance of getting one. - Modigliana (She's fluffy, but she's tough) Puppeteer - Mal Heap : A preening catCatThe cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
, Modigliana is also self-confident, tough and forceful, frequently clashing with Rattus. She has parallels with the Muppets character Miss PiggyMiss PiggyMiss Piggy is a Muppet character who was primarily played by Frank Oz on The Muppet Show. In 2001, Eric Jacobson began performing the role, although Oz did not officially retire until 2002....
, albeit with more manginess and violence. - Derryn (A Dopey Dog) Puppeteer - Terry Ryan : Derryn is a dogDogThe domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
who is not the brightest of the bunch and has a habit forgetting where he buried his bone, but does occasionally show flashes of brilliance. - Mixy (A Muddled up, mixed up Bunny) Puppeteer - Emma DeVries : Mixy is a sweet, cute carrot-loving pink rabbitRabbitRabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
, but can sometimes be neurotic. In line with the subversive black humour of the show, it is said Mixy is named after the MyxomatosisMyxomatosisMyxomatosis is a disease that affects rabbits and is caused by the Myxoma virus. It was first observed in Uruguay in laboratory rabbits in the late 19th century. It was introduced into Australia in 1950 in an attempt to control the rabbit population...
disease, introduced to Australia to cull the population of feral rabbits. - Joe King (played by Mig AyesaMig AyesaMiguel Alfonso Ramon Legarda "MiG" Ayesa is an Australian rock vocalist.-Biography:Born in Manila, Philippines and raised in Sydney, Australia, and has three-fourths-Spanish maternal ancestry and fourth-Ilonggo paternal and maternal ancestries. His Spanish ancestry came from Preysler lineage...
): Joe is forever trying to evict the Ferals from the shed. He is also often trying to get high-flying jobs. - Leonard (played by Brian RooneyBrian Rooney (actor)Brian Rooney is a British actor with a number of television and stage credits. He is best known for his childhood television performances, in particular the part of Michael Winters in G.P....
): Leonard is a science student who is always coming up with inventions, which rarely work. - Robbie (played by Kylle HogartKylle HogartKylle Hogart is an Australian actress.Hogart was born in Sydney and is the sister of Kellie Crawford, one of the members of Australian children's program and band Hi-5. Hogart currently resides in Los Angeles....
): Robbie is a medicine student, who loves playing the guitar, and dreams of travelling the world with a rock band. - Keith Puppeteer - Mal Heap : Keith is a koala, who loves eating gum leaves, sleeping, and playing his mum's old harmonica.
- Kylie Puppeteer - Kelly Wallenwork (Season 1), Danielle Baker (Season 2) : Kylie is a kangaroo, who often has to help Keith out of trouble. She also fights frequently with Modigliana.
Season 1 (1994)
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Season 2 (1995)
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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 toadToad
A toad is any of a number of species of amphibians in the order Anura characterized by dry, leathery skin , short legs, and snoat-like parotoid glands...
with an explosive temper, and his obsequious assistant the cockroach
Cockroach
Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattaria or Blattodea, of which about 30 species out of 4,500 total are associated with human habitations...
Rodney. Kerry's character is modelled on the Australian media magnate Kerry Packer
Kerry Packer
Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer, AC was an Australian media tycoon. The son of Sir Frank Packer and Gretel Bullmore, the Packer family company owned controlling interest in both the Nine television network and leading Australian publishing company Australian Consolidated Press, which were later...
, who at the time, was the owner of Channel Nine
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
. 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 KidsABC Kids (Australia)
ABC Television broadcasts the greatest amount of children's content than any other network in Australia.Prior to early 2009, there was a brand called ABC Kids which was separate from regular ABC TV and contained all children's programming on the ABC...
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.
Ferals Funtastic Fanbook
1996 saw the publication of The Ferals Funtastic Fanbook by Garth Frost, Wendy Gray, David Witt and Tina MatthewsTina Matthews
Christina "Tina" Matthews is a New Zealand musician who played bass guitar in bands such as The Wide-Mouthed Frogs, and The Crocodiles. She is also an author and puppeteer.-Biography:...
.