''Secret Valley'' is an Australian

children's television Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television show, television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during ...

adventure series first shown on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

in 1980. It was produced by the Grundy Organisation in association with Telecip, S.A. and Spain's public broadcaster

Televisión Española Televisión Española (acronym TVE, branded tve, "Spanish Television") is Spain's national state-owned public television broadcaster and the oldest regular television service in the country. It was also the first regular television service in ...

Series synopsis

Secret Valley is a fictitious children's holiday camp in ''Bildarra'' which has been transformed from a run-down ghost town into a resort. The children who work and visit the camp often find themselves in battle against a gang of bad kids – Spider McGlurk and his gang from "Spider Cave". These battles usually feature flour bombs and other food-related missiles and everyone inevitably ends up in a big mess. Spider McGlurk and his gang are not the biggest threat to the peace at Secret Valley. Secret Valley is also under threat of closure by the local council, and property developer William Whopper (also known as 'WW') played by

Hugh Keays-Byrne Hugh Keays-Byrne (18 May 1947 – 2 December 2020) was a British-Australian actor and film director. A former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he was best known for playing the main antagonist in two films from the ''Mad Max'' franchise ...

. It was produced by

Roger Mirams Roger Eastgate Holden Mirams (16 April 1918 – 26 February 2004) was a New Zealand-born film producer and director, whose career extended over 60 years. Mirams co-directed '' Broken Barrier'', the only local dramatic feature film made in New Zeal ...

who also produced the series '' Professor Poopsnagle's Steam Zeppelin'' in 1986, amongst other programs and series. The 1980 pilot was directed by

Howard Rubie Howard William Rubie (27 August 1938 – July 2011) was an Australian director. Born in Sydney, he worked extensively in film and television, and was awarded for his services an Emmy and was nominated for an Australian Film Institute Awards, ...

and written by

Terry Bourke Terry Christopher Bourke (19 April 1940 – 29 June 2002) was an Australian journalist, screenwriter, producer and director. He worked as a show business journalist and production assistant in Hong Kong for a number of years before returning t ...

.Ed. Scott Murray, ''Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995'', Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p137

International screenings

The series was aired in New Zealand, Spain, Greece, Italy, the UK on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

in the 1980s, and the Netherlands in 1982/1983 by

KRO KRO, or (Catholic Radio Broadcasting), was a Dutch public broadcasting organization founded on 23 April 1925. Broadly Catholic in its spiritual outlook, KRO broadcast the bulk of its television output on the NPO 1 channel. KRO was also responsi ...

television. It was also broadcast by the Dutch TV station

Kindernet Kindernet (as Nickelodeon Kindernet from 2011 to 2013) was a Dutch television network that aired classic and modern children's television series from the 1980s onward. Two iterations of the network have been broadcast; the original lasted from 1 ...

in 1989/1990. It was also aired in South Africa in 1983 on the state-owned SABC and translated in Quebecois French for the state-owned francophone branch of the CBC.

Production

* This program was a co-production between Australia, Spain and France (

Grundy Organisation Reg Grundy Organisation (founded as Reg Grundy Enterprises, later known as both Reg Grundy Productions and Grundy Television and known informally as Grundy's) was an Australian-based multinational mass media company, primarily involved in tele ...

, TVE and Telecip). * Some of the child actors in this show were real-life siblings – Beth, Miles and

Simone Buchanan Simone Louise Buchanan is an Australian film and television actress, and television director. She is best known for her television roles as Debbie Kelly in the situation comedy '' Hey Dad..!'' and Samantha Fitzgerald in the soap opera '' Neighb ...

. * The series was at

Smokey Dawson Smoky Dawson AM, MBE (19 March 191313 February 2008), born as Herbert Henry Brown, was an Australian Country, Western and folk performer, radio star, entertainer, and icon. He was widely touted as Australia's first singing cowboy complete wi ...

's ranch in the Sydney suburb of

Terrey Hills Terrey Hills is a suburb of Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 25 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. It is part of the Forest District and ...

and also at the theme park

El Caballo Blanco El Caballo Blanco may refer to: * El Caballo Blanco, Sydney * El Caballo Blanco, Wooroloo El Caballo Blanco (Spanish for The White Horse) was the name for an equine Andalusian theme park and resort that operated in the north-eastern Perth subur ...

. Roger Mirams originally intended to make a series called ''The Ghost Town Gang'' at Smoky Dawson's ranch at Ingleside, which had been used to film ''Luke's Kingdom'' and ''Lost Islands''. However bushfires went through it, and there was no ghost town so the show became ''Secret Valley''. Thirteen days after the fire, filming started again. Producer Mirams says the overall theme of Secret Valley is depicted through kids doing their own thing in what usually is an adult world.

The theme song

The theme song "My Secret Valley" was sung to the tune of "

Waltzing Matilda "Waltzing Matilda" is a song developed in the Australian style of poetry and folk music called a bush ballad. It has been described as the country's "unofficial national anthem". The title was Australian slang for travelling on foot (waltzing) ...

" and composed by Bob Young, with lyrics by series producer Roger Mirams (credited as David Phillips). ''I had a dream I could ride across the mountaintops'' ''Ride on the waves where the sea turns blue'' ''Gum trees, some trees rise until they touch the sky'' ''I know a place where it all comes true'' Chorus: ''I know a valley, I know a valley'' '' My Secret Valley the world has to see'' ''One place for children, welcome from around the world'' ''Please come and share Secret Valley with me'' Verse ''Paris, London, Montreal and Amsterdam'' ''So many friends that we want to know'' ''From the hills of Spain to the city streets of Germany'' ''I know a place where we all can go'' Repeat chorus

Episodes

1. Big plans 2. Secret weapon 3. Battle stations 4. The horse who could dance 5. The junkman 6. The ghost of Secret Valley 7. Save the bunyip 8. The monster 9. The marvelous magnetising machine 10. The runaway 11. Double trouble 12. The great mini bike race 13. Spanish gold 14. I spy 15. Secret Valley Bush Fire 16. Super scoop 17. Spider McGlurk Meets His Match 18. The Trojan Bull 19. A sticky situation 20. The worm turns 21. Lost in the bush 22. The pony express 23. The Bildara Bank Bust 24. The oily bird catches the worm 25. The secret valley goes to town 26. End of the rainbow

References

iF magazine online
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External links

*
IMDB listing for Secret Valley

Secret Valley at the National Film and Sound Archive
{{Authority control Australian children's television series 1980s Australian television series Television series produced by The Reg Grundy Organisation Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming English-language television shows