''The Coral Island'' is a children's television series, adapted from the 19th-century novel The Coral Island by Scottish author

R. M. Ballantyne Robert Michael Ballantyne (24 April 1825 – 8 February 1894) was a Scottish author of juvenile fiction, who wrote more than a hundred books. He was also an accomplished artist: he exhibited some of his water-colours at the Royal Scottish Acade ...

. The series of 4 episodes was a joint production of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Thames Television. It was filmed on location in the western Samoan village of

Salamumu Salamumu is a village on the south west coast of Upolu island in Samoa. The village has two settlements, Salamumu Uta (population 338) and Salamumu Tai (population 33). The village's name is derived from the words ''sala'' (fire) and ''mumu'' (pun ...

and then on the Whitsunday Islands off the Queensland coast in 1981. The series was first broadcast in Australia on ABC-TV on 6 January 1983.

Plot

The story, set in 1840, centers on 3 boys from Australia and their struggle for survival when they are shipwrecked on a remote Pacific island. Jack (played by Scott McGregor), Peterkin (played by

Nicholas Bond-Owen Nicholas Bond-Owen (born 13 November 1968) (sometimes billed as Nick or Nicholas Owen) is a child actor of the 1970s and 1980s best known for playing Tristram Fourmile in all five series of the popular comedy ''George and Mildred'' and in the fi ...

) and Ralph (played by Richard Gibson) must learn to survive on their own on the island, despite their very different characters and backgrounds. After befriending two natives on the island, they are rescued by an English missionary, and the three boys return to Australia.

Cast

as Peterkin * Richard Gibson as Ralph * Scott McGregor as Jack * Gerard Kennedy as Bloody Bill * Brian McDermott as Captain Carver * Uelese Petaia as Tararo * Pele Teuila as Avatea *

Peter Collingwood Peter Trevor Collingwood (6 May 1920 – 23 September 2016) was an English-born actor who appeared in theatre roles, films, miniseries and serials from 1938 to 2003 in his native England and Australia. Collingwood was known for his portrayal ...

as Reverend McNab * Charles 'Bud' Tingwell as Sir Charles Rover * Lyn James as Lady Rover * Danny Adcock as Ted Salter

References

External links

''The Coral Island''
at IMDb {{DEFAULTSORT:Coral Island, The Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming 1983 Australian television series debuts Australian children's television series 1980s Australian drama television series ITV children's television shows Television shows produced by Thames Television English-language television shows