''The Lost Islands'' is an Australian television series which first aired in Australia on

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

. It later screened around the world, including the United Kingdom, France, West Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Greece (and various other parts of Europe), as well as Israel, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Canada and the United States.

Plot

A hurricane nearly sinks the ''United World'', a sailing ship holding 40 teenagers from all around the world. Most of them flee the ship in lifeboats, but the evacuating children are not counted, and five are left behind. The storm blows the battered ship across a reef into the lagoon of an uncharted island. The island, Tambu, is ruled by a supposedly 200-year-old immortal tyrant called "Q", who came to the island on one of several ships originally bound for New Holland. In the centre of the island is a valley in which the descendants of the original ship still live, in the manner of an 18th-century colonial community. Adjacent to Tambu is a smaller island, Malo, which is a barren wasteland. It is noteworthy because of a lagoon where prisoners are forced to dive for a "blue weed" which, according to the people of Tambu, is refined into a powder which the Q uses to extend his life. The five children befriend a local family, the Quinns, who help them remain hidden on the island in a swamp avoided by locals because it is, according to local myth, inhabited by the ghosts of the dead. Most of the episode storylines pit the children against the Q, who fears their knowledge of the outside world is a threat to his dominion of Tambu. In the final episode, the children do not escape the lost islands but instead remain stranded. As the end credits begin, they are seen celebrating the liberation of the village from the tyrant "Q", who has retreated into exile on the far tip of the island, plotting his revenge.

Production history

Unlike most Australian television series of the time, which were either entirely produced by a TV network, or a TV network in association with a local production company, ''The Lost Islands'' was a co-production between the Australian

Network 10 Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

and a US studio,

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. Both have been owned by

Paramount Global Paramount Global (doing business as Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned and operated by National Amusements (79.4%) and headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York. I ...

since 2019. Three early episodes were edited together to make a 35mm feature film released in Australia in December 1975.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, p 296

Cast

Protagonists

* Tony Hughes as Tony, an Australian and orphan. * Jane Vallis as Anna, a German. * Robert Edgington as David, an American. * Amanda Ma as Su Yin, a Chinese. * Chris Benaud as Mark, a British.

The People of Tambu/The "Q-People"

Margaret Nelson Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular through ...

as Helen Margaret Quinn. * Rodney Bell as Aaron James Quinn, Helen's younger brother. *

Michael Howard Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne (born Michael Hecht; 7 July 1941) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005. He previously held cabinet posi ...

as Jason Quinn, Helen's older brother. *

Ron Haddrick Ronald Norman Haddrick (9 April 1929 – 11 February 2020) was an Australian actor, cricketer, narrator and presenter. In 2012, he received the Actors Equity Lifetime Achievement Award for his long and distinguished career in media, spanning s ...

as The Q, the tyrant of Tambu. *

Ric Hutton Ric Hutton (1926–1996) was an Australian actor. He worked in Britain, Australia and the United States of America. He was best known in Australia as the voice of "Black Jack Seager" in the hit radio series ''The Castlereagh Line'' written by Ros ...

as Rufus Quad, Q's prime minister. *

Willie Fennell William John Fennell (20 January 1920 – 9 September 1992) was an Australian radio, television (serials and mini-series), stage and film actor, comedian, producer, radio scriptwriter and writer who appeared in many Australian television s ...

as Jeremiah Quizzel, a friend of the Quinns and Q's personal servant. *

Cornelia Frances Cornelia Frances Zulver, OAM (7 April 1941 – 28 May 2018), credited professionally as Cornelia Frances, was an English-Australian actress. After starting her career in small cameos in films in her native England, she became best known for her ...

as Elizabeth Quinn, Helen's mother. * Don Pascoe as Adam Quinn, Helen's father. *

Frank Gallacher Frank Gallacher (7 April 1943 – 23 February 2009) was a Scottish-Australian actor. Gallacher was born in Glasgow in 1943. In 1962, aged 19, he was working in London when his parents and younger sister decided to emigrate to Australia. Gallach ...

and

Ron Blanchard Ronald Blanchard (born 1945) is an Australian stage, television and film actor. He is best known as a character actor, and for his starring roles in five popular children's television series '' Breakfast-a-Go-Go'', ''The Lost Islands'', '' Alex ...

as Quig and Quell, Quad's henchmen. * Harry Lawrence as the Hermit, an escaped prisoner from Malo and a former friend of Adam Quinn. * Harold Hopkins as Thomas Quick, one of Q's guards who befriends the children after Su Yin saves his life. *

Wallas Eaton Wallas Eaton (18 February 1917 – 3 November 1995), sometimes credited as Wallace Eaton or Wallis Eaton, was an English film, radio, television and theatre actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his voice roles between 1949 and 1960 in t ...

as school headmaster Quilter. * Kent Strickland as Quimby, the village brat. * Dianne Berryman as Bess, the Q's ward who befriends Tony.

Modern World people

* Peter Adams as Jimmy Williams, a pilot who was stranded on Tambu when his plane crashed in episode 8. *

Peter Sumner Peter Malcolm Sumner-Potts (29 January 1942 – 22 November 2016), professionally known as Peter Sumner, was an Australian actor, director, and writer. He had a long career in theatre, television, and film. Career His credits include parts in su ...

as Christian Dobler, a German sailor and school teacher who is stranded on Tambu in episode 16 and also appears in episode 17.

DVD releases

The Lost Islands was released on DVD by the French company Les Héros de la Lucarne (as ''L'ile Perdue'' in both French and English) and by the German company PIDAX Film (as ''Die verlorenen Inseln'' in both German and English).

References

External links

*
''The Lost Islands'' at Nostalgia Central

''The Lost Islands'' on The Australian television information archive''The Lost Islands''
at Oz Movies {{DEFAULTSORT:Lost Islands Network 10 original programming Australian children's television series Fictional islands 1976 Australian television series debuts 1976 Australian television series endings Television series about teenagers Television series by CBS Studios Television shows set in Oceania