Simon Townsend's Wonder World
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''Simon Townsend's Wonder World!'' was an Australian children's television show that aired on Network Ten from 1979 until 1987. It was created and hosted by journalist
Simon Townsend Simon Townsend (born 27 November 1945) is an Australian journalist who became a popular television host during the 1980s. He is now retired. Vietnam War conscientious objector In the mid-1960s whilst living in Woy Woy and working as a colum ...
. In 1993, the show was relaunched on the Nine network as ''Wonder World!'', hosted by Pascall Fox.p7


Format

Each episode of ''Simon Townsend's Wonder World!'' featured an introduction by Townsend as the studio host, accompanied by his pet and companion
bloodhound The bloodhound is a large scent hound, originally bred for hunting deer, wild boar and, since the Middle Ages, for tracking people. Believed to be descended from hounds once kept at the Abbey of Saint-Hubert, Belgium, in French it is called, ...
Woodrow (Woodrow died in 1986 and was replaced at first with a
sulphur-crested cockatoo The sulphur-crested cockatoo (''Cacatua galerita'') is a relatively large white cockatoo found in wooded habitats in Australia, New Guinea, and some of the islands of Indonesia. They can be locally very numerous, leading to them sometimes being ...
and then with a baby Labrador retriever. A competition was run amongst the viewers to name the new puppy and as Townsend had recently won a
Logie award The Logie Awards (officially the TV Week Logie Awards; colloquially known as The Logies) is an annual gathering to celebrate Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The first ceremony was held in 1959 as the ...
, the puppy was named Logie). Townsend would then present four individual magazine-style stories, each presented by a different reporter. The stories covered many subjects - sometimes serious, sometimes funny, always entertaining. The production team included an Executive Producer (for most of the show’s run, this was Executive Producer Harvey Shore), plus as Associate Producer, a Production Assistant, two researchers, two cinematographers, two sound recordists, four reporters and four editors. This team produced the equivalent of one average feature film every week – about eighty minutes of screen time - shot on 16mm reversal film. Stories were not scripted; each one relying upon the researcher’s report, the producer’s briefing, and the ingenuity of the reporter and the two-person crew. Every show also contained a viewer segment, and a music segment – often produced by the program itself. For instance ''Simon Townsend's Wonder World!'' made the first ever music video to feature Australian band INXS. During the course of the series, Townsend and his reporters travelled all over Australia and to many and varied locations in America, the UK,
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,
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,
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,
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, Fiji,
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, and other places in the
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. But Simon Townsend always insisted that Wonder World stories should generally be timeless and placeless, so - although produced in Sydney - they would always appeal to “Tom in Perth”. Simon Townsend would end every show with the same signature farewell – "And remember, the world really is wonderful!"


History

The program was conceived by Townsend in the early 1970s and was designed to be a fast-moving daily dose of informed entertainment for children, as well as be suitable for and attractive to older teens and adults. Both the
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and the
Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia ...
s helped Townsend make pilots for his concept, but neither network bought the series. However, in 1979 when the
Australian Broadcasting Tribunal The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is an Australian government statutory authority within the Communications portfolio. ACMA was formed on 1 July 2005 with the merger of the Australian Broadcasting Authority and the Austr ...
introduced a compulsory 'C' classification (making it a requirement for networks to broadcast only 'C' classified shows between 4pm and 5pm weekdays), Townsend saw the potential and offered the
Ten Network 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 fi ...
, which was searching for a suitable children's program at the time, the opportunity to produce his show. The first episode of ''Simon Townsend's Wonder World!'' went to air on 3 September 1979. At first the show was telecast only in the East Coast capital cities of Sydney,
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
and
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
. But in early 1980, after Harvey Shore joined the show as Executive Producer and used his extensive media contacts and movie publicity experience to generate regular publicity and create massive public awareness of the show among all network States, the ratings shot up and other capital cities and regional stations began signing up for the show. By the end of 1980 the show was screening in every TV broadcast region throughout Australia. Soon it became the top-rating program on the Ten Network outside prime time – and sometimes its ratings were better than prime-time programs. For many years the Ten Network ran two episodes of ''Simon Townsend's Wonder World'' every weekday because of its ratings power – a repeat show at 4pm followed by a new show at 4.30pm. After more than 2,000 episodes, the show ended in 1987.


''Wonder World!''

Six years later, in 1993, the Nine Network decided to re-launch Simon's show with a new host Pascall Fox. The title was shortened to ''Wonder World!'', and again ran every weekday afternoon on Nine for the next three years. It also used the same theme music as the original ''Simon Townsend's Wonder World!'' This version was sung by James Morley. At the time, Morley was the Bass Player for "The Angels". Simon Townsend is still the rights holder to the theme music and the program format.


Theme music

Simon Townsend was originally keen to use the 1976 Bill Danoff song '' Afternoon Delight'' as the theme song for his afternoon TV show. In fact, this song was used as the opener when the show first went to air. However, when the meaning of the lyrics was pointed out to him, Townsend decided to commission a new and original theme song clearly linked to the eponymous host of the show. As a consequence, Townsend hired Australian songwriter/producer Chris Pelcer to write a theme song for ''Simon Townsend's Wonder World!''.
John St Peeters John St Peeters (born Johnny Lo Piccolo, 3 October 1956) is an Australian musician, TV presenter and songwriter. His top 40 hits on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart are "Deep Inside of Me" (July 1978) and "So Many Ways" (April 1979). St ...
sang this original theme. It was arranged and produced by Mike Harvey at EMI Studios Sydney in 1979, and released as a single by RCA that same year. It was simply titled "Wonder World!" on the record sleeve. In 1983, Simon decided to re-record this theme song. John St Peeters was by then working in the US, and unavailable; so Simon cast around for a new voice and eventually settled on up-and-coming female singer, Naomi Louise Warne, who went on to achieve international fame as a blues singer, composer and instrumentalist. Warne's voice and style just edged out Edith Bliss, a reporter on ''Simon Townsend's Wonder World!'' who had released her own songs, possessed a good voice, and was keen to get the gig. Naomi Warne's version of the theme was recorded in 1983 and again released on a record, and was used on the TV show every weekday afternoon for one season, then a new, upbeat re-recording by John St Peeters was used until Simon's show ended in 1987.


Awards and accolades

''Simon Townsend's Wonder World!'' won many awards, including five ''LOGIE Awards'', a ''TV Star Award'' and many other trophies, certificates of commendation and popularity prizes. In 1983, Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke presented Simon Townsend with a special – ''Prime Minister's Award'' trophy, commemorating the milestone of broadcasting the One Thousandth Episode of ''Simon Townsend's Wonder World!'' (as recorded in ''
TV Week ''TV Week'' is a weekly Australian magazine that provides television program listings information and highlights, as well as television-related news. Content ranges from previews for upcoming storylines of popular television programs, particu ...
'', issue of 9 June 1983.) The show still remains the highest rating children's program in Australian TV history. Townsend was always a great supporter of new Australian talents. Simon's company Townsend Entertainments gave many people their first opportunity to prove themselves in the entertainment business and was the first production company in Australia to give a woman, Bronwyn Nicholas, a full-time position as a cinematographer. Another ''Wonder World!'' cinematographer
Andrew Lesnie Andrew Lesnie ACS ASC (1 January 1956 – 27 April 2015) was an Australian cinematographer. He was best known as the cinematographer for ''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and its prequel ''The Hobbit'' trilogy (2012–2014), bo ...
went on to win an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for his film work. Many others who later became well known in the film and TV industry got their first break thanks to ''Simon Townsend's Wonder World!''. The program's alumni include: Jonathan Coleman, who became a huge star in both Australia and UK, Angela Catterns, who became a radio star, and Edith Bliss, who starred in both advertising and music. Philip Tanner and Maurice Parker became top producers, while Tanner and Brett Clements later made board games after being inspired by a ''Wonder World!'' story on ''Crown & Andrews''. Researcher Kristine Wyld went on to write and produce many TV drama series, and researcher Fiona Baker created many hit TV shows (like ''RPA'') for the Nine Network and later for other TV networks, after getting her first job as a researcher on ''Wonder World!'' straight out of university.


Reporters

The star reporters on ''Simon Townsend's Wonder World!'', during its seven years on air, included: * Jonathan Coleman * Angela Catterns * Hugh Piper * Sandy Mauger * Edith Bliss * Sheridan Jobbins *
Alita Fahey Alita Fahey is an Australian former TV actress and reporter who appeared on '' Simon Townsend's Wonder World'' (Network 10), ''The Ossie Ostrich Video Show'' (Nine network) and the children's show ''Antenna'' (ABC). She also had roles on ''The R ...
* Maurice Parker * Phillip Tanner *
Hugh Munro Sir Hugh Thomas Munro, 4th Baronet (16 October 1856 – 19 March 1919), was a British mountaineer best known for his list of mountains in Scotland over 3,000 feet (914.4 m), known as Munros. Born in London, Munro was the fifth child of ...
* Brett Clements * Wednesday Kennedy *
Adam Bowen Adam Bowen (born 1974/1975) is an American businessman, and the co-founder (with James Monsees) and currently advisor at Juul Labs, an electronic cigarette company. Bowen earned a BA in physics from Pomona College, followed by an MS in product d ...
* Carolyn Mee * Malinda Rutter


''Wonder World!''

In 1992, two of Simon Townsend's former reporters Phillip Tanner and Brett Clements purchased a license from Simon to produce a new version of ‘’Simon Townsend's Wonder World'' and sold the new version to the Nine Network, which re-launched the show. The successor's new name was shortened to ''Wonder World!''. The "Wonder World!" theme song written for the show at Simon Townsend's request by Australian songwriter/producer
Chris Pelcer Chris Pelcer is an Australian musician, songwriter, arranger, and record producer who lives in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. He was born in Sydney, Australia, and grew up in Moruya, on the south coast of New South Wales. After high sch ...
, remained the show's theme until its final episode. Harvey Shore was hired to train new reporters and produce the show once again, this time for the Nine Network. The hosts and reporters of this new series were: * Pascall Fox (famous for her brightly coloured hair, often red or orange. She was later one of the presenters of the Australian version of '' Ground Force'' in the early 2000s, and on the Australian version of the show ''
Your Life on the Lawn ''Your Life on the Lawn'' is an Australian lifestyle television program, which screened on the Seven Network in 2003. The series transforms the homes and lives of those who have found themselves in mess and clutter. The series featured Pascall F ...
'' 2003–2004.) * Jodie Young (who went on to star in ''Sex/Life'', and in 1998 posed nude for ''
Australian Playboy ''Australian Playboy'' was an Australian imprint of ''Playboy'' magazine, running between 1979 and 2000, during which time 252 issues were published. Content In 1979 Kerry Packer's ACP Magazines secured the Australian rights to ''Playboy'' ma ...
'') * Nick Penn *
Tony Johnston Tony Johnston (born 9 April 1970) is an Australian television presenter, producer and radio broadcaster. Tony began his career in 1986, as a presenter on the music video show ''Saturday Jukebox'' on the Seven Network in Australia. In 1987, he ...
(who went on to produce many TV shows and to work overseas.) Later reporters included: *
Catriona Rowntree Catriona Rowntree (born 19 July 1971) is an Australian television presenter. Rowntree is currently a presenter on the Nine Network's '' Getaway'' program. Career Rowntree studied journalism at Macleay College in Sydney, after working as a r ...
(who became a major star of the Nine Network in ''Getaway'' and other series.) * Dave Kelly (who became a film editor and producer) *
Sonia Kruger Sonia Melissa Kruger (born 28 August 1965) is an Australian television presenter and media personality, who has been a prominent figure in the media for over 20 years. Kruger is currently the host of ''Big Brother Australia'' and a presenter on ...
(who became a star of the Seven network) Appearances on the show: * Bill Bovill was "Today's Poet" and later referred to it on his blog. Nine's ''Wonder World!'' began production in 1993, and rated well in its three-year run.


See also

* List of Australian television series


References

{{Reflist


External links


Simon Townsend's Wonder World at the National Film and Sound ArchiveSimon Townsend's Journalism Website
Australian children's television series Network 10 original programming Nine Network original programming 1979 Australian television series debuts 1986 Australian television series endings 1993 Australian television series debuts 1995 Australian television series endings