''Don't Blame Me'' is an Australian children's television program. In the United Kingdom, the show is known as ''Don't Blame the Koalas''. The series was originally aired on the

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

and is also currently shown on

ABC3 ABC Entertains is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was launched on 4 December 2009 as a children's channel called ABC3. It was rebranded on 19 September 2016 to ABC ME. It rebra ...

(the latter channel airing under the UK title). For his role in the show, actor Liam Hess won the Young Actor award from the 2003

Australian Film Institute The Australian Film Institute (AFI) was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Cinema of Australia, Australian film indu ...

Awards.

Series overview

The show is set in Wallaby Park, an Australian

wildlife park A safari park, sometimes known as a wildlife park, is a zoo-like commercial drive-in tourist attraction where visitors can drive their own vehicles or ride in vehicles provided by the facility to observe freely roaming animals. A safari park ...

in the Ku-ring-gai National Park where the King family arrive from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

to live with their Australian relatives after going bankrupt. Before they arrive they believe they have inherited a large cattle ranch, but on arrival are disappointed to meet a largely unprofitable, slightly run down wildlife park. Most of the comedy in the series is slightly surreal in a

Round the Twist ''Round the Twist'' is an Australian children's comedy drama television series which follows the supernatural adventures of the Twist family, who leave their conventional residence to live in a lighthouse, in the fictional coastal town of Port ...

Driven Crazy ''Driven Crazy'' is an Australian children's television series, based on the short stories by author Paul Jennings. It first aired in 1998 on Network Ten, and was the second television series based on his works. Plot Driven Crazy follows the ...

style way. Special effects and sounds are used to convey the characters' actions mixed in with slightly speeded up footage when walking. Many of the characters frequently

break the fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th centu ...

. Having to do whatever means to keep the wildlife park up to building code standards for visitor's, Vinnie – played by Anh Do – has a dark past that he must call upon his old friends still involved in the Golden Triangle to save the day.

Cast

* Liam Hess as Gregory King * Hollie Chapman as Jemma King * Basia A'Hern as Kate King * Shaun Loseby as Mark King *

Henry Nixon Henry Nixon is an Australian actor. His notable roles include, '' Don't Blame the Koalas'' as Chris King and '' All Saints'' as Sterling 'Sterlo' McCormack. Early life Nixon was born at St Margaret's Hospital in the inner-Sydney suburb of ...

as Chris King * Fiona Terry as Gabrielle King *

Anh Do Anh Do (born 2 June 1977) is a Vietnamese Australian, Vietnamese-born Australian author, actor, comedian, and painter. He has appeared on Australian TV shows such as ''Thank God You're Here'' and ''Good News Week'', and was runner-up on ''Danci ...

as Vinnie *

Wendy Playfair Wendy Playfair (born 28 August 1926) is an Australian radio, television and film character actress, best known for her roles in television serials. Playfair started her career in radio serials, but became best known for her brief stint in TV seri ...

as Mrs. Smythe *

Rhys Wakefield Rhys Wakefield is an Australian actor and director, known for his roles in Australian TV series ''Home and Away'', the feature film ''The Black Balloon'' (2008) and in season 3 of HBO's ''True Detective'' in 2019. Wakefield's debut feature f ...

as Brad * Sophie Luck *

Celia Ireland Celia Ireland (born 16 May 1966) is an Australian actress. She is best known for her role as Regina Butcher on the television series '' All Saints'' and her Logie award winning role as Liz Birdsworth on the prison drama series '' Wentworth''. ...

as Schoolteacher *

Roy Billing Roy Harwood Billing (born 1947) is a New Zealand television actor, now based on Waiheke Island, New Zealand. He was brought up in Ruawai, Northland Region, Northland, New Zealand. Billing spent almost three decades living and working in Austral ...

as Principal *

Brittany Byrnes Brittany Anne Byrnes (born 31 July 1987) is an Australian actress. Her most notable acting role has been Charlotte Watsford in '' H2O: Just Add Water''. Personal life Byrnes was born in Australia and trained in all aspects of dance at the Br ...

as Actress #3 *

Carole Skinner Carole Skinner (born 8 May 1944) is an Australian retired actress, particularly known for her performances in theatre and television, although she has had small parts in films. She is perhaps best known internationally for her soap opera role's ...

as Weird Wanda *

Laurie Foell Laurie Foell (born Laurence Foel on 10 February 1968) is an Australian actress. She is best known for her portrayal of both Angela "Angie" Russell and her cousin Josie, in the successful Australian television soap opera ''Home and Away''. Foe ...

as Miss Crowley

Episodes

Season 1

Production

Filming

Much of the filming for Don't Blame the Koalas was done on location in various parts of the Thirty Mile Zone around Los Angeles. Unlike ''

Malcolm in the Middle ''Malcolm in the Middle'' is an American television sitcom created by Linwood Boomer for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 9, 2000, and ended on May 14, 2006, after seven seasons consisting of 151 episodes. The ...

'', studio filming for ''Don't Blame the Koalas'' took place on Stage 21 at Nine Network Australia, 1 Denison Street, North Sydney. Like ''

'', hallmarks of the series' filming and structure, many of which heavily influenced later programs, included the following: * A 1 and a half second

whip pan A whip pan is a type of pan shot in which the camera pans so quickly that the picture blurs into indistinct streaks. It is commonly used as a transition between shots, and can indicate the passage of time or a frenetic pace of action. Much like t ...

as a transition from one scene to another. * Frequent pieces to camera delivered by the King family.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Australian children's television series Children's comedy television series Nine Network original programming 2002 Australian television series debuts 2003 Australian television series endings Television series by Endemol Shine Australia Television shows set in Sydney Television series about animals