''Five Times Dizzy'' is a children's novel by

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n author

Nadia Wheatley Nadia Wheatley is an Australian writer whose work includes picture books, novels, biography and history. Perhaps best known for her classic picture book ''My Place'' (illustrated by Donna Rawlins), the author's biography of Charmian Clift was ...

It was first published in 1982. In 1986 it became an

n children's television series.

Plot summary

''Five Times Dizzy'' is about the comedy and drama of a

Greek Australian Greek Australians ( el, Ελληνοαυστραλοί, ) are Australians of Greek ancestry. Greek Australians are one of the largest groups within the global Greek diaspora. As per the 2021 census, 424,750 people stated that they had Greek an ...

family in a multi-cultural neighbourhood of inner-city

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. To help her

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

grandmother feel more at home, Mareka comes up with a brilliant plan to give her a pet

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

Television adaptation

The mini-series ''Five Times Dizzy'' first screened on the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, 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 five main free-to-air television netw ...

in 1986. The series was filmed on location in the inner-city suburb of Newtown and is notable for an acting role by

Mary Kostakidis Mary Kostakidis (born 1954) is an Australian journalist. She is the former weeknight '' SBS World News Australia'' presenter and was the face of SBS over two decades. Early life She was born in Thessaloniki, Greece and migrated to Australia ...

, who went on to become a longtime newsreader on SBS. It was also where John Doyle and Greig Pickhaver first met, the pair going on to establish their longstanding

Roy & HG Roy and HG are an Australian comedy duo, comprising Greig Pickhaver in the role of "H. G. Nelson" and John Doyle as "'Rampaging' Roy Slaven". Their act is an affectionate but irreverent parody of Australia's obsession with sport. Their charac ...

partnership.The Odd Couple
''

Australian Story ''Australian Story'' is a national weekly current affairs and documentary style television series which is broadcast on ABC Television. It is produced specifically by the ABC News and Current Affairs Department. The program first aired on 29 ...

'' 18 May 2020

Cast

Rebekah Elmaloglou Rebekah Sophie Elmaloglou (born 23 January 1974) is an Australian actress, known for her roles as teenage tearaway Sophie Simpson on ''Home and Away'' and Terese Willis on ''Neighbours''. She also made guest appearances in ''E Street (television ...

as Mareka Nikakis *

as Roula Nikakis * Stavros Economidis as Georgio Nikakis * Dominic Elmaloglou as Costa * Helen Kambos as Yaya (Grandma) *

Jane Clifton Jane Clifton (born 10 April 1949) is a Gibraltar-born Australian actress, singer, writer and voice artist. She is best known for her role in TV serial ''Prisoner'' as tough prison bookie Margo Gaffney. As a singer, she had a stint with Jo Jo ...

as Mrs Wilson * Jim Holt as Brian Brooking *

Joanne Samuel Joanne Samuel (born 5 August 1957) is an Australian film and television actress, who is best known for her role as the screen wife of Mel Gibson's title character in the 1979 film ''Mad Max''. Biography and career Samuel was born in Camperdow ...

as Chris Booking *

Ray Meagher Raymond Francis Meagher (born 4 July 1944) is an Australian actor, who has appeared in Australian film and television since the mid-1970s. He is notable as the longest continuing performer in an Australian television role, portraying Alf Stewa ...

Joseph and Matthew Homshaw Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

as the Gallaghers * John Doyle * Greig Pickhaver

Awards and nominations

New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, t ...

Special Children's Book Award (1983) *Highly Commended - CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers (1983) *Honorary Diploma -

International Board on Books for Young People The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) is an international non-profit organization committed to bringing books and children together. The headquarters of the IBBY are located in Basel, Switzerland. IBBY history In 1952, Jella Lepm ...

(1983) *

AWGIE Awards The AWGIE Awards is an annual awards ceremony conducted by the Australian Writers' Guild, for excellence in screen, television, stage and radio writing. The awards began in 1967. The awards are judged by over 50 writers, most of whom are previou ...

for Best Adaptation, Children's Television Drama (for the television mini-series) (1987)

References

External links