Secret Valley was an
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
n children's television adventure series from 1984 made by the
Grundy OrganisationThe Reg Grundy Organisation was an Australian television production company founded in 1959 by Reg Grundy . It has since branched out into Europe and the USA. The company first produced game shows, before branching into soap operas in 1973...
and first shown on the
Australian Broadcasting CorporationThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC", is Australia's national public broadcaster. With a total budget of AUD$1.13 Billion annually, the corporation provides television, radio, online and mobile services throughout metropolitan and regional Australia, as well as...
. The concept was developed from a television movie of the same name which was produced since 1980 by the same company.
Secret Valley was a fictitious children's holiday camp which had been transformed from a run down ghost town into a resort. The children who worked and visited the camp often found themselves in battle against a gang of "bad" kids - Spider McGlurk and his gang from "Spider Cave".
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Secret Valley was an
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
n children's television adventure series from 1984 made by the
Grundy OrganisationThe Reg Grundy Organisation was an Australian television production company founded in 1959 by Reg Grundy . It has since branched out into Europe and the USA. The company first produced game shows, before branching into soap operas in 1973...
and first shown on the
Australian Broadcasting CorporationThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC", is Australia's national public broadcaster. With a total budget of AUD$1.13 Billion annually, the corporation provides television, radio, online and mobile services throughout metropolitan and regional Australia, as well as...
. The concept was developed from a television movie of the same name which was produced since 1980 by the same company.
Secret Valley was a fictitious children's holiday camp which had been transformed from a run down ghost town into a resort. The children who worked and visited the camp often found themselves in battle against a gang of "bad" kids - Spider McGlurk and his gang from "Spider Cave". These battles usually featured flour bombs and other food related missiles and everyone inevitably ended up in a big mess.
Spider McGlurk and his gang were not the biggest threat to the peace at Secret Valley. Secret Valley was also under threat of closure by the local council, and property developer William Whopper (also known as 'WW') played by
Hugh Keays-ByrneHugh Keays-Byrne is an Australian character actor who mainly does film and television work. He is well-known in Australia as a television and film actor. Outside of Australia, he is best known for his role as a gang leader in the late 1970s Mad Max and, in the 2000s, for his role in the science...
.
Produced by the late
Roger MiramsRoger Eastgate Holden Mirams was a New Zealand film director, well known for the children's television series he produced throughout his career which extended over 70 years...
who also produced
Professor Poopsnagle's Steam ZeppelinProfessor Poopsnagle's Steam Zeppelin was an Australian children's television series and a spin-off from Secret Valley. It was first aired 1986 in Australia and also later in Finland , Spain , Greece , Netherlands , France and Vietnam...
amongst other programs and series.
Trivia
- This tv programme was a co-production between Australia, Spain and France (Grundy, TVE and Telecip).
- Some of the child actors in this show were actually real-life siblings - Beth
Beth Buchanan is an Australian actress. She is best known for the television roles of Gemma Ramsay in Neighbours, in the early '90s, and Susan Croydon in Blue Heelers from 1994. She is also a long-standing member of the Ranters Theatre company.-Early life:Buchanan is the daughter of musician Tony...
, Miles and Simone BuchananSimone Louise Buchanan is an Australian actress best known her television roles as Samantha Fitzgerald in the soap opera Neighbours, and Debbie Kelly in the situation comedy Hey Dad..!...
.
- The series was at Smokey Dawson's ranch http://www.australianbiography.gov.au/dawson/interview11.html in Terry Hills, New South Wales
New South Wales is Australia's most populous state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria, south of Queensland and east of South Australia...
and also at El Caballo BlancoEl Caballo Blanco was a theme park that operated at Catherine Field on the outskirts of Sydney. Its main attraction was its Andalusian dancing stallions, but the park also featured miniature Fallabella horses, and a number of non-equestrian related amusements such as waterslides, train rides, and...
.
- The 1986 spin-off Professor Poopsnagle's Steam Zeppelin
Professor Poopsnagle's Steam Zeppelin was an Australian children's television series and a spin-off from Secret Valley. It was first aired 1986 in Australia and also later in Finland , Spain , Greece , Netherlands , France and Vietnam...
was very popular in the UK and was shown three times between 1987 and 1998.
The theme song
The theme song was sung to the tune of "
Waltzing Matilda"Waltzing Matilda" is Australia's most widely known bush ballad, a country folk song, and has been referred to as "the unofficial national anthem of Australia"....
"
I had dream I could ride across the mountaintops
Ride on the waves where the sea turns blue
Gum trees, gum trees rise until they touch the sky
I know a place where it all comes true
Chorus:
I know a valley, I know a valley
My Secret Valley the world has to see
One place for children, welcome from around the world
Please come and share Secret Valley with me
Paris, London, Montreal and Amsterdam
So many friends that we want to know
From the hills of Spain to the city streets of Germany
I know a place where we all can go
Repeat chorus
External links