I think I’m going to develop an obsession with ‘Secret Valley’, an Australian kids series from the 80s, to fill the rest of my empty week at work.
I have a theory that between Secret Valley, Neighbours, and maybe the Henderson Kids (for the bonus Kylie points), you can find the early performances needed to embarrass any Australian actor. Since these SV and HK were made in the 80s, you get maximum bad hair points if you can find photos of cast members.
IMDB, via a possible fellow obsessive, an idiot in london, has surprisingly good coverage. I’ve finally found some classic photos of the evil kids from Secret Valley, and a not-contemporary photo of the goody-goodies..
Check this series summary: “A series about the children who run a holiday camp in Bildarra called ‘Secret Valley’ and the problems they have with a gang led by Spider McGlurk and the man who is determined to close their camp down Councillor Claude Cribbin.”
The real beauty of the show that its holiday camp setting meant they could get in a whole new bunch of child actors every week, but the cast lists I’ve found so far only list the regular characters.
There’s also The Henderson Kids, The Henderson Kids II and of course, Neighbours. There’s enough ‘whatever happened to…’ there to keep you going for weeks.