AustLit

A children's television series in which the child protagonists (Catch and Kate Kandy) go into hiding, believing that they've accidentally killed their abusive uncle (and guardian).

According to Moran's Guide to Australian TV Series, 'Each episode was self-contained although in the final episode the overall story was brought to an end. Catch Kandy was an attractive series, visually pleasing, with a suitably engaging narrative in each episode'.

Set in the fictional Waratah National Park (NSW), the Skippy series focuses largely on the adventures of a young boy, Sonny Hammond, and his intelligent pet kangaroo, Skippy. Sonny is the youngest child of Head Ranger Matt Hammond. Matt was left a widower in his early forties when his wife Mary died not long after Sonny was born. Other principal characters are Sonny's older brother Mark, Flight Ranger Jerry King (the park's helicopter pilot), and Ranger Clancy Merrick, the teenage daughter of another park ranger.

'At some time in everybody's life there is a small voice within telling him what he should or should not do. At times of great stress it is ever-present. Around this universal happening Denys Burrows has built a gripping drama, Wattle Road. Clive had always loved Mary; in fact, it was an all-consuming love that flared into overpowering jealousy if Mary entertained any of their friends. After five years of marriage Mary finds it increasingly difficult to have any friends at all, and in desperation she decides to adopt a child, hoping that this new move will curb the jealousy of Clive. However, her numerous visits to the one house in town only give the gossips and that insistent voice in Clive's make-up more food for thought.'

Source: 'For Next Week', ABC Weekly, 13 January 1951, p.27.