AustLit

According to Don Storey, in his Classic Australian Television, 'Hey You! was a half-hour sit-com set in a suburban Melbourne boarding house. Described in publicity material as a 'down-to-earth' series, the comedy revolves around the inhabitants of the boarding house - a layabout Australian, an English con-man, an eccentric spinster, a sensitive wimp and a genteel landlady'.

The program was created by Godfrey Philipp and John-Michael Howson, who had been responsible for ATV-0's long-running children's fantasy program The Magic Circle Club.

Filmed in front of a live audience, Hey You! started strongly, but soon began to slide in the ratings. The network changed the program's timeslot and considered changing the format (including removing Sue Israel's character), but ultimately decided to cease production after sixteen episodes.

Of the production values, Storey notes that 'Design Director Brian Thomson assembled a set of the boarding house in the ATV-0 studios, which was almost a complete shell of the real thing. To add authenticity to the set, Thomson spent a few weeks scavenging around building wreckers' yards for old-style stairways, leadlight doors and other typical architectural items from period houses'.

Storey also notes that Sydney writer Romy Hill considered suing the program on the basis that it was close in conception to her own rejected script for a series set in a boarding house, but that nothing came of the lawsuit.

Since both The Magic Circle Club and Hey You! ceased production at roughly the same time, Philipps and Howson moved to the ABC, where they produced the highly successful and long-running children's television program Adventure Island.