person or book cover
Miles Buchanan and Aki Slater in Secret Valley (screen cap)
form y separately published work icon Secret Valley series - publisher   film/TV  
Alternative title: Ghost Town Gang
Issue Details: First known date: 1984... 1984 Secret Valley
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Akin to other Australian television programs such as Falcon Island (1981) and The Henderson Kids (1985), Secret Valley revolved in part around the attempts of a group of children to protect a ghost town and its valley from the depredations of developers. In this instance, the children form the land into a weekend holiday camp, at which they both work and play; in this sense, Secret Valley is, as Moran notes in his Guide to Australian TV Series, something of a successor to Roger Mirams's first Australian production, The Terrific Adventures of the Terrible Ten. Another group of children, led by Spider McGlurk, also live in Secret Valley (in Spider Cave), leading to a number of confrontations.

Secret Valley began as a made-for-television film, and was expanded into a twenty-four-episode series.

Moran notes that the program 'wore its Australianness well, even down to having the Secret Valley soundtrack lyrics imposed on "Waltzing Matilda".' Despite being (in part) a Grundy production, the program first aired on the ABC in Australia, and was sold into Spain, the United Kingdom (where it was a commercial failure when it aired on ITV), and the Netherlands.


Notes

  • The development of the show

    Original newspaper reports on the production of this series describe it as a planned telemovie with the title Ghost Town Gang.

    By late December 1979, newspapers were describing it as a TV series, but disaster struck when the set was destroyed in a bushfire. Mirams then renamed the project Secret Valley (since the ghost-town set had been destroyed) and continued with the production on a delayed schedule.

    References:

    'Bushfires Destroy Film Set', Canberra Times, 23 December 1979, p.11.

    'Child Stars Gather for Tele-movie', Canberra Times, 5 December 1979, p.39.

    'Out of the Ashes Comes Secret Valley', Australian Women's Weekly, 24 December 1980, pp.48-49 [supplement].

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Sydney, New South Wales,: Reg Grundy Enterprises , 1984 .
      person or book cover
      Title screen for Secret Valley (screen cap)
      Extent: 24x30min. episodesp.
      Description: Produced on film; colour
Last amended 12 Dec 2014 11:40:17
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