Round the Twist

Four series were made during the show's 11-year run. The first two series were based on fantasy stories written by author Paul Jennings; the latter two were based on a variety of authors' work. The first series was filmed in 1989, and first aired in 1990. A second series, with many roles re-cast, was filmed in 1992 and first aired in 1993. A third series, again re-cast, was made in 2000, followed by a fourth (with some roles again re-cast) in 2001.

The show's theme song, with the lyrics "Have you ever... ever felt like this?" was sung by Tamsin West, who played the lead female role of Linda Twist in the first series. It borrowed lines from nursery rhymes such as "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly", "Humpty Dumpty" and "Rain Rain Go Away". The song was used in a series of Halloween television adverts by United Kingdom supermarket chain Sainsbury's in 2018.[3]

Making a show about children which spanned more than a decade meant many changes in actors were required, as the child actors became too old for their parts. Overall, three sets of children (the Twists, the Gribbles and Fiona) were cast. Additionally, most of the major adult roles were recast at least once: overall, there were two Tonys, two Nells, three Fays, two Mr Snappers, two Harold Gribbles, and three Matron Gribbles across the series' run.

Notes

The show revolves around the four members of the Twist family:

• Tony Twist ("Dad") — a widower with a kind heart, romantically interested in youngest son Bronson's schoolteacher, Ms. James, he regularly embarrasses the Twist children.
• Pete Twist — Linda's twin brother, he occasionally goes out with fellow school student Fiona. With Linda, he enjoys ganging up on his younger brother Bronson.
• Linda Twist — Pete's twin sister, into feminism, environmentalism and judo. She enjoys picking on her younger brother, and the audience is exposed to the inner workings of the teenage mind as she struggles with her own individuality.
• Bronson Twist — the twins' younger brother, who is obsessed with food and odours as well as having a tendency to use malapropisms, such as rendering widower as windower. He often feels left out of what his older siblings are doing, so tags along despite the possibility of danger or ridicule. On a handful of occasions, he is treated as much older than his tender years, including in Series 1, where he is expected to take full responsibility for a green baby he located in the cabbage patch.

Four series of Round the Twist have been made, each comprising thirteen episodes. Although each episode has a self-contained plot each series has a recurring theme, usually an object or character which appears briefly in every episode. This gradually develops the theme until the final episode of each series in which it is explained and resolved.

The Twist family also have frequent conflicts with a ruthless local businessman, Harold Gribble, and his family. Typically, Gribble seeks to remove the Twists from the lighthouse in order to more profitably use it as a tourist attraction for Port Niranda. This is a continuous feature of the first series, and a recurring feature of the third and fourth series.

The Split Point Lighthouse was used for the exterior scenes of the Twist family's lighthouse home.

The first two series were written by Paul Jennings, with heavy editing by director Esben Storm (who also played Mr. Snapper in the first three series). Each of these episodes, with the exception of the second series's final episode "Seeing The Light", were based on Jennings' short stories. A movie of Round the Twist was planned, but due to creative differences, it was never made. After the second series, Jennings left the show, taking the rights to his stories with him. Paul Jennings also made some cameo appearances, in particular as the ghost of Ben Byron in Series 1's "Without My Pants".

A lot of season one's scripts/plots had to be changed either due to budget, or just not being funny enough. Nell was supposed to die in "Lighthouse Blues", but episode's director Esben Storm told Paul Jennings, "it's too depressing after thirteen weeks. We can't finish the series by killing off a well-loved character."[4]

The seventh episode of series one was supposed to be "Frozen Stiff", but that had to be changed as well since it was too expensive to freeze a house and thirty other animals inside large ice blocks.[4]

The third and fourth series were written by various writers and re-used the same characters, but did not draw from Jennings' material. The latter series did not match the popular acclaim of the originals, and because of this, the series was cancelled. Incidentally, just two years before the third series was aired, Jennings' stories were being adapted into a different show called Driven Crazy, which also failed to match the popularity of the early Round the Twist and of which only one series was produced.

Several locations in Victoria, Australia were used for external shots in the filming of the series. Exterior scenes of the Twist family's lighthouse home were shot at the Split Point Lighthouse in Aireys Inlet. The school and some town scenes were shot in Williamstown, Point Lonsdale, and Queenscliff.

Round the Twist pushed the boundaries of acceptability for children's television, to the extent that the Australian Children's Television Foundation had difficulty finding a distributor for it: according to the ACTF's marketing Manager Jenny Buckland, "the scripts were declared 'too rude', 'not for television' and 'outrageous'".[5]

Some episodes include references to flatulence, defecation, urination, vomiting, body odour, underwear, birth (one involving a male), death, nudity, incest, genitalia, homosexuality, bestiality and coprophagia, ie:

• References to flatulence: Series 1, ep.1 Skeleton on the Dunny;
• References to defecation: Series 1, ep.1 Skeleton on the Dunny; Series 1, ep.2 Birdsdo; (referred to) Series 1, ep.5, Spaghetti Pig Out; Series 2, ep.12 Little Black Balls; Series 4, ep.3 Linda Godiva;
• References to urination: Series 2, ep.3 Little Squirt; Series 3, ep. 1 The Big Burp;
• References to vomiting: Series 1, ep.5 Spaghetti Pig Out; Series 3, ep.1 The Big Burp; Series 3, ep.11 The Ice Cream Man Cometh;
• References to body odour: Series 2, ep.7 Smelly Feat;
• References to underwear: (actual) Series 1, ep.8 Wunderpants; (referred to) series 2, ep.5 Nails;
• References to birth: Series 1, ep.4 Cabbage Patch Fib; series 3, ep.1 The Big Burp; series 4, ep.13 Isle of Dreams;
• References to death: Series 2, ep.4 Pink Bowtie, and implicitly most of the ghost stories;
• References to nudity: Series 2, ep.11 Quivering Heap, Series 4, ep.3 Linda Godiva;
• References to incest: Series 1, ep.9 Lucky Lips; Series 2, ep.9 Ice Maiden;
• References to genitalia: Series 3, ep.3 Whirling Derfish;
• References to homosexuality: Series 2, ep.5 Nails; Series 3, ep.8 Brainless;
• References to bestiality: Series 4, ep.4 Dog By Night; and
• References to coprophagia: Series 2, ep.2 Copy Cat.

The series also engages with significant personal or social issues such as environmental conservation, or romantic relationships.[6] Many episodes revolve around helping restless spirits of dead people or animals find peace.[7]

In the United Kingdom, Round the Twist was aired on BBC One during the channel's CBBC program several times in the 1990s and early 2000s, and was repeated again in 2007 on Channel 5 on Sunday mornings. It also regularly appeared on Network 2 in Ireland. The show was also popular in Germany and the Netherlands. It was shown on Sri Lanka by the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation. In Canada it won the Banff Television Festival award for "Best Children's Program" in 2000, and in Australia it won the Logie Award for "Outstanding Children's Program" in 2001 (tied with Hi-5) and 2002. It was also nominated for an award at the Australian Film Institute. The show is currently seen in Australia on ABC3.

The YouTube channel Twisted Lunchbox, managed officially by the ACTF, has uploaded all episodes of Round the Twist in standard definition.[8] The ACTF website sells digital standard definition copies of all four Round the Twist seasons.[9][10][11] The fourth series is also available in HD.[12]

The series was also imported to the United States and debuted on Fox Kids in 1997.

In Australia, the series was released on DVD through Magna Pacific originally in 2000/2001 consisting of 7 volumes.

In the UK Round The Twist was released on DVD, the first three DVDs were given a U rating and the fourth DVD was given a PG rating.[13]

Volume 1: Series 1: Episodes 1-9 (2 Disc Set)

Volume 2: Series 1 & 2: Episodes 10-18 (2 Disc Set)

Volume 3: Series 2: Episodes 19-26 (2 Disc Set)

Volume 4: Series 3: Episodes 27-32

Volume 5: Series 3: Episodes 33-39

Volume 6: Series 4: Episodes 40-45

Volume 7: Series 4: Episodes 46-52

In 2005 these same 7 volumes were then placed in a box and given the "Box Set" name and sold as a complete series and in 2009 the series was re-packed and re-issued.

On 2 February 2010, Magna re-released the whole series in a new packaged box set as 'Completely Twisted Collection'.[14] Series 1,[15] Series 2,[16] Series 3[17] and Series 4[18] were released as individual series sets on 1 July 2010 through Magna.

• List of Australian television series

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Round the Twist.

• Round the Twist website
• Writing Round the Twist (Paul Jennings)
• Learning resources for Round the Twist from the Australian Children's Television Foundation
• Round the Twist at TV.com
• Round the Twist on IMDb
• Round The Twist at ClassicKidsTV.co.uk
• The original Bronson on Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Life Matters, Friday 26 August 2016
• Round the Twist at the National Film and Sound Archive