The Magic Boomerang
1964 - AustraliaOutdoor fantasy/adventure series for children produced in Australia by Pacific Films about 13-year old Tom Thumbleton (David Morgan) who discovers a boomerang among some Aboriginal relics his great-great-grandfather left in the attic of their home; a sheep farm near the fictitious town of Gunnaganoo. Tom discovers that when he throws the boomerang time stands still until it returns to him. This opens up all sorts of possibilities and the adventures come thick and fast as the lad uses the boomerang to foil the plans of any sinister baddie-of whom there appear to be many in this part of Australia! The only other person who knows of the magic boomerang is Tom's friend Wombat (Rodney Pearlman) who is more inclined to want to use its amazing properties to have mischievous fun, but Tom, being a level headed and mature sort of lad, makes sure that it is only used when needed the most. The effect of the boomerang stopping time was very basic, sometimes using the freeze-frame method and at other times simply getting the other actors to stand rigidly still.
39 half-hour episodes were produced in black and white and the series was sold overseas to countries that included Britain and Canada. Oddly, it appeared on Australian TV after it appeared in those other countries. A year after production finished Pacific Films decided to bring the series back in a new location and with a new cast. The new custodian of the boomerang was 15-year old Robert Brockman (Nugget Morris) and the series was now made in colour. However, only six episodes were ever made.
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Published on December 31st, 2018. Written by Laurence Marcus for Television Heaven.
