38-395: The Magic Circle Club was an award-winning Australian children's television show, produced at ATV Channel 0 (now ATV-10 ) from 23 January 1965 to 1967. The program's style came from live pantomime and classic fairy tales . It often featured music, original songs and dance routines. Some older female characters were performed by males, in pantomime dame style. Godfrey Philipp was
76-640: A longcase cuckoo clock next to Mother Hubbard's cupboard in The Magic Cottage, and Leonardo lived inside the IKAN (Instantaneous Knowledge Accumulation Network) computer (voice of Fred Tupper). The IKAN educational segment was eventually dropped, and Leonardo would present his limerick segment from a tree stump in the Magic Forest. Towards the end of the TV series' run, stories were serialized across only four days, with
114-771: A chambermaid, Sweet Nelly, in a Barbary Coast pirate storyline. Storylines were typically serialized across five days, with the Friday program usually wrapping up the week's adventure. Each episode finished up with the hostess sitting on a large mushroom, with Fredd crouched beside her (usually after dusting off the stool with a handkerchief), while the pair shared viewers' letters and artwork. Daily features included viewers' riddles with Cassius Cuckoo, during "Cassius Cuckoo's Corn Corner", and limericks with Leonardo de Funbird. These characters were wood and felt bird puppets (created by Axel Axelrad ; voiced by Colin McEwan ). Cassius inhabited
152-587: A glass studio at Melbourne's Federation Square . The show was later axed in May 2014 due to cost-cutting measures. Locally produced programs by or with ATV-10 Melbourne. 2020s 2010s 2000s 1990s 1980s 1970s 1960s 10 News First is presented from ATV-10 's Como Centre studios in South Yarra by Jennifer Keyte with sports presenter Stephen Quartermain (Monday - Thursday) and Caty Price (Friday) and weather presenter Jayde Cotic. ATV-0's first news presenter
190-578: A national bulletin from Sydney. However, localised editions of Ten Weekend News were reintroduced on Saturdays during the AFL season and presented by George Donikian , followed by a localised edition of Sports Tonight for Victoria. Permanent weekend bulletins were reintroduced in January 2011 (alongside a short-lived 6:30 pm bulletin on weeknights) but discontinued ten months later. From September 2020 to February 2023, ATV-10 also oversaw studio production of
228-557: A variety program, This Is It! . Reception difficulties (existing sets had to be retuned by a repairman) in parts of the city resulted in the station's virtually permanent third position in the Melbourne television ratings . In 1964, under Reg Ansett, ATV-0 opened their studios in Nunawading, which was at the time the first purpose-built commercial television station in Melbourne. It was also
266-560: A wheelchair. In 1966, the TV series won the first Logie Award presented to a children's show, for Outstanding Contribution To Children's Television . Regular characters were denizens of the Magic Forest: mute Fredd Bear (Tedd Dunn, also the costume designer); shrill Fee Fee Bear ( John-Michael Howson , billed as John Howson); feisty Mother Matilda Hubbard (Fred Tupper, a former radio star); sensible Max (Max Bartlett); Shirley Temple analog Curley Dimples (played by adult Gael Dixon, also
304-430: Is a television station in Melbourne , Australia , part of Network 10 – one of the three major Australian free-to-air commercial television networks. The station is owned by Paramount Networks UK & Australia . In April 1963, the licence to operate Melbourne's third commercial television station was awarded to Austarama Television, owned by transport magnate Reginald Ansett . The new channel, ATV-0 (pronounced as
342-544: The Great Depression years), Musgrove Theatres, again in 1934 under Frank Neil and Wallace Parnell and, from 1944, David N. Martin, managing director of Tivoli Circuit of Australia. From 1937 to 1943, Fred Parsons (after whom the Fred Parsons Award was named) worked as scriptwriter and stage director Tivoli Circuit, under Frank Neil. The circuit acquired the former "Grand Opera House" at Sydney, which in 1932
380-472: The Tivoli Theatre from 27 December 1965. In this adventure, Sir Jasper and Gaspar had banished Clocko the chief clown (Max Bartlett, again playing a dual role), and Spangles the trapeze artist (Gael Dixon), from their circus, and taken away Clocko's smile. Appearing on stage with Max, Curley and Nancy were Fredd, Fee Fee, Mother Hubbard, Crystal Ball, Hep Cat, Montmorency, Cassius and Leonardo, all played by
418-601: The 1950s, and featured local and international performers from the United States and the United Kingdom. The circuit suffered a catastrophic decline in popularity after the introduction of television in Australia in 1956, although embracing the new medium and feature live half hour broadcasts from Sydney. The last Tivoli show was staged in 1966 and the company briefly went into film exhibition in Melbourne. The Sydney building
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#1732858357770456-651: The Adelaide edition of 10 News First . Both bulletins are presented by Jennifer Keyte, combining local opt-outs for news, sport and weather with some shared content from the two states. News presenter Sports presenter Weather presenter Fill-in presenters Reporters News Sports Weather Tivoli circuit The Tivoli Circuit was a successful and popular Australian vaudeville entertainment circuit featuring revue, opera, ballet, dance, singing, musical comedy, old time black and white minstrel and even Shakespeare which flourished from 1893 to
494-424: The Friday program dedicated to a separate story, told by Liz Harris, about toys which come to life in a toyshop when the owner was absent. Liz, herself, played a rag doll, Max Bartlett was a tin soldier, and John-Michael Howson played a glum clown, a portrayal which would inspire his Adventure Island character of Clown. A specially written Magic Circle Club episode, "The Stolen Smile", was performed live on stage at
532-521: The Network Ten, hosted by Bert Newton . The program was re-titled Good Morning Australia in 1993. GMA stayed on air until December 2005 and the following month was replaced by 9am with David & Kim hosted by Kim Watkins and David Reyne . The show had four years on air and in 2010 was replaced by The Circle hosted by Gorgi Coghlan , Yumi Stynes , Chrissie Swan and Denise Drysdale . In 2012, after 40 years of producing morning television,
570-578: The Ten Network made the decision to stop production on The Circle in favour of providing extra funds for its low-rating Breakfast program produced out of Sydney , and hosted by Paul Henry which was itself axed at the end of the year. In November 2013 the Network launched breakfast show Wake Up which was broadcast live from both Sydney and Melbourne and hosted by Natarsha Belling and James Mathison with News Updates presented by Nuala Hafner live from
608-760: The added cost. TV director and costume designer Tedd Dunn stayed with Melbourne's Channel 0. He played the Fredd Bear character (Channel 0's answer to the Nine Network 's more enduring Humphrey B. Bear ) two years after the demise of Magic Circle Club , as co-host of Fredd Bear's Breakfast-A-Go-Go . His suit has since been donated to the National Film & Sound Archive for restoration and safe storage. Cassius and Leonardo also appeared on Breakfast-A-Go-Go , as did actor Colin McEwan and newsreader Michael McCarthy. Fee Fee, now mute without Howson's unique vocal contribution,
646-542: The channel in 1981 with Charles Slade replacing her and was later replaced by Jo Pearson , who served till 1988, joined by Mal Walden in 1987 and by the next year by Tracey Curro . By the end of 1981, Murdoch had finally received approval for control of ATV-10. The 1986 transfer of Neighbours to the Ten Network (from the Seven Network ) proved to be a success. Aside from its use of suburban locations in Melbourne itself, ATV-10's Nunawading studios were used to produce
684-416: The dominant Nine Network . On 10 December 2013, at 9:00:01am ATV-10 became one of the last stations in Australia to switch off its analog TV signal being the last Network 10 station and 4th last in the whole country of Australia to convert to digital-only transmission, the switch was flicked by Bob Rosenthal a retired ATV-10 engineer who 33 years earlier was there to switch ATV-0 over to ATV-10. Months after
722-646: The early 1970s, and its take on the Eyewitness News format and brand in 1972, then presented by Geoff Raymond . The flagship weeknight bulletin was formerly presented by David Johnston , who was replaced by Mal Walden following his move to HSV-7 in 1996. Co-presenter Jennifer Hansen , who with Walden formed one of the longest-serving news duos in Australian television history, was replaced by Helen Kapalos in 2006. Walden became sole anchor in December 2012 following
760-601: The fact that the Kerry Packer -owned Australian Consolidated Press had controlled the Nine Network channels in Melbourne and Sydney for many years. Due to problems in reception and falling ratings, and the desire to move TV stations out of the VHF band so as to enable FM radio in Australia, the station moved frequency and call-sign from ATV-0 to ATV-10, after getting the agreement of neighbouring Gippsland station GLV-10 to change its frequency to become GLV-8 . On 20 January 1980,
798-403: The letter O , never the number zero ), began transmission on 1 August 1964 from a large modern studio complex, with state-of-the-art videotaping, and located in the then-outer eastern suburb of Nunawading , in the locality now known as Forest Hill , but referred to at the time as Burwood East . The new station opened with a preview program hosted by Barry McQueen and Nancy Cato followed by
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#1732858357770836-405: The network's decision not to renew Kapalos' contract a month beforehand. In February 2018, Brad McEwan announced his resignation from Network Ten to pursue other career opportunities. He finished with the network on Friday 27 April 2018. Previous fill-in presenters included Brad McEwan and George Donikian . Regular weekend bulletins from Melbourne were axed in the early 1990s in favour of
874-450: The pair had played previously in a pantomime. Max Bartlett often played additional guest characters, including Harley Quin, a harlequin performer, King Size of nearby Enchantmentland, wicked innkeeper Simon Sneak of the Cross and Bones , or Mother Hubbard's accident-prone great-nephew, Claude Clumsy. Ernie Bourne and Colin McEwan often doubled up roles to play guest villains. Even Nancy Cato played
912-546: The payroll. The Circuit was taken over after Rickards' death in 1911 by a succession of managements The first was Hugh D. Mclntosh (in 1912), who purchased the circuit for £100,000. After success with large-scale stage productions such as Chu Chin Chow he sold the Tivoli circuit to George Musgrove in 1921. It was subsequently acquired by J. C. Williamson Tivoli Vaudeville Pty Ltd in 1924, then by Mike Connors and Queenie Paul (in
950-458: The producer and director, with many scripts and song lyrics by John-Michael Howson . Max Bartlett became a regular script writer in addition to his on-screen roles. Music was by Bruce Rowland and scenery designs by Brian Thomson . The show was hosted by Nancy Cato, cousin of the author of the same name . A later addition to the regular cast was Liz Harris , who also took over as hostess when Nancy Cato suffered temporary paralysis and had to use
988-603: The program. On 7 September 1992, ATV-10 relocated from the station's famous Nunawading studios to the Como Centre in inner suburban South Yarra . The Nunawading complex is now operated by Fremantle Media, while the Como Centre studios in South Yarra are used for The Project as well as news, current affairs, entertainment and sport programs. In 2004, Network 10 finished second nationally, and in ATV-10's Melbourne region, only behind
1026-423: The regular TV cast. This production was stage managed by Sue Nattras, Simon Wincer and Jim McElroy. Gabrielle Hartley was severely burned when her cloak brushed over a hot "flash pot" used in a live, on-stage, special effect, and her role had to be assumed by her understudy. Hartley never returned to her TV role, the character of Crystal Ball being written out. After producing 555 thirty-minute episodes, ATV axed
1064-434: The revamped ATV-10 was launched with a jingle campaign ( "You're on Top With Ten" ), Graham Kennedy 's introductory presentation and 10's Summer Sunday , a 3-hour live outside broadcast from Torquay Beach. Later in the evening, You're On Top With Ten with Kennedy provided a preview of upcoming shows on the new channel, followed by the movie-length pilot for new drama series Arcade . On 11 February 1980, Eyewitness News
1102-494: The show for cost reasons. Competitor ABC TV wanted to buy it, but ATV refused, which led to the start up of the similar program Adventure Island on the ABC, with many of the same cast and writers from Magic Circle Club . Recorded in black and white, the program was repeated prior to the official introduction of colour TV in 1975. John-Michael Howson had wanted to produce the show in colour for overseas sales, but management baulked at
1140-589: The show's choreographer ); beautiful enchantress Crystal Ball (Gabrielle Hartley) and her pet, Hep Cat (Nola Finn); Marlena DeWitch (Marion Weir); and villainous Sir Jasper Crookly ( Ernie Bourne ) and his henchman Gaspar Goblin ( Colin McEwan ). Recurring guest characters included BoBo the clown (Charles "Hal" Turner), Montmorency James Rabbit (Ernie Bourne), Sebastian Bear (Gael Dixon), and Aunty Vale ( Bunney Brooke ). Twoddle & Boddle (Laurie Allen and Bobby Bright, aka Bobby & Laurie of The Go!! Show ) were analogs of Tweedledee & Tweedledum , characters
1178-457: The studio where the first ever colour broadcast in Australia would be filmed, leading to its consideration for heritage status in 2018. ATV-0 had been experimenting with colour transmissions from 1967, when the station was the first to mount a colour outside broadcast in Australia, from the Pakenham races. Many other colour test transmissions occurred subsequently. Full-time colour transmission
Magic Circle Club - Misplaced Pages Continue
1216-466: The switch the channel, together with the network, marked its golden jubilee anniversary. Local mid-morning programming from 1967 included Morning Magazine , Roundabout , The Roy Hampson Show , In Melbourne Today , Everyday (1979–1980) and Good Morning Melbourne (1981–1988) - the latter replaced by the Sydney-based Til Ten (1989–1991). In 1992, ATV-10 produced The Morning Show for
1254-581: Was introduced to ATV-0 in March 1975 in line with other stations around the country. Rupert Murdoch gained a controlling interest in Sydney television station TEN-10 in 1979 and had bought a controlling stake in transport company Ansett , owner of Austarama Television (licensee of ATV-0). That triggered a government inquiry into media ownership, the main concern being Murdoch having a controlling interest in television stations in Australia's two largest cities, ignoring
1292-406: Was its news director, Brian Wright, before Barry McQueen took over regular news presenting duties. The station's initial news format on weeknights was a 45-minute bulletin starting at 6:15 pm, aimed at competing with the 30-minute bulletins offered by rival stations GTV-9 and HSV-7 . The news format was changed a number of times, with the eventual adoption of the network's one-hour format in
1330-492: Was leased out to various establishments until the building was demolished in 1969. The only original Tivoli theatre still standing is Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide . The circuit was established by English music hall baritone and comedian Harry Rickards in 1893, following the success of his "New Tivoli Minstrel and Grand Specialty Company" who performed at the old Opera House in Sydney in 1892. By 1909 Rickards had 532 people on
1368-450: Was often played by Michael's wife, Caroline McCarthy. Max Bartlett continued to work in television production, moving to Western Australia , where he helped to develop Fat Cat and Friends and The Underground Video Show . In 2004, Nancy Cato appeared on the "Kids' TV" episode of Bob Downe's The Way We Were , briefly discussing Magic Circle Club . The NFSA has preserved 198 episodes of The Magic Circle Club. ATV-10 ATV
1406-506: Was relaunched with David Johnston and Jana Wendt as chief newsreaders. By May, Eyewitness News went back to its former one-hour duration, claiming that it was "First in Melbourne" due to its many innovations and historic moments and the fact that in the 1970s ATV was the first of the now "Network Ten" stations to adopt the Eyewitness News brand and the one-hour newscast (with the first 1-hour newscast debuting in November 1975). Wendt left
1444-515: Was renamed the New Tivoli Theatre . The Tivoli was the major outlet for variety theatre and vaudeville in Australia for over 70 years. The circuit grew to include Melbourne , New Tivoli Theatre, Adelaide (built in 1913, now Her Majesty's Theatre and the only original Tivoli theatre still standing), Brisbane and Perth in their tours by the turn of the century, promoting both local and international musical, variety and comedy acts. It featured
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