THE MOVIE

Seven Little Australians is based on the best selling novel by Ethel Turner and in the early 1970s it was adapted to the screen by Eleanor Witcombe. The mini series has now been restored by the National Archives of Australia and re-released on DVD. The story is set in late 19th century Sydney and revolves around Captain John Woolcot (Leonard Teale) and his wife Esther (Elizabeth Alexander), step mother of seven energetic children; Judy (Jennifer Cluff), Meg (Barbara Llewellyn), Pip (Mark Clark), Nell (Anna Hruby), Baby (Tania Falla), Bunty (Mark Shields-Brown) and the General (Christian Robinson). The mini series also stars Ruth Cracknell as Martha. Here is a quick look at each of the ten 30 minute episodes.

DISC 1
Episode 1 - Fowl For Dinner
The Captain’s new commanding officer and his wife will be arriving for dinner and the children are asked to be silent and invisible. However, things get out of hand when Pip dares to go downstairs and steal some roast chicken. Suddenly all of the other children think they can do it as well. The Captain is thoroughly embarrassed.

Episode 2 - What Are Fathers For Anyway
Both Pip and Judy are trying their best to make up for the embarrassment they caused their father at the dinner party, but they’re also upset that they missed out on the pantomime. One day while running errands they decide to make a detour to the Bondi aquarium to ride the roller coaster. They leave the General behind at the military barracks but he goes missing.

Episode 3 - Consequences
The Captain holds Judy responsible for the misbehaviour of the entire group of children and she is sent off to boarding school at Mount Victoria. She hates being away from her siblings but is hopeful that she might get to go home when there is an outbreak of measles at the school. Unfortunately her father has made other arrangements.

Episode 4 - All For The Worst
Judy is determined to run away and return home and so she embarks on a long hike through the wilderness back to Sydney. Meanwhile Meg is desperately trying to make her waist smaller so she looks more feminine, but by lacing up her corset too tightly she nearly faints. Then there is Bunty who’s getting himself into all sorts of trouble by telling fibs.

Episode 5 - Secrets
Judy finally makes it home, she’s starving and quite ill but she decides to hide out in the barn and she asks the other children not to tell Esther or the Captain that she is home for fear of being sent back to boarding school. The Captain is too busy worrying about his injured horse to notice what is going on. It was Bunty who hurt the horse when he hit it with a cricket ball.

DISC 2
Episode 6 - Tomorrow Do Thy Worst
The Captain finds out about Bunty injuring his prize horse and is determined to punish him severely despite Esther’s pleas to leave him be. The couple still haven’t heard from Judy and the strange actions of the children begin to arose his suspicions. The Captain eventually finds Judy in the barn and is about to punish her but then discovers that she’s desperately ill.

Episode 7 - Into The Sun
Judy begins her to recover from her illness but the Doctor advises that she will fair better in a warmer climate. Judy starts to worry that the Captain will send her straight back to boarding school once she’s is completely better. Thankfully Esther’s parent’s have invited all of the children to spend winter on their sheep property.

Episode 8 - Yarrahappini
At Yarrahappini, Meg starts to develop a crush on the property manager Dick Gillet, but she then discovers that he’s a drunk. Pip is busy lending a hand in the shearing shed and Bunty is still up to mischief although he’s now in league with a young aboriginal friend. Meanwhile the Captain is starting to miss his family back at Misrule.

Episode 9 - The Picnic
Esther thinks it is time they went home but her mother urges her to stay until after the local ball. She accompanies her father to the ball while the children go on one last picnic. Meg is still trying to get over Dick Gillet. The children have fun eating chops and damper, singing and playing games but the day ends in disaster.

Episode 10 - Going Home
In the final episode Esther and the children return to Misrule in Sydney and life goes on as essentially as it did before. Meg develops a friendship with a young fellow who is studying to be a Doctor. Bunty is working on a printing press and most importantly the Captain decides to spend more time with the children.

THE TRANSFER

Video:

Seven Little Australians is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 full frame. The series has undergone restoration by the National Archives of Australia, so it would have been interesting to see what the print originally looked like as it is still loaded with film grain and film artefacts. According to the press release, the series was initially broadcast in black and white when released in 1974 but it was actually filmed in colour. I must admit I was quite surprised with how rich the colours were, especially the red stripes on the military uniforms. The level of detail isn’t all that flash and there is quite a bit of background noise to be observed during the interior scenes. Both discs in this two-disc box set are dual layer (DVD9) discs but the layer change was not evident on either disc.

Audio:

This DVD features an English Dolby Digital 2.0 channel soundtrack. The audio transfer is quite good. Dialogue is clearly audible throughout all ten episodes and there were no noticeable audio synch problems. Similarly, the narration at the start of each episode is highly intelligible. Unfortunately there are no subtitles on this DVD.

THE EXTRAS

ABC TV Weekend Magazine Segment 1974
This is a featurette that looks at the book, Seven Little Australian’s, written by Ethel Turner when she was just 21. It was first published in 1894 and has been reprinted numerous times. The featurette includes an interview with Ethel’s son Adrian Curlewis along with some of the actors in the series (e.g. Jennifer Cluff, Mark Clark). There is also behind the scenes footage from the production. The featurette is presented in 1.33:1 full frame with Dolby Digital 2.0 channel sound. Running time is 10.31 minutes.

Cast Photo Gallery
Here you will find 10 black and white photos, pictures of the main characters in the series, Captain John Woolcot, Esther, Judy, Meg, Pip, Nell, Baby, Bunty and the General.

Memories of Ethel
This extra feature consists of an audio recording along with some black and white photos, many of Ethel during various stages of her life. This extra feature is presented in 1.33:1 full frame with Dolby Digital 2.0 channel sound. Running time is 1.32 minutes.

SUMMARY

Seven Little Australians is a ten part mini series based on the novel by Ethel Turner. This series was initially released in the 1970s and now it has been restored by the National Archives of Australia for re-release on DVD. The visual and audio transfer are both quite good, and this there are also a couple of interesting extra features.