Skippy Australias First Superstar (2009)

Skippy? Show of the week? Have we gone mad? No, this is not a series of re-runs of the adventures of the miraculous marsupial but a light-hearted documentary about the phenomenon that was the astonishing success of Australia's first major television export.

Narrated by Magda Szubanski, the show reminds us — well, those of us of a certain vintage, at least — that Australian television was a very different animal when Skippy first hopped across the screen in 1967. Very little television, in series form at least, was made in Australia, and scores of people who have remained in the industry for decades got their start working on the 91 episodes made during the show's two years in production.

Apart from its importance in Australian television history, we are reminded of the essential silliness, and unashamed fun, of the adventures of a kangaroo playing the antipodean Lassie, solving crimes, rescuing the lost and generally being a fine ambassador for our native fauna.

We get all sorts of detail — Skippy was, in fact, a kangaroo — an eastern grey, to be precise, and not, as many have supposed, a wallaby. She was a she, too, pouch and all.

Much anguish went into naming her — it was a close-run thing. We almost got Hoppy. Or Jumpy or Springy. Just not the same, are they?

Among the countless actors who made guest appearances on the show were Chips Rafferty, Jack Thompson and Frank Thring. (The very idea of an encounter between Skip and Thring doesn't bear thinking about.)

So what about the lady herself? The producers tracked her down in Western Australia and cornered her for an interview — wearing sunglasses, hitting the scotch and smoking a cigar. You get the picture — silly, nostalgic and good fun.