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Clip description
A confused and lost Clancy (Liza Goddard) wanders through the bush, followed by a group of Aboriginal men (members of the Aboriginal Theatre from Yirrkala, Arnhem Land) with uncertain intent. Meanwhile Mark Hammond (Ken James) confesses to helicopter pilot Jerry King (Tony Bonner) that while he is not keen on girls in general, he hopes Mrs Merrick will let Clancy stay. When Clancy’s riderless horse Bullet turns up, head ranger Matt Hammond (Ed Devereaux) is summoned and, fearing that Clancy may be badly hurt, Jerry is sent out to search for her.
Curator’s notes
Apart from Skippy herself (contrary to popular belief Skippy is female as evidenced by her pouch), the series has an almost completely male cast. The first regular female character, teenage daughter of another park ranger who boards with the family, is played by Liza Goddard, the daughter of the new ABC Drama Department head at the time, David Goddard. Introduced in episode nine, she proved a popular cast addition although she never received a credit in the opening titles. The only other regular female guest star was Dr Anna Steiner (Elke Neidhardt), a German research scientist working in the park, but very much out of her depth in the Australian bush.
Producer Lee Robinson explained the addition of female characters which followed a trip to sell the pilot overseas: ‘The series was originally planned as a children’s series until I found there was a substantial overseas market for shows that fill peak-viewing timeslots. That is why we added the romantic interest.’
Woman characters in the series were generally represented as accident prone, often getting lost or just getting it wrong. Assistant editor Sara Bennett commented in recent documentary Skippy: the First Australian Superstar (2009) that behind-the-scenes treatment of female crew reflected this on-screen portrayal of women. This included much gratuitous off-screen filming of body parts and a ‘no jeans or trousers policy’ for women except for ‘slacks on Saturday’.
