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Clip description
It’s the final Thursday show and although the pantomime story will conclude on Friday, host Sue Donovan must say goodbye to Samson the Cat (operated and voice by Ernie Bourne), who sings a melancholy goodbye song. Sue and Samson then recite together the farewell rhyme that ends the show.
Curator’s notes
With Adventure Island drawing to a close (this is the penultimate episode), the cast are beginning to say goodbye. This is a simple but affecting scene because of what seems like a genuine rapport between host Sue Donovan and Samson the cat. Sue plays more of a caring adult-teacher role to the excitable and funny Samson. Puppeteer and voice actor Ernie Bourne invests Samson with genuine character, inserting little vocal interruptions and not keeping quite in sync when he recites the closing rhyme with Sue.
Ernie Bourne (1926–2009) played multiple roles in Adventure Island, including operating and voicing Samson the Cat. He had a long career as a character actor, with ongoing roles in Prisoner (1979–86) and Neighbours (1985–current) and appearances in Homicide (1964–76), Division 4 (1969–75), The Picture Show Man (1977) and Gallipoli (1981). Operating the puppets on Adventure Island involved improvising and interacting with the host, Sue Donovan. Samson also possessed magical powers, appearing and disappearing from view with the aid of emerging video technology.
