Round the Twist

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Round the Twist

Genre	Children's Supernatural
Creator(s)	Paul Jennings
Starring	Richard Moir Tamsin West Sam Vandenberg Roddy McLennan Robyn Gibbes Bunny Brooke Joelene Crnogorac Ben Thomas Jeffrey Walker Rian McLean Ebonnie Masini Andrew S. Gilbert Mathew Waters Marion Heathfield
Opening theme	Round The Twist lyrics and music by Andrew Duffield sung by Tamsin West
Ending theme	Round The Twist lyrics and music by Andrew Duffield sung by Tamsin West
Country of origin	Australia
No. of episodes	52
Production
Running time	25 mins
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Original run	April 4, 1989 – May 2, 2001
Links
Official website
TV.com summary

Round the Bend is an unrelated British television series.

Round the Twist is an Australian children's television series based on wacky stories written by author Paul Jennings. Its first season was made in 1989. A second season, with many roles re-cast, was made in 1992. A third season, again re-cast, was made in 1999, followed by a fourth (with some roles again re-cast) in 2000.

Three children and their widowed father go to live in a lighthouse, and become embroiled in all sorts of magical adventures.

Many external scenes were shot around the region of the Split Point Lighthouse in Aireys Inlet, Victoria, Australia.

Allegedly, the show was a much bigger hit overseas than it ever was in Australia. It was aired on the BBC's CBBC segment for much of the 1990s and early 2000s, and also regularly appeared on Network 2 in Ireland. The series is currently being shown on Five, in the UK, on Sunday mornings. The show was also popular in The Netherlands.

The show's distinctive theme song, with the lyrics "have you ever... ever felt like this?..." was sung by Tamsin West, who played the lead female role of Linda in the first season. It borrowed lines from popular nursery rhymes such as "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly", "Humpty Dumpty" and "Rain Rain Go Away".

1 Characters
2 Seasons
3 Writers
4 Actors
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Characters

The show revolves around the four members of the Twist family:

Tony Twist ('Dad') - a widower with a kind heart, interested in the school-teacher Faye James (who comes to live with the family from the third season onwards);
Pete Twist - Linda's twin brother, into girls and who occasionally goes out with Fiona;
Linda Twist - Pete's twin sister, sometimes into spirituality and tai chi;
Bronson Twist - their younger brother, obsessed with bad smells and strange drinks.

Other characters:

Nell - an old woman, the former resident of the lighthouse who now lives in a cottage next door;
Harold Gribble - a greedy real-estate agent, who often tries to force the Twists to move out of the lighthouse with business schemes;
Matron Gribble - his supportive wife, and a nurse;
James Gribble - his no-good son, a bully at school who often antagonises Pete;
'Rabbit' - one of James Gribble's friends, often downtrodden;
'Tiger' - the other of James Gribble's friends, often seen commentating various events in the first and second seasons.
Faye James - Bronson's teacher at the school; a love interest for 'Dad', who lives with the Twists in their lighthouse during the third and fourth seasons;
Ralph Snapper - Pete and Linda's teacher, a harsh man who doesn't respond well to insolence;
Fiona - Linda's friend, and occasionally Pete's girlfriend.

Characters who appear briefly in each episode of a season:

Ghost Matthew and Ghost Jeremiah - two ghosts whose spirits were trapped in the lighthouse during season two after they failed to guide a boat to shore one hundred years earlier.
Ariel - a girl from the Isle of Dreams, who comes seeking to take Pete away in the fourth season.

[edit] Seasons

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Round the Twist has had four seasons made to date, each comprising thirteen episodes. Although each episode has its own separate plot, it also contains a recurring theme, object or character which appears in every episode for that season. More information is revealed through short glimpses in each episode. The final episode of each season centres around this recurring theme, and resolves it.

In season one (1989), the lighthouse is haunted by eerie music coming from upstairs. In the final episode, "Lighthouse Blues", the music is revealed to be played by Nell's deceased ghost family; the ghosts help the Twists to stop Mr. Gribble from destroying the lighthouse.
In season two (1992), the lighthouse is again haunted, this time by the visible ghosts, Matthew and Jeremiah, who fade into view once in each episode. They are being punished because they failed to stop the ship bearing Matthew's love, Jane, from crashing into the rocks. In the final episode, "Seeing the Light", the ghost ship comes again, and this time, all of the characters from the show help to turn on the light and save the family lost at sea, redeeming the ghosts.
Another recurring theme in season two is Bronson's foul-smelling feet. In the episode "Smelly Feat", he reveals that he has been 'saving the stink' to stop the Gribbles from killing an endangered turtle. In the end, he helps save the turtle.
In the second episode of season three (1999), Linda is given The Viking Book of Love by a young Viking who finds the lighthouse. It plays an important part in the third season, because in most episodes, a character falls in love with another person who reads its poetry to them. In the final episode, "The Big Rock", the Vikings return and the book's effects are reversed, with terrible consequences.
In season four (2000), a masked stranger enters the lighthouse, through a magical door in each episode. In the final episode, "The Isle of Dreams", the stranger is revealed to be Ariel, who has come to offer the kids the perfect life on the Isle of Dreams, with Pete as her husband. In the end, they decline, and Ariel disappears to the isle forever.

[edit] Writers

The first two seasons were written by Paul Jennings, with heavy editing by director Esben Storm (who also played Mr. Snapper in seasons 1-3). Each of these episodes, with the exception of the second season's final episode "Seeing the Light", were based on Jennings' short stories. A Round the Twist movie was planned, but due to creative differences, it was never made. Jennings soon left the show, taking the rights to his stories with him.

The third and fourth seasons were written by Esben Storm, and did not draw from Jennings' material. The latter seasons did not match the popular acclaim of the originals, and because of this, the show was cancelled.

[edit] Actors

Making a show with kids over more than a decade, obviously required some changes in actors. Therefore, three sets of kids (the Twists, the Gribbles and Fiona) have been used. Also, two Tonys, two Nells, three Fayes, two Mr. Gribbles, and three Matron Gribbless have been used: