Magic Circle Club

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The Magic Circle Club was a children's television show, which aired in Australia on ATV Channel 0, (now ATV-10), from 23 January 1965 to 1967. There were 550 thirty minute episodes. Its roots were those of live pantomime and classic fairy tales, and the show often featured music, original songs and dance routines. Some older female characters were performed by males, in pantomime dame style.

Characters were denizens of the Enchanted Forest: Fredd Bear (Ted Dunn); Fee Fee Bear (John-Michael Howson); Mother Hubbard (Fred Tupper); Max (Max Bartlett); Curly, a young Shirley Temple analogue; Marlena DeWitch (Marion Weir); Hepcat the cat, (Nola Finn); BoBo the clown; and villains Sir Jasper Crookly (Ernie Bourne) and Gasper Goblin (Colin McEwan). The show was hosted by Nancy Cato, cousin of author Nancy Cato. A later addition to the cast was Liz (Liz Harris), who also took over as hostess when Nancy Cato suffered temporary paralysis and was confined to a wheelchair.

Episodes were serialized across five days, with the Friday program wrapping up the week's storyline. Each episode finished up with the hostess sitting on a large toadstool, with Fredd Bear crouched beside her (usually after dusting off the stool with a handkerchief), while the pair shared viewers' letters and artwork. Another regular feature included knock-knock jokes with Cassius Cuckoo and limericks with Leonardo da Funbird, who were wood and felt bird puppets (created by Axel Rag; voiced by Colin McEwan).

Recurring guest characters included Aunty Vale (Bunney Brooke) and Twoddle & Boddle (Laurie Allen and Bobby Bright, aka Bobby & Laurie of The Go!! Show).

The series won the first Logie Award presented to a children's show. When ATV axed the show for cost reasons, ABC TV wanted to buy it, but ATV refused. This led to the start up of the program Adventure Island on the ABC, with some of the cast and writers from the Magic Circle Club.

Ted Dunn, a TV director, stayed with Channel 0. He played the Fredd Bear character (Channel 0's answer to the Nine Network's more enduring Humphrey B. Bear) two years after the Magic Circle Club's demise, as co-host of Fredd Bear's Breakfast-A-Go-Go.