Colonial Dramas in Australia are such a rarity, where did they all go? who knows. Many of the best include "Against the Wind", "The Last Outlaw", "Five Mile Creek", etc.
'Wild Boys' marks a return to the "Bushranger" genre on Australian Television. Its seen a lot in film, rarely on TV. I sometime like to call it the 'Bush Western' because to many this time period feels analogous to the 'Old American West', while it may be similar Its still a very different cultural context, especially when it comes to historical settings.
'Wild Boys' is not a history lesson, its a fictional story set in Australia's Colonial past near the 1860s in rural New South Wales where a lot of Bushranging operated at the time.
The Story follows a gang of Bushrangers Jack Keenan(Daniel MacPherson) and Dan Sinclair(Michael Dorman), following them are the charismatic and quite crazy Captain Gunpowder(David Field) and Conrad the farrier(Alex England). These boys are planning their future and make living as thieves avoiding the traps(police troops). At times Jack wants to care more for his love interest Mary(Zoe Ventoura) along with her only child. But in the nearest town of Hopetown; the gang may have to look out a lot for the new cunning and devious Superintendent Francis Fuller(Jeremy Sims) Who'll do anything to lock up a thief when he gets one.
Being a Colonial Australia history Buff, I became excited when this series came out. It really likes to capture the heart of what adventure and romance is in Old Australia, All the characters have a lot of colour and likable personalities, there's a lot of action and humour, and its a lot of fun. The show likes to take a sort of Robin Hood Archetype an put it in a conventional 'Bushranger' age setting in Australia, its good to see the gang as the lovable criminal archetype, a lot of it may also remind you of 'Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid'.
My only complaints about the series are in Historical Authenticity. Particularly the use of modern day Australian Accents; You wouldn't think our accents developed that early, especially when other colonial dramas and films had English, Irish or mixed accents in the early days especially during the Gold Rush era to reflect more authenticity. A lot more effort could have been done on some of the production designs and some of the underwritten episodes.
There's also a bit of an inclusion of some real life Australian Bushrangers like Captain Moonlite whose real name was Andrew George Scott; a preacher turned outlaw. And Mad Dog Morgan; Which is a fictional name of Mad Dan Morganand only came in the 1975 film 'Mad Dog Morgan' based on the Bushranger's life and starred Dennis Hopper, its hard to believe how many people used it or missed the real name.
Despite some lack of Authenticity or cultural accuracy, I really liked the series, it was a lot of fun. I guess the producers were targeting a more family oriented audience than an older audience who favoured accuracy. Its a big shame it didn't get enough ratings for a second run, I guess it should be included with other Colonial Dramas collection.
