markswan

As someone well and truly over 35 (in 2006 now 44), I still retain vivid memories of Adventure Island. It commenced its run on ABC TV in 1967 just as my parents acquired a TV set. As a child shortly to start school, I had the luxury of being able to watch the children's programmes without any interference from the return from school, homework (unthought of for kindergarten children in those days), and even after starting school, it was clearly one of the 'good' influences available on TV, as my mother never prevented me from watching what was, for many years, a favourite programme. The emphasis on the ultimate victory of good over evil, the excellent songs, the innate goodness of people and the joy of life came through in every story. As another reviewer has commented, the closing song each week made children feel that the story had been told especially to them, and it is a tribute to the performers' talent that they could, bearing in mind the relatively primitive TV techniques of the time, achieve such a highly realistic and personal communication with their young audience. It was somewhat of a surprise when, as a much worldly-wise adult, I realised that even as a 5 year-old I had known quite clearly, without any consternation or upset, that the person playing Mrs Flowerpot was really a man. And that without having any other exposure to the English tradition of pantomime or having it explained to me by my parents. Talk about an early education in the need for gender tolerance! The other life-long memory for this viewer was the title sequence and theme music. As the studio lights gradually lit up the glittering, suspended fabric decorations, and as the music swelled, the heart would leap in anticipation of the adventures to come. It would come back to catch us all. In 1998, the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Film Festival included a session "It's Our ABC Too", punning on the then-current ABC tag-line and focusing on how camp performers and gay and lesbian themes had made their mark on the Australian national broadcaster. The cinema darkened and the audience settled into silence. The projection commenced with a black screen. Gradually, accompanied by a familiar orchestral score, the long-forgotten lighting sequence started. A contended sigh rose from at least half the audience (those of us over 35!). Sure enough, they'd lead off with Adventure Island. The response it evoked confirmed its right to pride of place in the presentation. If any of the old tapes survive, the ABC could do worse than to make them available on DVD.

Like many others, I guess, I made a point of taping (such a 20th century expression) this programme from the air when it had its TV premiere in Australia in 1995.

I can't count the number of times I've re-watched it. Each time I do, some different aspect of the treatment or the story come to the fore. I agree that, at first, the 'play within a play' approach can be a little off-putting. So can the direct commentary on UK political life.

Sometimes it becomes a little tiring that UK playwrights and filmmakers of the late 1980s and 1990s had such a thing about Margaret Thatcher and her politics. In 'Billy Elliot' it was the coal mine closures, in 'England, My England' it was the poll tax protests. Maybe I have the luxury of not being British (well, not quite, just an Anglo Australian with a British cultural upbringing, hence the love of Purcell), but it did not resonate particularly closely with me. But, then again, I understood the message.

The treatment of Restoration England and the musical life of Purcell is amazingly well handled. You could almost believe that Peyps and Dryden were addressing us from the screen. Colwell's Charles II is utterly convincing. Charles is at once a sympathetic and pathetic character.... sincerely concerned for his kingdom and people, yet given over to his own pleasures and concerns.

As for Harry, what can I say? As presented as a man on screen, and in the music we hear, he is the unsurpassed master of the English baroque. The selected orchestral and choral works, though tending to the popular, fit the scenes perfectly and add to the sense of wonder at his talent.

For those who've not enjoyed this movie, and who are fans of Purcell or baroque music generally, all I can say is, see it! You'll be rewarded.