The Ferals

Infobox Television
show_name = The Ferals
format =
runtime = 25 minutes per episode
starring = Kylle Hogart
Miguel Ayesa
Brian Rooney
Mal Heap
Emma deVries
David Collins
Terry Ryan
country = AUS
first_aired = 1994
last_aired = 1995
num_episodes = 18
network = ABC TV
website = http://www.abc.net.au/children/feral/
tv_com_id = 6176

"The Ferals" is an Australian children's comedy television series produced by the ABC. The show, which ran from 1994 to 1995, featured a mixture of real people and animal puppets known as the "ferals." It was lauded for its irreverent humour and distinctive characters, some of which still feature today on ABC programming.

Characters

The ferals were an eclectic group of animals that lived together in a backyard shed:

* Rattus P. Rattus Puppeteer - David Collins("leader of the bunch") [http://www.abc.net.au/children/feral/fancards/default.htm] : The leather-jacket wearing leader of the ferals, Rattus is a rat with a mischievous sense of humour and a love of foul odours. He enjoys taunting the cat Modigliana ("fur ball"), but is often thumped in return. The scientific name of the black rat is "Rattus rattus". He is obsessed with procuring a car of his own, often concocting several outlandish schemes to acquire one and jumping at any opportunity that will provide even the slightest chance of getting one.
* Modigliana Puppeteer - Mal Heap("she's fluffy, but she's tough") [http://www.abc.net.au/children/feral/fancards/1.htm] : A preening cat, Modigliana is also self-confident, tough and forceful, frequently clashing with Rattus. She has parallels with the Muppets character Miss Piggy, albeit with more manginess and violence. Most viewers didn't like this character very much and preferred Rattus.
* Mixy Puppeteer - Emma deVries("muddled up, mixed up bunny") [http://www.abc.net.au/children/feral/fancards/2.htm] : Mixy is a sweet, cute carrot-loving pink rabbit, but can sometimes be neurotic. In line with the subversive black humour of the show, it is said Mixy is named after the Myxomatosis disease, introduced to Australia to cull the population of feral rabbits.
* DerrynPuppeteer - Terry Ryan ("dopey dog") [http://www.abc.net.au/children/feral/fancards/3.htm] : Derryn is a dog who is not the brightest of the bunch and has a habit forgetting where he buried his bone, but does occasionally show flashes of brilliance.

The humans were two university students and their landlord, who clash with each other and the ferals. They include the uptight, neurotic landlord Joe (played by Mig Ayesa) who is determined to remove the ferals from his garden; and the affable science student Leonard (Brian Rooney) and medical student Robbie (Kylle Hogart), who attempt to shield the ferals from eviction, but are sometimes exasperated with their antics. There were two more recurring animal characters named Keith (a koala) and Kylie (a kangaroo). Neither of the two are feral animals, yet they both get along somewhat amicably with the Ferals and the humans.

Feral TV

The original ferals show ran for 25 minutes. Later in 1995 a five minute show called "Feral TV" was launched. It featured the puppets from "The Ferals" running a TV show under the TV boss Kerry, a loud gruff toad with an explosive temper [http://www.abc.net.au/children/feral/fancards/5.htm] , and his obsequious assistant the cockroach Rodney [http://www.abc.net.au/children/feral/fancards/4.htm] . Kerry's character is modelled on the Australian media magnate Kerry Packer, who at the time, was the owner of Channel Nine. Keith from the original show also returned for this show. The show did not attract the same level of popular interest as the original show.

After the Ferals

Although few of the human actors went on to achieve successful television careers, some of the puppet characters continue to feature regularly in ABC programming. Mixy, in particular, was used as a host introducing the shows on the ABC Kids programming block, as well as having her own show and website [http://www.abc.net.au/children/mixy/] . Rattus and Modigliana were featured in the ABC School's education maths program, "Numbers Count". Also Modigliana went on to feature as co-host of the show "Creature Features [http://www.abc.net.au/creaturefeatures]

References

See also

* List of Australian television series

External links

* [http://www.abc.net.au/children/feral/ Official website]
* [http://colsearch.nfsa.afc.gov.au/nfsa/search/display/display.w3p;adv=yes;group=;groupequals=;holdingType=;page=0;parentid=;query=424415;querytype=;rec=0;resCount=10 The Ferals at the National Film and Sound Archive]
* [http://www.mig-music.com Miguel Ayesa aka MiG's Official website]