By Cody Giunta
Hilarious, relatable and filled with more puppets than people, The Ferals is one of the most audacious Australian television shows ever.
For the non-Millennials among you, The Ferals was a 1994 ABC children’s sitcom featuring housemates Robbie and Leonard, along with landlord Joe King, being constantly frustrated with four feral animals squatting in a shed.
Cunning rodent Rattus, diva cat Modigliana, slow-witted dog Darren and kid-like rabbit Mixy were puppets with their own unique personalities. But together, their humour was pure chaos and not what you’d expect from a children’s TV show.
Its bizarre and low-key dark moments include the Ferals punching on in the first scene of the series, Modigliana facing her own mortality after a grim-looking skull x-ray, and Rattus accidentally swallowing a terrorist bomb.
For series creator Wendy Gray, that blend of humour was very intentional.
“I was very much trying to pushing it to be a little bit less, I guess, conservative or, you know, sort of like dull, really,” Gray said. “And wanted to make it funny and fun and a little bit out there because I knew that kids would really respond to that.”
Though it was a live-action series aimed at kids, The Ferals surprisingly never featured any child actors.
Gray believes that featuring children would have an effect on the show’s dynamics and humour. The show’s human characters found the Ferals chaotic, and any adult viewers wouldn’t want to be anywhere near them.
“They (the human characters) weren’t old, but they were trying to get on with their lives, and they were just annoyed by these feral animals living in their shed,” she said.
“If it had been kids, the kids might have been delighted to have feral animals living there.”
The central conflict of the series between the Ferals and Joe the Landlord hits differently when watching today. Gray believes that Joe would likely exploit the Ferals even further in 2024, given the current housing crisis.
“He would probably have, you know, two or three people in each room in his house, wouldn’t he? He’d definitely be trying to charge the Ferals money. I mean, in a way they were sort of squatters.“
As relatable for today’s adults as The Ferals may be, Gray still had children in her sights while crafting the series. The show’s humour undoubtedly resonated with them, and stays in the memory of the 90s kids who watched it.
“You watched it when you were nine. You were the absolute target market.”
Featured image: Mixy and Modigliana, with puppeteers Emma De Vries and Mal Heap, series creator Wendy Gray and puppet master Tina Matthews. Photo: Wendy Gray
