This show has one of the best theme songs ever. The nostalgia of listening to it again brings tears to my eyes.

Bring it on.

As piracy is morally wrong, I suggest everyone go down to JB Hifi to purchase the series.

Thank you.

I'm not entirely sure if I've ever seen the Henderson Kids, or if I have a false memory based on random composites of largely forgotten Australian kids shows, so this will clarify this burning issue for me.

It is with some interest that according to imdb that it was produced by Alan Hardy, of the communist Hardy clan infamy. Alan Hardy's father, Frank Hardy, lived in the USSR for some time during the Cold War as a shill for the regime, and Alan's extremely obnoxious daughter, Marieke Hardy, acts in the second series playing the part of Sally Marshall. However in spite of this pedigree I don't expect to see too much communist propaganda, after all Alan Hardy's producing credits include things like All Together Now and The Bob Morrison show, about the talking dog.

Having just watched the first episode, I would like to notify everyone of this episode's

BANKCARD ALERT!!!

Having watched the first three episodes my impressions are now fairly concrete, which are as follows (spoilers):

- I was wrong when I said that I didn't expect much in the way of leftist propaganda from this Hardy production, it is pretty heavy-handed in fact. Such as from the outset it is established that the evil capitalist, Mr. Wheeler, is attempting to acquire Henderson Point, a piece of ocean side real estate upon which he wants to develop a new, but as yet unstated venture, most likely a resort since that is pretty evil on the capitalist spectrum.

- To make matters worse there are aboriginal cave paintings on Henderson Point that a local aboriginal boy has discovered, making Mr. Wheeler's plans even more evil.

- Mr. Wheeler also owns a sawmill (killing trees! evil!) which he is closing down in order to free up capital for his new venture, and is sabotaging his own business and provoking industrial disputes with his workers. Apparently Mr. Wheeler isn't astute enough to know that if he sold his sawmill as a going concern he would have far more money with which to reinvest.

- It's fairly easy to see why Paul Smith, who plays Steve Henderson, never had much of a subsequent career, he's vastly outclassed in any scene that he shares with the young Ben Mendelsohn, and also Nadine Garner, if not quite as dramatically. Once Paul Smith's pretty-boy looks faded he would've lost his fanbase of teen girls and leering old gays.

- Kylie Minogue sure has worked on her voice since the Henderson Kids and Neighbours, she has completely lost her squeaky bogan accent. Her voice coach is probably one of the best in the industry.

- "Tamara" is a rather embarrassing name for Nadine Garner's character, like "Charlene", it's one of those neologistic first names that defined the 1980s, now such names are only used by drag queens.

- In the third episode there is a rather dark storyline where Paul Robinson from Neighbours groom Tamara and her friend for prostitution and "modelling". Her friend is abducted and taken to the paedophile's lair, where she is told she needs something to sooth her nerves, and one of the paedophiles takes a box out for this purpose. I call it "The Kiddy Fiddler's Toolkit", though I can only wonder what else is in it:

Nice touch putting it on top of a Penthouse magazine.

Spoilers ahead:

The cliffhanger of episode three, where Steve and the abo fall off their boat, is quickly resolved when they are rescued and there are no repercussions that follow with regards to the ongoing story, so it seems the incident was just wedged in for a bit of excitement.

Hippies arrive in Haven Bay which make for a rather entertaining story. They demand that Mr. Wheeler shuts his sawmill down because it's evil and all, and they claim to speak for Australia. What simple times they were when shutting down Australian industry merely saved Australia, rather than the entire world as Juliar Gillard and Bob Brown latterly assert. The question of why they only just now take an interest in the trees of Haven Bay when it is implied that the town only came into existence by virtue of its timber industry, is never asked. Nonetheless we get to have fun as Ben Mendelsohn yells "Ah get ya haircut ya big fairy" while driving by, and then destroys their camp.

The episode was written by one of the Hardy clan, Galia Hardy, so it's hard to know whether Mr. Wheeler's aligning his interests with that of the hippies is just unintentional satire, or a prophecy that one day merchant banks would promote environmental alarmism in order to gain trillions from carbon trading.

Saving forests is not the only grassroots political activity afoot in Haven Bay:

It was only recently that I made the connection that Tamara's friend Regina is played by Jane Hall, the same Jane Hall who has been on Neighbours for the last few years. Jane Hall now looks nothing like what she did as a teenager, arguably she looks even better now, and certainly more glamorous.

It was only as the credits rolled at the end of each episode when Jane Hall's name kept popping up that I started to click who it was.

Returning to episode three, Regina is nearly molested by Paul Robinson from Neighbours:

But flash forwards twenty-five years, Jane Hall becomes one of the leads in Neighbours, playing Rebecca Napier, and MARRIES Paul Robinson:

It's like Regina never wanted Tamara to save her.

It gets spookier still, in the Neighbours backstory it is stated that Rebecca had a brief affair with Paul Robinson in the 1980's, and they rekindle their relationship when they meet again. Could this episode of the Henderson Kids be that brief affair alluded to?