australian television information archive

Series 1

The honourable Penelope Townes is a 13-year-old aristocrat. She lives with her widowed mother, Lady Diana, and their housekeeper, Miss Mossop, at Townes Hall, a stately but crumbling mansion in Wiltshire, England. When Penelope discovers an Australian genie called Bruce and his son Baz, a junior genie, who offers to make all her wishes come true, she naturally expects her family fortunes to improve. They do… sort of.

Bruce is the Genie of the Black Opal which Sir Claude, Penelope's great, great, great grandfather, brought back to England from Australia last century. And Bruce and Baz have languished inside the opal, at the bottom of a trunk at the back of the attic, for 131 years. Penelope is the last of a long line of masters who have given Bruce and Baz a hard time over the centuries. Masters deserve to be tricked and foiled at every opportunity.

Penelope and Bruce are personality opposites. Bruce is as laid back as Penelope is proper. Penelope has the power and Bruce has the magic. Bruce must grant her wishes, but he can interpret their intent to his own advantage. And Junior Genie Baz is always keen to help out his dad with a wish. So when Penelope wants to be rich, Bruce promptly transports her 'Down Under' where she has inherited Townes Downs, 800 square kilometres of Australian outback. Penelope hates Australia and is constantly trying to get back to England. Bruce and Baz, of course, think Townes Downs is heaven on Earth. Nearby there's a special place where the opal was found, over a 1,000 years ago. If Bruce can get back there, with the opal in his hand, he can set himself and his son free. In 1853, Sir Claude won the opal from one Hans von Meister. Sir Claude became rich and von Meister became resentful. That resentment has been inherited by Otto von Meister and his 16-year-old nephew Conrad. They believe the Black Opal is rightfully theirs. They run "Crocodile Otto's Outback Experience" — a tour business that covers a lot of Townes Downs. When Penelope returns to reclaim the station, Conrad and Otto see the opal and realise that they have a chance to regain their lost treasure and their family pride.

The Genie From Down Under pits master against slave in a comedy about a battle of wits and wills and a clash of cultures. Bruce and Baz can't be free but Penelope can't quite control either of them.

Wishing and Hoping

Episode 1.1
Written by Steve J. Spears
Directed by Esben Storm

When upper class English girl Penelope Townes finds a magic opal which contains two Australian genies, Bruce and his son Baz, she thinks all her problems are over, and that she can have anything she wants. Bruce however has other ideas.

With: Randall Berger as Mr Hemingway, Natalie Playford as Mrs. Hemingway, Bob Hornery as Minister, Judith Stewart as Stuffy Matron, Chris Krishna Pillay as Caterer, Allan Ferguson as Organist

It's My Opal… and I'll Cry If I Want To

Episode 1.2
Written by Christine Madafferi
Directed by Jeremy Swan

Tour operator Otto von Meister and his nephew, Conrad, arrive at Townes Downs with a load of Russian tourists. When he learns about the opal, Otto recalls that it belonged to their family years before and he and Conrad are desperate to get it back.

With: Kylie Belling as Trish Emu, Kristof Kaczmarek as Boris

Where It's At

Episode 1.3
Written by Christine Madafferi
Directed by Esben Storm

Bruce wants to become human but to do this he must take the opal to the cave where it was mined over a hundred years before. He sets out to trick Penelope into visiting the cave.

Good Cop, Bad Genie

Episode 1.4
Written by Christine Madafferi
Directed by Brendan Maher

Penelope is desperate to win the Cross Country and she does — without any help from the genies. Penelope wishes that Conrad could see her success. He does — but not quite how Penelope would have liked.

With: Emily Milburn as Marcia, Jacinta Stapleton as Sophie, Ian McFadyen as Bubbles; Lewis Fiander as Inspector Grave, Tasos Petousis as Michael, Caitlin McDougall as Sarah, Ian SMith as Race Judge, Kylie Belling as Trish Emu (uncredited)

Customs

Episode 1.5
Written by Jeremy Swan & Esben Storm
Directed by Jeremy Swan

Penelope, Lady Diana and Mossie are arrested by a Customs Officer when they return to England with 20 million pounds provided by the genies. That exact amount has just gone missing from the Royal Mint.

With: Kylie Belling as Trish Emu, Ian McFadyen as Bubbles, Emily Milburn as Marcia, Jacinta Stapleton as Sophie; Craig Mercer as Ticket Scalper, Sam Brown as Football Supporter #1, Bob Halsall as Football Supporter #2, Pat Bishop as Madge, Rebecca Harrington as Kylie, Michael Carmen as Customs Officer, Lewis Fiander as Inspector Graves, Takahito Masuda as Japanese Tourist

Larceny

Episode 1.6
Written by Steve J. Spears
Directed by Brendan Maher

Bruce helps Otto and Conrad get the opal because he thinks they will help him return to Australia. Instead, the von Meisters sell it for 25,000 pounds. It's now up to the genies to sort the mess out.

With:Ian McFadyen as Bubbles, Gerald Lepkowski as Jeweller

The Eternal Quadrangle

Episode 1.7
Written by Mandy Hampson
Directed by Esben Storm

Penelope is furious when Lady Diana's wish for a holiday in Australia is granted and they once again find themselves at Townes Downs. To punish Lady Diana and Bruce, Penelope wishes her mother and Otto would fall madly in love.

With: Kylie Belling as Trish Emu, Ian McFadyen as Bubbles, Emily Milburn as Marcia, Jacinta Stapleton as Sophie; Stephen Scully as Reverend Walter, Tammy McCarthy as Petra, Jason Khoo as Eskimo #1, Sammy Chen as Eskimo #2

Nobody's Perfect

Episode 1.8
Written by Christine Madafferi
Directed by Brendan Maher

In an effort to stop Bruce continually misinterpreting her wishes, Penelope writes down her Perfect Wish. All goes well — Penelope is perfect, Lady Diana is rich and Marcia is ugly. However, the genies have the last laugh.

With: Emily Milburn as Marcia, Ian McFadyen as Bubbles; Magda Szubanski as Doris, Anna Lee as Marcia's Mother, Sally-Anne Upton as Hairdresser, Mark Neal as Director's Assistant, Matt Hayden as Cameraman, Andrew Bayly as Sound Recordist, Nicholas Crawford-Smith as Grip/Gaffer, Jasper Bagg as Boom

The Triple Agent

Episode 1.9
Written by Christine Madafferi
Directed by Esben Storm

Conrad is convinced that there is something strange about Bruce and tries to catch him out. In the meantime everyone else becomes convinced that Conrad is the strange one.

With: Kylie Belling as Trish Emu, Nique Needles as Barry

A Tale of Two Cities

Episode 1.10
Written by Philip Dalkin
Directed by Jeremy Swan

Conrad realises that Bruce and Baz are genies and decides to work on Baz by taking him to an amusement park. When Conrad steals the opal, Baz helps Penelope to get it back. Her first wish is for Conrad to forget the whole incident.

With: Kylie Belling as Trish Emu, Ian McFadyen as Bubbles, Reg Evans as Army Tourist #1, George Fairfax as Army Tourist #2

School Daze

Episode 1.11
Written by
Directed by Steve J. Spears

Penelope wishes herself back in England to attend Marcia's birthday party but she finds that she has to sit a 'catch-up' exam due to her prolonged absences spent in Australia. Nonetheless, she heads off to Marcia's party convinced that, with the help of the magic opal, she will pass her exam the next day.

With: Kylie Belling as Trish Emu, Ian McFadyen as Bubbles, Emily Milburn as Marcia, Jacinta Stapleton as Sophie; Melissa Lowndes as Tania, Stephanie Daniel as Headmistress, Ross Thompson as Australian School Inspector, Tessa Mitchell as Australian Teacher, Darcy Neave as Athol, Eamonn Kelly as Guy, Ian Toyne as English School Inspector

Triple Treat

Episode 1.12
Written by Philip Dalkin
Directed by Jeremy Swan

Identical twins give Otto and Conrad the idea to make a copy of the opal and swap it with Penelope's opal. With a real opal and two replicas, there is a lot opal rubbing, but not much magic.

With: Kylie Belling as Trish Emu, Ian McFadyen as Bubbles, Richard Aspel as Twin #1, Jason Blake as Twin #2

It's Still Magic

Episode 1.13
Written by Steve J. Spears & Esben Storm
Directed by Esben Storm

Bruce gets the opal back to the cave and is about to free himself and Baz but Penelope convinces him not to leave his human friends in the lurch. Later, when Bruce and Diana kiss, it's some other form of magic entirely.

With: Kylie Belling as Trish Emu, Ian McFadyen as Bubbles, Emily Milburn as Marcia, Jacinta Stapleton as Sophie; Sue Ann Post as Woman Tourist, Christine Stephen Daly as Woman Tourist #2, Patrick Sheridan as Passer By, Daryl Pellizer as Hobo, Allon Baron as Reporter