Review of Round The Twist: Series 3

Introduction

`Have you ever, ever felt like this? Where strange things happen - are you going round the twist?`

Filling a niche in the market between the mighty `Eerie Indiana` and Oz`s very own early 90s seminal-kids-TV-hit `Pugwall`, Round the Twist mixed base level toilet humour with surreal Antipodean antics. First screened in the UK only 5 years ago, the penultimate series of the CBBC fave charts the exploits of the Twist family, and runs with the bizarre baton it inherited from its predecessors.

However, it differs in one very slight aspect - the cast are almost entirely different! Luckily for the producers, they managed to find replacements that looked pretty much perfect, and from that point on, it`s business as usual. This includes elder son Pete getting a tree pregnant by urinating up against it, the kids setting free an ice cream slave and, personal favourite, cheeky tyke Bronson`s penis turning into a propeller - thus giving him a healthy advantage in a forthcoming swimming race.

As I say, business as usual.

Video

The picture quality is very good throughout, with the 4:3 screen ratio to be expected for a children`s TV show.

The visual aspects of the series are impressive for what it is. For example, the special effects and CGI, as crude as they may be to the older viewer, are nice touches and would only enhance the viewing experience for children.

Audio

With arguably one of the greatest theme tunes ever heard on the television, it`s hard to fault the musical element of the DVD - even if no other audio features stand out. Have you heard the word about the Bird and the spider? No? You really should read more.

Features

Unfortunately, the producers of the disc have deemed it unnecessary to feature anything other than a few galleries. Therefore, we get all the Episode Synopsis, `Meet the Cast`, a photo gallery and the obligatory `Where are they now?` page. The latter reveals that, disappointingly, none of the cast went on to steal Lou`s car in Neighbours.

Most tellingly, also included amongst the extras is a `Nostalgia page`, listing what was hot in the year 2000 (remember the Bomfunk MCs?)! This is as indicative of the intended demographic for the DVD as anything could be. That is, of course, unless it`s aimed at adults who happened to be in space that particular year - which would certainly run with the surreal theme of the program.

Conclusion

One of the main strengths of `Round the twist` is that, despite taking its cues from many other shows from around the English-speaking world, it manages to remain extremely Australian. From the coastal setting and scenery to the use of the words `ripper` and `dingo`, the show`s routes remain undeniable.

Not that this helps to rubbish any stereotypes; the often joked about cliché of the vulgar and offbeat Aussie is very firmly in existence throughout the series. Yet such attributes are what should make it such an immediate hit amongst children, and amongst the adults who aren`t afraid to admit to being ever so slightly juvenile.

Indeed, there will be a large amount of twenty-somethings who will dismiss the later series as `not as good as the original`. Thankfully, this is simply not the case; series 3 benefits from being set later than the original early 90s episodes, insomuch as it is the world in which we presently live - complete with mobile phones, the Internet and post-millennial angst.

The upshot of this is that, in an age of 24-hour news channels and anti-mystery, the permanently deranged antics of the Twists prove that, for the mean time at least, not all is always quite as it seems.