The Aunty Jack Show cast

This image immortalises the motley crew of characters from the hit 1970s Australian comedy sketch series The Aunty Jack Show, including (from left to right): Garry McDonald as the gum-chewing, freckle-faced Kid Eager; Sandra McGregor as superhero-dressed Flange Desire; Grahame Bond as Aunty Jack, wearing a golden boxing glove; and Rory O’Donoghue as lanky Thin Arthur. The show they brought to life was violent, grotesque and riotously funny, and quickly attracted a cult following. The show concerns a ragtag group of eccentric friends dominated by the overbearing, moustachioed Aunty Jack whose catchphrase, ’I’ll rip yer bloody arms off!', passed into common usage.

The show was set in Wollongong, a working-class city in New South Wales. The location was the butt of many jokes during the run of the series. The Aunty Jack team trained their satirical sights on the city in 1974 with the mini-series Wollongong the Brave and album Aunty Jack Sings Wollongong.

Norman Gunston (played by Garry McDonald) was a character first created for a sketch on The Aunty Jack Show. An inept television presenter from Wollongong, Gunston went on to have his own popular TV show that premiered in 1975. Gunston even won the 1976 Gold Logie – the only fictitious character to do so (to date).