Round the Twist: The Big Burp – excerpt

The '90s tween show Round the Twist delivers a daggy dad who lives in a lighthouse as well as a delightful deviation from your average kids TV fare. We’re talking ghosts, trees that talk, bizarre baby bumps and hypnotised chickens, all meant to entertain the parents as well as their young ones.   

In the show, based on the books by Paul Jennings, sculptor Tony Twist (played by two actors during the show’s life, in this clip by Andrew Gilbert) moves into a lighthouse with his three children. In the episode The Big Burp (2000), he’s celebrating his girlfriend Fay moving in. And not just in a small way – he's created an artwork in her honour and gathered the family around to unveil it in an unforgettably daggy moment. 

Everything about this scene is done right. From the comedic bad guy Harold Gribble (Mark Mitchell) pressuring the family to sell the lighthouse at the most inopportune moment to the awkward unveiling of the statue Love Never Sleeps to Tony's youngest having a frog in his pocket, it’s barely controlled chaos.  

But it’s Tony and his enthusiasm for life, his love for the lighthouse and his desire to build a family to live in it that make this particular episode so special. He’s so blind to the fact that his artwork is terrible as he clambers up the rickety stepladder to unveil it with such pride, you just want to hug him. 

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