Round the Twist: Chooks and hypnosis

Title:

Round the Twist: Chooks and hypnosis

NFSA ID

713061

Year

1992

Summary

Dad (Richard Moir) tries to impress Miss James (Robyn Gibbes) with his pet chook Russell. Linda (Joelene Crnogorac) hypnotises the chook and then she hypnotises Pete (Ben Thomas) to act like a chook every time he hears the word ‘now’. Unfortunately Dad confiscates the book before Linda finds out how to reverse the hypnosis and Bronson (Jeffrey Walker) is going to make the most of it. Summary by Annemaree O'Brien.

CURATOR'S NOTES

Close-ups, lighting, bright colours, along with visual and verbal jokes are all used to great effect in this comical scene which characterises the variety and clever humour of this series. Dad’s chook is a great example of how something normal can be turned into the ridiculous in Round the Twist. There is something inherently funny about naming a chook Russell, and showing a close up of its head.

Round the Twist synopsis

Pete has been hypnotised by Linda and every time someone says the word 'now’ he behaves like a chicken for ten seconds. Unfortunately, Linda can’t undo the hypnosis so Pete gets into some serious trouble at school.

Round the Twist curator's notes

This is the first episode of the second series of Round the Twist, introducing new actors in many key roles. All the young actors changed as the original child actors were now too old to play their characters. The actors playing the roles of Mr Gribble and Matron Gribble also changed with Mark Mitchell taking on the role of Mr Gribble with his customary gusto. Mitchell created a larger than life Mr Gribble and remained a constant throughout the following series. This change of cast didn’t appear to impact on the popularity of Round the Twist.

Round the Twist Series Two first went to air on the ABC on 20 March 1993.

Notes by Annemaree O'Brien