Fast Forward: Skippy Parody

Skippy has become such a touchstone in Australian popular culture that it's open to all kinds of lighthearted parody.

In this segment by the comedy team at Fast Forward (Series 3, Episode 13), a very 'stuffed' Skippy is seen performing voodoo rituals in Waratah National Park – without a permit! – and then has an exorcism performed on her which itself is a parody of a classic scene from The Exorcist (William Friedkin, USA, 1973).

In its day, Fast Forward (1989–92) was Australia's highest-rating television sketch comedy show and winner of numerous Australian television awards. Part of what endeared it to audiences was its lack of pretension, which is very much evident in this clip.

The humour may be unsophisticated but it raises laughs because it's so unexpected to combine a children's show like Skippy with adult horror like The Exorcist.

The performances are grossly exaggerated but the characters were so well known to Australian audiences to still be recognisable, even 20 years after the series first screened, thanks also to broadcast repeats of Skippy in the 1970s and '80s.

Notes by Stephen Groenewegen and Adam Blackshaw