The Henderson Kids
The Henderson Kids is an Australian television series made by Crawford Productions for Network Ten between 1985 and 1987. It was created and storylined by Roger Moulton, who also wrote 5 episodes in the first series and 2 episodes in the second series.
Synopsis
The series follows teenage siblings Steve and Tamara. They are forced to leave the city and move to the country to live with their uncle Mike after their mother Alice is hit by a truck and killed. Mike is a police officer in the fictional town of Haven Bay.The Henderson kids make a new life in Haven Bay and make friends with the local gang. They were Ted Morgan, Colin "Cowboy" Clarke, Charlotte "Char" Kernow and Brian "Brains" Buchanan.
Steve and Tamara defend the family land, Hendersons' Point, against the schemes of ruthless businessman Ashley Wheeler. To compound matters, Steve falls in love with Wheeler's daughter Sylvia.
Guest stars
Several well known actors played guest roles in the series. They included Tottie Goldsmith, Kevin Harrington, Peter O'Brien, Stefan Dennis, and Jane Hall who, like Minogue, Kilpatrick and Jones, went on to appear in Neighbours. Antoinette Byron also had a role in the series.Filming
The Haven Bay set footage was filmed in Birregurra, Victoria.Series two
A second series, set in the fictional bayside suburb of Westport followed in 1987. This had Steve and Tamara living in the city again, with their father Walter "Wal" Mullens. They had a new gang of friends, including Vincent "Vinnie" Cerantonio as the leader of the Brown Street Boys, twins Carol and Marty Summers, and Brian "Brains" Buchanan and Trevor Cathcart, both holdovers from the original series.Other central characters were the Henderson's next door neighbours Helen Marshall and her 9-year-old daughter Sally, their dad's shady business partner Harry and his henchman Spider, Sgt. Javorsky of the Victorian police, Brown Street Boy Mick Dalton and the Westport High School 'snob' Miranda Kilsyth.
The Westport footage was filmed in Williamstown, Melbourne.
Awards
Actress Nadine Garner won a Logie Award in 1985, and a Television Society of Australia Penguin Award for her portrayal of Tamara Henderson.DVD releases
A total of 24 episodes were produced. In 2007 Madman Entertainment released two 3-DVD sets of the series: The Henderson Kids and The Henderson Kids II. The DVD extras are a 13-minute TV promo for series 1 on the first The Henderson Kids DVD set and a short "goof reel" from series two on the DVD set The Henderson Kids II.| DVD name | Format | Ep # | Discs/Tapes | Region 4 | Special Features | Distributors |
| The Henderson Kids I | DVD | 24 | 3 | 2007 | 13-minute TV promo for series 1 on the first | Madman Entertainment |
| The Henderson Kids II | DVD | 24 | 3 | 2007 | Short Goof Real | Madman Entertainment |
| The Henderson Kids I | DVD | 24 | 3 | 2012 | N/A | Crawford Productions |
| The Henderson Kids II | DVD | 24 | 3 | 2012 | N/A | Crawford Productions |
International broadcasts
Both series were screened in the UK during 1989 on Channel 4. It was also screened in Poland.The whole series was screened in New Zealand on TVNZ.
The series aired Sunday evenings at 7:30 pm on GBC TV in Gibraltar where the series found much success, becoming the topic of conversation every Monday morning in schools.
It also aired in Greece under the title The Henderson Legacy on the state TV channel, ERT2.