I remember watching reruns of 'The Terrific Adventures of the Terrible Ten' on TV when I was a kid. I grew up in Canada so I don't know if this show played in the U.S. or not, but it was definitely broadcast in Canada.
I have only 3 episodes of this programme on 16mm film in my collection so my comments are based on these episodes...I can't remember much about the ones I saw as a kid.
First: I'm very impressed with the production values of this programme. The musical score is excellent and the photography is well done also.
Second: The stories are juvenile, but appropriately so as this was a kids' programme. I found them cute and suitable for any age kids. All the kids have noticeable Australian accents.
The stories centre around ten kids who have established their own town (Ten Town) and run it themselves. It has its own hospital, town hall, radio station, bank, general store, etc. It looks like a bunch of clubhouses kids would build and is very cute.
Now where these kids' parents are is another story. But who cares when you're a kid watching this stuff!
Another mystery: In all 3 of my episodes there are never 10 kids present. Where are the rest of them?
My episodes are:
'Two Days To Zero' deals with a stolen rocket fuel formula. The formula is made up of, among other things, bicarbonate of soda and hot tea (and they make it on a kitchen table...oh boy!). The kids save the day by making their own rocket fuel and naturally foil the thief too.
'Marooned' in which the kids go to an island to cut Christmas trees and their boat drifts off. A raft is built and the kids calculate currents and such to get to their lost boat.
'Mystery At Wallaby Creek' Wallaby Creek is a town a few miles from Ten Town. A burglar/firebug is plaguing the town and everyone thinks a person who dresses up as a cat is the culprit. The kids from Ten Town help prove otherwise.
Each episode was originally made in two parts. Later (for reruns I imagine) the two parts were combined to make each story complete in itself. The original episodes were approximately 15 minutes. The combined ones run at around 25 minutes...Hey! 5 extra minutes for advertisers you know! IMDb has erred slightly on the title of this series. All three of my films state the title as 'The Terrific Adventures Of The Terrible Ten'.
The programmes were made in Melbourne, Australia by Pacific.
I've never seen this on video ever. Maybe I'll have to transfer some of my films one of these days. Copyrights are probably expired by now.
