The Terrific Adventures of the Terrible Ten

Like the other commentators, I was a young lad when I saw this series, almost FIFTY years ago, on our 19" black-and-white Sobell (whatever happened to THEM?) telly. And although I haven't seen it since, it remains. In England, it WAS just called "The Adventures Of The Terrible Ten".

Twenty-five-minute trips to a pretty, sunny land - with little kids riding on horses, to perky musical accompaniment.

But oh, how the definition of the word "terrible" has changed. Those "little terrors" were angels, compared to today. Tragically nowadays, little kids really CAN be terrible - stealing cars, setting fire to houses, etc.

Maybe it's time this series was given an airing again (if it still exists) to remind people just how far DOWN we've all come...

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.

I was a youngster growing up in country Victoria when this show was filmed, and later became Ten Town. I was actually in a few episodes as an extra only. The show was filmed in Country Victoria not far from Macedon just off the Calder Highway. We (extras) didn't get much time with the main actors only told what to do when particular scenes were shot. In one of the episodes I wore an old football jumper and when show later on TV were able to pick myself out from the rest quite easily. The town (if I remember) was rather small and made from timber and painted but what a fun place to muck around in and enjoy with other mates. I am led to believe that it was later burnt down.

I, too, remember this as I was born and raised in Canada. I don't offhand recall the episodes mentioned in the earlier review, but I do remember a sort of rival kids gang to the Ten, led by one Spider McGlurk. Spider's group was always outsmarted, though in later episodes, the two groups actually worked together to solve a mystery.

I remember one episode in which the Ten (and possible McGlurk's gang) took over a submarine (!), successfully submerged it, and then surfaced to a tumultuous welcome in Sydney Harbour.

I think we tended to see a maximum of 7 of the Ten at any one time. And no girls, if memory serves.

I have very vague memories of this when I was around 8 or 9 in the early 60s.

I'm sure we used to play a game in the playground based on this series which we called Ten Town Tommy.

My only recollections of the programme are a lot of trees and the fact that the boys used walkie talkies in the bush - which I was incredibly jealous of and I remember fantasising about getting hold of a pair to use with my mates.

I'd love to see an episode or two to see if anything comes back to mind...