Our famous fictional friends
Remembering those Brisbaneites who never were. Plus: More media manoeuvres.
My recent item about Tegan from Doctor Who* got me thinking about other famous people who never lived but had a strong connection to the River City.
So, here in no particular order, are fictional characters who populated the Brisbane of books, movies and TV series.
Dante and Johnno: In his autobiographical novel Johnno, David Malouf tells of the friendship between characters Dante and Johnno in the 1940s and 50s. Brisbane Grammar school, the old city tram system and other city landmarks feature in the narrative.
Richard Derrington: The central character in Nick Earls’s Zigzag Street is a lawyer in his late 20s who lives in his grandmother’s house in the eponymous Red Hill locale. Earls has written many other books based in his adopted home town.
Danny O’Dibble: This jolly “leprechaun” presented children’s shows on Channel 0 alongside Sherry Wheeler and another character, Baron Von Weirdo. He was performed by Darryl Boyd.
Boris the Black Knight: Eric Summons played this character on Boris’s Breakfast Club on Channel 7, before being replaced by …
Agro: The “talking bathmat”, the brainchild of radio star Jamie Dunn. He secured national fame with his Cartoon Connection TV show in the 1980s. Dunn, who also created flamboyant weatherman Hector Pascals, still performs live shows in character.
Gordon Buchanan: In Andrew McGahan’s potent first novel Praise, Gordon is a young man whose path to self-discovery begins with quitting his job at a bottle shop to live life on the dole in a seedy New Farm flat.
Eli Bell: Trent Dalton’s Boy Swallows Universe introduced us to Eli Bell, inspired by the Ipswich-born author’s own dark childhood. It inspired a 2021 play produced by the Queensland Theatre Company and an upcoming Netflix series.
Rachel Hill: She is the heroine of Rebecca Sparrow’s The Girl Most Likely, where the references include Indooroopilly State School, St Peter’s, the Valley pool and Brisbane International Airport — all in the first few pages.
Bluey and her family: Despite the fact that they are anthropomorphic blue heeler dogs, Bluey, Bandit, Chilli and Bingo from the children’s cartoon Bluey provide an authentic glimpse into life in the River City. Brisbane landmarks, famous and humble, turn up all the time in the show.
Crikey the Clown: A character created by Ian Calder, a long-time radio and TV sidekick to Jamie “Agro” Dunn.
Cyril S Snake: Handled by David Napier, he was the star of Channel 9’s children’s program Happy Go Round.
Mr Fourex: Yes, he’s the mascot for a brewery, but few characters evoke our city like the winking man in the XXXX boater.
Click Zimmerman: The musical alter-ego of radio star Wayne Roberts, whose popular 4BK show in the 1970s also gave us Deirdre Slack of Slacks Creek, performed by Majella Marsden.
Charlene Robinson (Mitchell) from Neighbours: She travelled north from Melbourne’s Ramsay Street to the Queensland capital when star Kylie Minogue left the soap opera to go on to bigger, better things (in Britain rather than Brisbane).
Lola and Brownie. In Criena Rohan’s novel, set in the 1950s, a young couple from the country move to the big smoke of Brisbane determined to make a life together. (In the movie, Lola was played by the aforementioned Kylie Minogue.)
Napoleon “Bony” Bonaparte: Created by Arthur Upfield, Bony (sometimes Boney) is a First Nations Australian police detective inspector who uses traditional and modern skills to solve crimes. He works across Australia but lives with his wife Marie in suburban Banyo.
Chris Gaines: US country singer Garth Brooks created this alter-ego when he wanted to explore other musical genres. Why is Gaines from Brisbane? Perhaps a nod to real-life country-rocker Keith Urban?
Honorable mentions include Marvel characters Lifeguard and Slipstream, brother and sister Mutants who grew up in Surfers Paradise. The appeared in the X-Men comics, as did another Mutant with a Gold Coast origin, Eva Bell.
Over to you, now. Who have I missed out?
*The 60th anniversary Doctor Who, plus the upcoming Christmas special and the new Season 1 (they’ve started counting from the beginning again) will be available on Disney Plus.
MEDIA MOVEMENTS
I recently speculated here* about the effect on Brisbane media of ARN’s bid for competing radio network Southern Cross Austereo (SCA), which also owns regional TV assets. Late last week, Australian Community Media (ACM) expressed its interest in a merger with SCA, setting up a battle with ARN. Now, Seven West Media has played its hand, revealing it owns a 14.8% chunk of ARN. How this will pan out is anyone’s guess, but it would appear that B105 and Triple M will have new owners one way or the other sometime next year
Meanwhile, all eyes will be on the radio ratings survey results to be released this Thursday, November 16. The numbers could determine the fate of several big names — some of whom don’t yet have contracts or confirmed gigs for next year.
*Further to that article, it’s occurred to me that an ARN takeover of SCA might not be the outcome Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O are looking for. They are reportedly leveraging competition for their services between ARN and SCA to boost their salaries. If one of the deals on the table now goes through, the duo’s next pay offer might not be quite as generous as they hope. However, Sandilands’ other aim — of his Sydney breakfast show being broadcast nationally — is still a strong possibility no matter the outcome of the bidding war for SCA.