H Is For...Halfway Across The Galaxy And Turn Left!

This was an Australian kids TV show back in the 90's and my favourite ever to come out of the country. I was hooked on this after viewing just the intro, love that music! I even missed the first so many episodes but still went back every morning during the school summer holidays to watch it. I even managed to hook my friends on the show.

Halfway Across The Galaxy And Turn Left was a book written by Robin Klein which later was produced for TV. The story is about a group of aliens (who look just like humans) who flee from their home planet of Zyrgon after Father (that's his name) cheats the lottery 27 times in a row! Just slightly obvious then! They land on Earth and are hunted by the law enforcers of Zyrgon, led by the Chief played by Bruce Spence. A creepy guy with pointy hips! No, seriously. His second in command is Officer Jady played by Kerry Armstrong who looks completely different in the role! These are two classic characters and my favourites!

Arriving on Earth the family have to change their names as they are a bit abnormal. Well at least some of them. X, Qwrk and Dovis are the children and Father and Mother are the parents...understatement of the week right there! X changes her name to Charlotte, Qwrk to George and Dovis to Astrella...something like that, a bit odd I know. Father becomes Mortimer and I can't really remember Mother...maybe Renee? Or am I completely making that up?

The strange thing about this family is that the parents don't make decisions, that's left to the family organiser, the youngest which turns out to be X. So she decides what time everyone goes to bed etc. This puts added pressure on her so she's not very happy at times and takes everything seriously. I bet there are a lot of kids who'd love to send their parents to bed so they can stay up and do whatever!  

Trying to fit in on Earth isn't exactly easy, I'm still struggling myself, and a few people become suspicious of the family. George for example is a genious so excels at

The Jackson Family

school and playing the violin like an expert so he raises a few eyebrows. A few people know the family's secret such as siblings Jenny and Colin who befriend the alien's and later become targets of the law enforcers. 

Of course the Jackson family (their adopted name) miss their relatives back on Zyrgon and stay in touch by ways of telecommunication. They do is by pinching two fingers together and pressing them to the side of their heads. This sends a thought beam up to space so they can talk to whoever they like. Whether this be Aunt Hecla or the guy the girls all love, Lox.

The amount of times I've tried this too! Haha! My friends and I enjoyed this show so much that we used to play it but our version was called 'Halfway Across The Galaxy And Turn Bonkers!' which pretty much sums us up! I even went through a phase where I believed I was an alien and was searching for my ship to go home! 

The imagination of kids eh???? I still need to find that ship though...

We used the wall on my drive as our fictional space ship and my job was to make sure that everything was alright in the cargo! The side of my house was the petrol station where we'd stop to fill up with petrol for the journey. Ah man they were great times!

Anyway...the punishment for crimes on Zyrgon is to be thrown into the lava- lovely! So yeah we pretended that the floor was sometimes lava and had to be avoided at all costs.

This still remains my favourite kids TV show and Australia do it well. There are plenty to come from that country and I'm sure there are more classics I've missed throughout the years. 

I just wish this was released on DVD. You'd have one customer right here! Please someone out there make it happen!

Meanwhile, here's the intro:

Next time you're travelling halfway across the galaxy...don't forget to turn left!