# The Adventures of Sam

The Adventures of Sam is an Australian children's animated television series, written by Ken Kelso, that aired on the ABC in 1999.
The series ran for 13 episodes and is produced by the Australian Film Finance Corporation and Southern Star Entertainment in association with the ABC. It was also well known for its theme music by Nerida Tyson-Chew which was nominated for several awards. The series was also released on three videos in 1999 by PolyGram Video each containing four episodes featuring all episodes except for the final episode "Begin Again". It also aired on Toon Disney and The Disney Channel in the United Kingdom, TV2 in New Zealand, Kids Central in Singapore, Arutz HaYeladim in Israel, K-T.V. World in South Africa, France 5 in France, Disney Channel in Malaysia and RTÉ2 in Ireland being shown on the long running children's block The Den.

## Premise

Set in 1840, it follows a sea-faring boy named Sam Donahue as he goes on many adventures around the world while trying to find his brother Tom and discovers new worlds and different cultures.

## Voice cast

| Actor | Role | Episodes |
| Justin Rosniak | Sam Donahue | 11 episodes |
| Emma Jane Fowler | Bridie Branscombe | 2 episodes |
| Lewis Fitz-Gerald | Captain Billy Branscombe | 2 episodes |
| Katharine Cullen | Min / Pelau | 2 episodes |
| Penne Hackforth-Jones | The Dragon Empress | 1 episode |
| Michael Craig | | 1 episode |
| Keith Alexander (as Keith Buckley) | | 2 episodes |
| Sam Wilcox | | 2 episodes |
| Walter Grkovic | | 1 episode |
| Anthony Wong | | 1 episode |
| David Mackennal | | 2 episodes |
| Bob Baines | | 1 episode |
| Joy Hopwood | | 1 episode |
| Noeline Brown | | 1 episode |
| Scott McGregor | | 2 episodes |
| Ace Matters | | 1 episode |
| Graham Matters | | 2 episodes |
| David Downer | | 1 episode |
| John Sheerin | | 1 episode |
| Stephen Shanahan | | 2 episodes |
| Jon Pollard | | 2 episodes |
| Paul Smyth | | 2 episodes |
| David Whitney | | 1 episode |
| John Derum | | 1 episode |
| Diana McLean | | 2 episodes |
| Rachel King | | 2 episodes |
| Mitch Matthews | | 1 episode |
| Colin Lee | | 1 episode |
| Lee Perry | | Episode: "Moon Daughter" |

## Episode listing

* Escape (29 January 1999)
* Moon Daughter (5 February 1999)
* The Forbidden City (12 February 1999)
* Fire on the Water (19 February 1999)
* Sea Raiders (26 February 1999)
* Jungle Ghost (5 March 1999)
* The Sultan's Palace (12 March 1999)
* The Queen's Move (19 March 1999)
* Castaway (26 March 1999)
* A Strange Reunion (2 April 1999)
* Not Quite Paradise (9 April 1999) (Note: This episode was nominated for Best Children's Television Program at the AFI Awards in 1999)
* My Brother's Keeper (16 April 1999)
* Begin Again (23 April 1999) (Note: Final episode and the only one that was never released on home video in Australia)

## Home media
### Video releases
#### Australia

| Release name | Release date | Classifaction | Publisher | Format | Language | Subtitles | Notes |
| Adventures of Sam Vol 01 | 17 February 1999 | G | Polygram Video | PAL | English | None | Includes episodes 1 - 4 |
| Adventures of Sam Vol 02 | 17 March 1999 | G | Polygram Video | PAL | English | None | Includes episodes 5 - 8 |
| Adventures of Sam Vol 03 | 16 April 1999 | G | Polygram Video | PAL | English | None | Includes episodes 9 - 12 |

### DVD releases
#### Italy

| Release name | Release date | Publisher | Format | Language | Subtitles | Notes |
| Le Avventure Di Sam | 1 December 2008 | Digivision | PAL | English, Italian | None | Includes episodes 1 - 4 combined, with only a single opening and ending sequence. |
| Le Avventure Di Sam 2 | 1 December 2008 | Digivision | PAL | English, Italian | None | Includes episodes 5 - 8 combined, with only a single opening and ending sequence. |
| Le Avventure Di Sam 3 | 1 December 2008 | Digivision | PAL | English, Italian | None | Includes episodes 9 - 13 combined, with only a single opening and ending sequence. |