The Genie from Down Under
Tags: psychedelic

Plot synopsis:
Penelope Townes, a 13-year-old British girl, comes into possession of an opal pendant when she explores the dusty attic of her family's decaying mansion. The opal contains two Australian genies, Bruce and his son Baz. Typically, an episode revolved around the consequences of one of Penelope's flippant wishes, or the efforts of an outside party to steal the opal (and thus, the genies).
There is also a strong subplot involving Bruce's efforts to manipulate Penelope's wishes in order to become free from the opal – something which Penelope, who is snobbish and sees the genies as her property, is too selfish to allow.
When Penelope inherits a property in Australia (Townes Downs), Bruce and Baz are very happy because it means that they can spend more time in their own country. When they go to inspect the property, they meet Otto von Meister, who runs tours of outback Australia. His family had once owned the opal, and according to Otto, Penelope's great grandfather had stolen it from his family years before. When he finds out that Penelope has the opal, he tries to steal it from her. He often enlists his nephew Conrad to help him. Penelope falls in love with Conrad, which gives Otto far more opportunity to steal the opal.
Things are further complicated when Bruce (the genie) falls in love with Penelope's mother, Lady Diana Townes. She is already supposedly in love with Lord 'Bubbles' Uppington-Smythe, however, it is revealed that this is only because of his money, and she in turn falls in love with Bruce.
In the end, Penelope accepts that Bruce and her mother are in love, and gives the opal to her mother, allowing Bruce to reveal his true identity. Bruce and Diana end up marrying.

Review: Oz strikes again. Australia has produced some absolutely cracking kids TV series that anyone of a certain age will remember extremely fondly: Girl from Tomorrow, Round the Twist, Pugwall and many more. These series were quirky (sometimes downright loopy), well made and are a great testament to the fact that good kids TV is smart and sharp, hires good actors, makes careful use of often tight budgets and doesn't talk down to its audience. The Genie from Down Under fits well into this mould being an amiably bonkers premise brought vigorously to life through thoroughly well made production.When Penelope Townes (a perfectly appalling Alexandra Milman) comes across a magic opal in a trunk in her rambling old house she releases two genies: Bruce and his son Baz. It's an immediate culture clash since Penelope and her mother Lady Diana (the gorgeous Anna Galvin, who also played Marion in 'The New Adventures of Robin Hood' for a bit) are breathtakingly posh Brits while the well meaning but hopeless genies are Aussie beauts who just happen to have special powers. Penelope's extreme selfishness combined with the genies' talent for mischief and incompetence in equal measure leads to giggles aplenty. The fact that Bruce is absolutely head over heels in love with Penelope's mother also complicates matters for all concerned. It's 'I Dream of Jeannie' for the 90's with a twist and I thoroughly recommend it.Keep putting out stuff like this ABC - you beauty.