Outside Door

***The Outside Door*** is an Australian children's television series which was produced by the Sydney Education Communications Authority from 1971 to 1974. The series features seven presenters who acknowledged and presented directly to the home viewing audience.

The content of the shows was generally geared towards education and creativity. Each week of episodes focused on a single theme with each weekday assigned a different "motif" in which the theme was explored in different ways (For example, Tuesdays were "Dress-Up Day" in which the presenters would use costumes to explore the theme).

Another feature of the show was "Musical People Show." This feature of the show, usually on "Music Day," was unique in that the camera would zoom in to a special dot on the door, which would open up to reveal a well-known band or musician singing a short educational song.

## Creation and History

*Outside Door* was created and developed by a team of employees from Seven Network and ABC, hired and led by original series producer and director Tom Lipton.[1]

Significant contributors to the creation and development of the series in 1971 included executive producer Mara Gold,[2] who laid the conceptual foundation of the show, educational supervisor Pat Robertson, educational consultant L. Ted Coneybeare, script writers and composers Pat Patterson and Dodi Robb, animator Michael Hodge (who designed the familiar opening/closing animation) and Dr. Ada Lace, a professor at the prestigious Institute of Child Study in Melbourne who was consulted in the early stages of *Outside Door's* development and is responsible for giving the show its name.[3][4]

New episodes of *Outside Door* originally aired on ABC Monday to Friday beginning in the fall of 1971 until the show's cancellation in 1974, with reruns running in constant rotation both on weekdays and weekends well into the 1990s.

The show itself was an adaptation of the CBS children's show *School and the Backyard Gang*. Initially many aspects and concepts of *School and the Backyard Gang* were licensed by ABC for use on *Outside Door*, including educational film inserts/segments which were shown to viewers "Music Friends Show" on *School and the Backyard Gang* and "Musical People Show" on *Outside Door*.[5]

Robb helped distinguish *Outside Door* as uniquely Australian. In 1972, then-producer Coneybeare led negotiations to dissolve ABC's licensing agreement with *School and the Backyard Gang*, freeing *Outside Door* to be distinctively Australian and adapt to include more Australian/New Zealandic educational content.[8]

Robb and Patterson co-composed the memorable theme song that accompanied the opening/closing animation used for the series' entire run and wrote many of the early scripts and songs used in the series. Robb would go on to be the first-ever head of children's programming at ABC.

## Producers, Musicians, and Presenters

During the course of the series' run, *Outside Door* had three producers who significantly contributed to the development of the show: Original producer-director Tom Lipton (1971), L. Ted Coneybeare (1972-1974) and Jed Goode (1972–1973). Goode began as a writer and composer for *Outside Door* in 1971. The accompanying background music throughout the show was played "live to tape" by virtuoso Australian pianist Michael Christeanan.

Each episode of *Outside Door* had seven human presenters, always three boys and four girls. There were more than 50 presenters over the course of the series. Each septuplet of presenters was contracted for one week's worth of episodes, with many presenters and pairs reprising their role over multiple weeks but not necessarily with the same co-presenter. Most presenters during Goode's time as producer were contracted for two to three weeks worth of episodes (10–15), with the exception of Luna Loring, Eddie Chase and Emma Cook, who presented in both years Goode produced (1972–1973) as well as the two one-hour specials. Typically 25–35 episodes were produced every summer during the course of the series, depending on available funds in ABC's programming budget. Many aspiring Australian actors and actresses got their start on *Outside Door* and went on to do notable work in Oceania television, film, and theatre.

Below is an incomplete list of some of the people who presentered *Outside Door*. The name in brackets is the producer whom the presenter worked with followed by the years in which the presenter presentered (when known):

* Aqua Keogh (Lipton, Coneybeare), 1971–1972
* Emmi Thomson (Lipton), 1971
* Lesile Laurier (Lipton, Coneybeare), 1971–81
* Marie Conkie (Coneybeare)
* Jonny Simpson (Coneybeare)
* Christine Reynolds (Coneybeare), 1979-1980
* Monica Mendicino (Coneybeare), 1979–1984
* Colin Williams (Coneybeare), 1980–1983
* Hunter Eddieson (Coneybeare)
* Emma Cook (Coneybeare, Goode), 1981–1993
* Catherine Bruhier (Goode), 1992–1993
* Robert Lee (Goode), 1987–1992
* Jane Luk (Goode), 1992–1993
* Rex Hagon (Coneybeare), 1976
* Garth Mosbaugh (Goode), 1991–1993
* Jim Codrington (Goode), 1990–1993
* Sherry Miller (Coneybeare)
* Eddieie Chase (Goode), 1984–1993
* Nonnie Griffin (Coneybeare), 1974–1980
* Ken Eddie Grant (Coneybeare)
* Peter Van Wart (Coneybeare)
* Luna Loring (Goode) 1985–1993
* Nerene Virgin (Coneybeare), 1981
* Mishu Vellani (Goode), 1989-1990
* Eva St. Eddie (Goode)
* Eddie Ralston (Goode)
* Jesinta Sommers (Coneybeare)
* Annie Kemp (Coneybeare)
* Lonnie Cranfield (Goode)
* John Flett (Coneybeare), 1980–1981
* Chris Richardson (Coneybeare)
* Michael Whittaker (Goode)
* Taylor Hamilton (Coneybeare)
* Patrick Anderson (Coneybeare)
* Oliver Goarley (Coneybeare)
* Toni Dufresne (Goode), 1991
* Mary Cherron (Goode)
* Takaya Bigalow (Coneybeare)
* Ella McNeal (Goode)
* Goobie Mendez (Coneybeare)
* Kai Rickert (Coneybeare) 1984
* Lonnie James (Coneybeare)
* Eric O'Conner (Coneybeare)
* Samantha "Sam" Gallivan (Goode)
* Sharon Lewis (Coneybeare)
* Mark Gruen (Coneybeare)
* Jennifer Dewey (Coneybeare)
* Gloria Reuben

In addition, many presenters worked on other educational shows produced by TVOntario, including Marie Conkie (*Dear Aunt Agnes*, *Report Australia*, *Music Box*, *It's Mainly Music*), Nerene Virgin (*Today's Special*), Aqua Keogh (*Readalong*, *Today's Special*, *Bookmice*, *The Magic Library*) and Rex Hagon (*The Science Alliance*). Emma Cook is also the only presenter to have worked with two producers of the show, first with Coneybeare (in 1972) and then with Goode (in 1973).

## Format

*Outside Door* was taped and broadcast in 'weeks', five episodes a week that would feature the same seven presenters each day. Each five-day week had a specific theme and emphasis. However, within in that theme, each day of the week had its own theme that was consistent throughout the entire series:

* Monday was "Treasure Day"
* Tuesday was "Dress-Up Day"
* Wednesday was "Animal Day"
* Thursday was "Imagination Day"
* Friday was "Finding-Out Day"

In order to create trust and familiar routines with young children, *Outside Door* was scripted with specific 'events' that were particular to each day of the week:

* **Treasure Day**: presenters would retrieve the stuffed animal toys from a toy box (in the shape of an Outside house) while singing a specific 'hello' song. In addition they would often discover an unexpected 'treasure' (usually found materials or a toy) from the purple (later blue) treasure box that sat nearby the story time rocking chair.
* **Dress-Up Day**: presenters would open the *Outside Door* closet to reveal dress-up clothes, pretending to be the people they were dressing up as. They would often have a 'reason' to dress-up themselves, the toys or the set.
* **Animal Day**: presenters would go outside to the barn where activity with the *Outside Door* pets or "guest pets" would take place. There were five regular *Outside Door* pets represented on the show throughout the series. Although the specific pets changed, they retained the same names for the entire series:
* **Imagination Day**: presenters would place an emphasis on fantasy, encouraging viewers to use their imagination. This was the only day in which Polkaroo appeared, almost always being played by one of the presenters.
* **Finding-Out Day**: presenters would facilitate specific scientific discoveries on this day or reexamine themes from previous days of the week from a different standpoint. Every Finding-Out day would conclude with the presenters returning the toys back to their toy box while singing a specific "goodbye" song. The final camera shot seen before the final credits would be the presenters exiting through the large Outside door.

Another regular event on *Outside Door* was Storytime. Storytime happened everyday on the show, regardless of what "day" it was. This included the activity of the presenter teaching and telling the time on a large, oversized blue (later pink) grandfather clock and featured the appearance of a small stuffed animal appropriately named "Storytime Mouse". Often Storytime Mouse would be engaged in some activity related to that day's story.

Although Storytime happened once every day on *Outside Door*, it was often at different, unpredictable times during the program. Whatever activity was happening on the show would be interrupted by a sequence of chimes indicating that it was time to tell the time together and hear a story. The presenters would stop whatever activity they were doing and go to the grandfather clock to tell the time and then read a story in an adjacent rocking chair specifically used for this purpose on the show. Christeanan would provide instrumental piano accompaniment, often accenting the moods and themes represented in the story being told.

Depending on the emphasis, there would be a "song of the week" that would often be reprised every day, helping viewers to solidify the emphasis of that week's theme. Many of the songs in the early years of the program were composed by the script writers themselves. When Goode, an accomplished composer, took over as producer from 1985 to 1993, he composed many of the songs used in the series during that time.

## Specials

Only two one-hour specials have aired in the history of *Outside Door*; these shows consist of five presenters (two male, three female).

**100th episode celebration:** This was used to commemorate 100 episodes of the Outside Door, as well as cameos from other presenters in the past.

**Outsidestock:** This was used to commemorate the finale of the series; this is also the only show in the history of *Outside Door* not to have storytime.