The Indigenous-meets-wildlife kids TV series premiere is being heralded by rave reviews from media outlets.
Featuring Wiradjuri boy Kamil Ellis as the new co-host alongside Kayne Tremills, Series II takes kids on another 13 high-octane, adrenalin-fueled adventures across Aboriginal Australia in search of endangered wildlife.
The critics have already voted overwhelmingly with their remote controls – Bridget McManus in the Sydney Morning Herald leading the pack by describing the series as “spirited, enlightening and entertaining fun” and hailing Kamil as the next Bindi Irwin. “Australian wildlife television has a new prodigy,” she wrote, describing him as “a firecracker”.
Kayne and Kamil have a “great big brother-little brother rapport,” said The Sunday Age, adding that the series is a nice mix of “Aussie education and travel” while Queensland’s Sunday Mail said there are “some fabulous scenery and wildlife insights to be gained from this Aussie adventure series”.
Series II of Bushwhacked! has already been sold by the Australian Children’s TV Foundation to Super RTL in Germany and an episode has been selected as a finalist at the prestigious Prix Jeunesse awards in Munich mid-year.
It comes on the back of a successful Series I, which has also been sold to Super RTL, as well as Discovery Asia and Middle East Media.
Mint Pictures’ Adam Kay and Dan Goldberg said they were thrilled by the initial response to Series II – from the host broadcaster (ABC3), the international distributor (ACTF), the TV critics and the international marketplace.
“We think it’s bigger, better and bolder than Series I, and therefore we hope the kids vote with their remote controls in even bigger numbers than last year. Importantly, while we take kids on 13 mesmerising, high-octane adventures across Aboriginal Australia, we’re also leaving them with key cultural lessons about our First Australians,” they said.
