Pre-production
Following the May 1967 announcement of the imminent axing of the highly popular Independent Television System children's programme The Magic Circle Club, the ABC immediately approached its producers with a proposal to immediately take over production of the show. This was very quickly thwarted when TEN's then owner Reg Ansett refused to relinquish his network's rights to the show's name and premise, forcing Philipp and Howson to devise a lookalike.
Adventure Island's creation was credited to both Philipp and Howson, although Liz Harris recalls Howson verbalising the show's entire premise and setting, as well as naming all the characters, during a short promotional aeroplane flight in mid-1967.
Read more about this topic: Adventure Island (TV series)