I Can Jump Puddles

I Can Jump Puddles is a 1981 Australian television mini-series based on the 1955 autobiographical series of the same name by author Alan Marshall. Adapted for television by screenwriters Cliff Green and Roger Simpson, the series starred Lewis Fitz-Gerald, Adam Garnett, Tony Barry, Julie Hamilton, Ann Henderson, Lesley Baker, Olivia Brown, Debra Lawrance and Darren MacDonald.

Several prominent television actors also had supporting roles including Lisa Aldenhoven (The Young Doctors), Kaarin Fairfax (Bed of Roses), Maurie Fields (Skyways), Terry Gill (Bluey), Reg Gorman (Fergus McPhail), Matthew King (Dogstar), Julie Nihill (Blue Heelers), Maureen Edwards and Dennis Miller (A Country Practice) and Jason Donovan and Cliff Ellen (Neighbours).

A large part of supporting and minor roles also featured cameo appearances by cast members of Prisoner such as Esme Melville (Beryl Hudson), Peter Curtin (Ian Mahoney), Ian Smith (Ted Douglas), Christine Amor (Jean Vernon), Fiona Spence (Vera Bennett), Edward Hepple (Sid Humphrey), Sigrid Thornton (Roslyn Coulson), Leila Hayes (Jeannie Baxter), Sandy Gore (Kay White), Mary Ward (Mum Brooks), Anne Phelan (Myra Desmond). Future cast members included Billie Hammerberg (May Collins) and Pepe Trevor (Lexie Patterson).

Synopsis

Based on Alan Marshall's three-part autobiography I Can Jump Puddles (1955), This is the Grass (1962) and In Mine Own Heart (1963), the film tells of Marshall's childhood growing up in rural Victoria during the turn of the century. Contracting polio soon after attending school, the story retells the obstacles he faced as a child in trying to overcome his disability. As an adult, he later encounters prejudice from his debilitating disease while looking for work in Melbourne.

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