The Adventures of Sam is an Australian children's animated television series, written by Ken Kelso, that aired on the ABC in 1999.
The series ran for 13 episodes and is produced by the Australian Film Finance Corporation and Southern Star Entertainment in association with the ABC. It was also well known for its theme music by Nerida Tyson-Chew which was nominated for several awards. The series was also released on three videos in 1999 by PolyGram Video each containing four episodes featuring all episodes except for the final episode "Begin Again". It also aired on Toon Disney and The Disney Channel in the United Kingdom, TV2 in New Zealand, Kids Central in Singapore, Arutz HaYeladim in Israel, K-T.V. World in South Africa, France 5 in France, Disney Channel in Malaysia and RTÉ2 in Ireland being shown on the long running children's block The Den.
Premise Set in 1840, it follows a sea-faring boy named Sam Donahue as he goes on many adventures around the world while trying to find his brother Tom and discovers new worlds and different cultures.
Voice cast Actor Role Episodes Justin Rosniak Sam Donahue 11 episodes Emma Jane Fowler Bridie Branscombe 2 episodes Lewis Fitz-Gerald Captain Billy Branscombe 2 episodes Katharine Cullen Min / Pelau 2 episodes Penne Hackforth-Jones The Dragon Empress 1 episode Michael Craig 1 episode Keith Alexander (as Keith Buckley) 2 episodes Sam Wilcox 2 episodes Walter Grkovic 1 episode Anthony Wong 1 episode David Mackennal 2 episodes Bob Baines 1 episode Joy Hopwood 1 episode Noeline Brown 1 episode Scott McGregor 2 episodes Ace Matters 1 episode Graham Matters 2 episodes David Downer 1 episode John Sheerin 1 episode Stephen Shanahan 2 episodes Jon Pollard 2 episodes Paul Smyth 2 episodes David Whitney 1 episode John Derum 1 episode Diana McLean 2 episodes Rachel King 2 episodes Mitch Matthews 1 episode Colin Lee 1 episode Lee Perry Episode: "Moon Daughter"
Episode listing Escape (29 January 1999) Moon Daughter (5 February 1999) The Forbidden City (12 February 1999) Fire on the Water (19 February 1999) Sea Raiders (26 February 1999) Jungle Ghost (5 March 1999) The Sultan's Palace (12 March 1999) The Queen's Move (19 March 1999) Castaway (26 March 1999) A Strange Reunion (2 April 1999) Not Quite Paradise (9 April 1999) (Note: This episode was nominated for Best Children's Television Program at the AFI Awards in 1999) My Brother's Keeper (16 April 1999) Begin Again (23 April 1999) (Note: Final episode and the only one that was never released on home video in Australia)
Home media Video releases Australia Release name Release date Classifaction Publisher Format Language Subtitles Notes REF Adventures of Sam Vol 01 17 February 1999 G Polygram Video PAL English None Includes episodes 1 - 4 Adventures of Sam Vol 02 17 March 1999 G Polygram Video PAL English None Includes episodes 5 - 8 Adventures of Sam Vol 03 16 April 1999 G Polygram Video PAL English None Includes episodes 9 - 12
DVD releases Italy Release name Release date Publisher Format Language Subtitles Notes REF Le Avventure Di Sam 1 December 2008 Digivision PAL English, Italian None Includes episodes 1 - 4 combined, with only a single opening and ending sequence. Le Avventure Di Sam 2 1 December 2008 Digivision PAL English, Italian None Includes episodes 5 - 8 combined, with only a single opening and ending sequence. Le Avventure Di Sam 3 1 December 2008 Digivision PAL English, Italian None Includes episodes 9 - 13 combined, with only a single opening and ending sequence.
References
External links (Theme Song) The Adventures of Sam- the Official Website
The Adventures of Sam at the National Film and Sound Archive