''Five Times Dizzy'' is a children's novel by Australian author

Nadia Wheatley Nadia Wheatley is an Australian writer whose work includes picture books, novels, biography and history. Perhaps best known for her classic picture book ''My Place'' (illustrated by Donna Rawlins), the author's biography of Charmian Clift was ...

It was first published in 1982. In 1986 it became an Australian children's television series.

Plot summary

''Five Times Dizzy'' is about the comedy and drama of a

Greek Australian Greek Australians ( el, Ελληνοαυστραλοί, ) are Australians of Greek ancestry. Greek Australians are one of the largest groups within the global Greek diaspora. As per the 2021 census, 424,750 people stated that they had Greek an ...

family in a multi-cultural neighbourhood of inner-city Sydney. To help her

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

grandmother feel more at home, Mareka comes up with a brilliant plan to give her a pet

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of ...

Television adaptation

The mini-series ''Five Times Dizzy'' first screened on the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television ne ...

in 1986. The series was filmed on location in the inner-city suburb of Newtown and is notable for an acting role by Mary Kostakidis, who went on to become a longtime newsreader on SBS. It was also where John Doyle and

Greig Pickhaver Greig Pickhaver AM (born 1948) is an actor, comedian and writer, who forms one half of the Australian satirical sports comedy duo ''Roy and HG'' as the excitable sports announcer H.G Nelson. The award-winning duo teamed up in 1986 for the Trip ...

first met, the pair going on to establish their longstanding Roy & HG partnership.The Odd Couple
''

Australian Story ''Australian Story'' is a national weekly current affairs and documentary style television series which is broadcast on ABC Television. It is produced specifically by the ABC News and Current Affairs Department. The program first aired on 2 ...

'' 18 May 2020

Cast

* Rebekah Elmaloglou as Mareka Nikakis * Mary Kostakidis as Roula Nikakis * Stavros Economidis as Georgio Nikakis * Dominic Elmaloglou as Costa * Helen Kambos as Yaya (Grandma) *

Jane Clifton Jane Clifton (born 10 April 1949) is a Gibraltar-born Australian actress, singer, writer and voice artist. She is best known for her role in TV serial ''Prisoner'' as tough prison bookie Margo Gaffney. As a singer, she had a stint with Jo ...

as Mrs Wilson * Jim Holt as Brian Brooking * Joanne Samuel as Chris Booking * Ray Meagher * Joseph and Matthew Homshaw as the Gallaghers * John Doyle *

Awards and nominations

New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, t ...

Special Children's Book Award (1983) *Highly Commended - CBCA Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers (1983) *Honorary Diploma -

International Board on Books for Young People The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) is an international non-profit organization committed to bringing books and children together. The headquarters of the IBBY are located in Basel, Switzerland. IBBY history In 1952, Jella Lepm ...

(1983) *

AWGIE Awards The AWGIE Awards is an annual awards ceremony conducted by the Australian Writers' Guild, for excellence in screen, television, stage and radio writing. The awards began in 1967. The awards are judged by over 50 writers, most of whom are previo ...

for Best Adaptation, Children's Television Drama (for the television mini-series) (1987)

References

External links