The Leyland brothers were an English-born Australian duo of explorers and documentary filmmakers, consisting of Michael James "Mike" Leyland, MBE (4 September 1941 – 14 September 2009) and Malcolm Rex "Mal" Leyland, MBE (born 2 October 1944). The Leylands were best known for their popular television show, '' Ask the Leyland Brothers'', which aired from 1976 to 1980 and 1983 to 1984.Channel Surfing Safari
The

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...

, 21 April 2003 Through their exploits the brothers introduced many Australians to the sights of the Australian

outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than Australian bush, the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastli ...

Biography

Early life

In 1950, when Mike was eight and Mal was five they migrated with their parents from Hitchin, North Hertfordshire, England to

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle, also commonly referred to as Greater Newcastle ( ; ), is a large Metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the second-most-populous such area of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the cities of City of Newcastle, Newcastle and Ci ...

, Australia. Their parents ran a local store. Mike would later attend Wallsend Public School. The brothers grew up watching documentaries by

Armand Armand refer to: People * Armand (name), list of people with this name *Armand (photographer) (1901–1963), Armenian photographer *Armand (singer) (1946–2015), Dutch protest singer *Sean Armand (born 1991), American basketball player *Armand, ...

and

Michaela Denis Michaela Denis ( Holdsworth; 28 August 1914 – 4 May 2003) was a British-born wildlife documentary film-maker and presenter, who worked with her husband, Armand Denis. Life Michaela Holdsworth was born in London, and brought up by her White move ...

. When aged 15, Mike won a trip to the

1956 Olympic Games 1956 Olympics refers to both: *The 1956 Winter Olympics, which were held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy *The 1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were ...

in Melbourne from a cartoon-drawing competition, and his father bought him a 16mm movie camera to take along. The teenage brothers would later use the camera to film themselves and their friends as they explored outback New South Wales. They also planned to use the camera to film a journey to

Uluru Uluru (; ), also known as Ayers Rock ( ) and officially gazetted as UluruAyers Rock, is a large sandstone monolith. It outcrop, crops out near the centre of Australia in the southern part of the Northern Territory, south-west of Alice Spri ...

in their father's

Morris Minor The Morris Minor is an economy car produced by British marque Morris Motors between 1948 and 1971. It made its debut at the Earls Court Motor Show, London, in October 1948. Designed under the leadership of Alec Issigonis, more than 1.6 ...

; a mechanic friend persuaded them to trade in the car for an old

Land Rover Land Rover is a brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by British multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR builds Land Rovers in Brazil ...

. Once there the brothers then attempted to drive the vehicle up the side of the rock but were unsuccessful.

Documentary films and television series

Mike started his media career aged 21 as a news cameraman at

NBN Television NBN is an Australian Australian television broadcasting, television station based in Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle, Australia. The station was inaugurated on 4 March 1962 as the first regional commercial television station in New Sout ...

, whilst Mal, age 18, was working as a cadet at Newcastle's now-defunct newspaper ''

The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...

''. The Leylands soon realised there existed a wide public interest in seeing the Australian

, and starting in 1961 they set out on their own to make documentary films that explored Australia. The first, ''Down the Darling'', was released in 1963, and saw the brothers becoming the first people to travel the length of the

Darling River The Darling River (or River Darling; Paakantyi: ''Baaka'' or ''Barka''), is the third-longest river in Australia, measuring from its source in northern New South Wales to its confluence with the Murray River at Wentworth. Including its long ...

in an aluminium

dinghy A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or Towing, towed by a Watercraft, larger vessel for use as a Ship's tender, tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they diffe ...

. For their next adventure, 1966's ''Wheels Across a Wilderness'', the brothers decided to film a 5-month

4WD A four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, is a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case provi ...

trek from the western-most point of Australia to the eastern-most point of the country, crossing straight through the arid interior while bringing along a sample of water from the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

all the way with them. During the journey the Leylands became the first filmmakers to capture

during the wet season. One of the two 1956 Land Rover Series I 4WDs the brothers completed their journey with is now on display at the National Motor Museum of Australia. A third expedition, 1969's ''Open Boat to Adventure'', saw them retrace the maritime voyage of

Matthew Flinders Captain (Royal Navy), Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer, navigator and cartographer who led the first littoral zone, inshore circumnavigate, circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then ...

from Darwin to Sydney in a small open boat, which took six months to complete and along the way saw Mal electrocuted and the brothers rescued from rough seas by a prawn trawler. “What a cocky, arrogant pair of smart-arses Mike and I were", Mal Leyland later reflected in his 2015 memoir. A fourth film, ''The Wet'', followed in 1972, documenting a journey through the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

Kakadu National Park Kakadu National Park is a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia, southeast of Darwin. It is a World Heritage Site. Kakadu is also gazetted as a locality, covering the same area as the national park, with 313 people recorded l ...

via Darwin. The Leylands initially edited their films in a makeshift editing suite in their basement. The brothers arranged film screenings at small cinemas and halls to show their documentaries, and would net up to $15,000 ($201,913 in 2020) from a two-week showing. The popularity of their films lead to several television series being developed, the first being 1970's ''Off the Beaten Track''. Their most popular TV series, '' Ask the Leyland Brothers'', ran on Australian television on the

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and 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 the five main free-to-air television ...

from 1976 to 1980, and again from 1983 to 1984. The show involved viewers writing in with questions and requests for places they wanted to see the brothers visit, in which they would do so in a

Volkswagen Kombi Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it is today after World War II by British A ...

van (and later two 4WD vehicles), often along with their wives and children. All 156 episodes were shot in the

Super 8 mm film Super 8 mm film is a motion-picture film format released in 1965 by Eastman Kodak as an improvement over the older "Double" or "Regular" 8 mm home movie format. The formal name for Super 8 is 8-mm Type S, distinguishing it from the ...

format, and edited in the style of a home movie. The show became extremely successful, and at its height attracted 2.5 million viewers an episode,Joyce, James. (15 September 2009). "Blazing a daggy trail and loving it: The Adventurers". ''

The Newcastle Herald The ''Newcastle Herald'' (formerly branded as ''The Herald'') is a local tabloid newspaper published daily, Monday to Saturday, in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It is the only local newspaper that serves the greater Hunter Region and ...

'', Australia. p4. which was about 40% of the audience at the time. The Leylands became famous celebrities, with viewers often recognising the brothers and their wives as they scouted for locations, sometimes forcing them to go incognito. Satirical television host

Norman Gunston Norman Gunston is a satirical TV character performed by Australian actor and comedian Garry McDonald. Norman Gunston was primarily well known in his native Australia, and to a lesser extent, the United States during the mid to late 1970s. He wa ...

called them “the

Starsky and Hutch ''Starsky & Hutch'' is an American action television series, which consisted of a 72-minute pilot movie (originally aired as a '' Movie of the Week'' entry) and 92 episodes of 50 minutes each. The show was created by William Blinn (inspired ...

of the dead centre” during an interview with the brothers on a 1976 episode of his popular variety program. The success of the series provided many Australian television viewers with their first look at some of the lesser-known parts of the Australian outback as well as

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, and its theme song remains well known amongst older Australians. A documentary series called ''Leyland Brothers' World'' followed in the late 1980s. Rather than viewers writing in and asking the Leyland brothers to visit a particular place in Australia, it focused on exploration by the Leyland brothers and their families around Australia in a double-decker bus.

Leyland Brothers World theme park, bankruptcy and split

Although the continued success of their films and television series made the brothers wealthy, they made efforts to spread out their business interests by investing in property and looked to leverage their name in the hospitality and tourism sector. In November 1990 the Leyland brothers opened the Leyland Brothers World theme park at North Arm Cove on the

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Mid North Coast The Mid North Coast is a country region in the north-east of the state of New South Wales, Australia. The region, situated 416km north of Sydney, covers the mid northern coast of the state, beginning from Port Stephens at Hawks Nest to as far ...

. The park contained amusement rides, a playground, a

roadhouse Roadhouse may refer to: Premises * Roadhouse (premises), a mixed-use premise to service passing travellers * Receiving house or roadhouse, a theatre for touring theatre companies * A truck stop in rural Australia Arts and entertainment Film * '' ...

and a 1/40 scale replica of

along with other attractions, as well as a bush camp with a capacity to host 144 guests. Despite an estimated annual attendance of about 400,000 people, in July 1992 BDO Nelson was appointed receiver and manager of the park when the Leylands failed to meet their loan commitments to the

Commonwealth Bank The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), also known as Commonwealth Bank or simply CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of fi ...

. In a 1997 article in ''

The Sunday Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...

'', Mike Leyland said that the initial $1 million loan had blown out due to rain during construction and was further compounded by a 27% interest rate. The theme park was sold to new owners in November 1992 for $800,000, and as of continues to operate as the Great Aussie Bush Camp. The brothers went bankrupt. The failure of Leyland Brothers World as well as personal tensions that simmered in the years beforehand led to a personal and professional rift between the two brothers and they went their separate ways, dissolving their 31-year filmmaking partnership. In 2015, Mal Leyland told ''

Australian Story ''Australian Story'' is a national weekly current affairs and documentary style television series which is broadcast on ABC Television (Australian TV network), ABC Television. It is produced specifically by the ABC News and Current Affairs, AB ...

'' that "in hindsight, Leyland Brothers World was a huge mistake, the biggest mistake we ever made." Contrary to media speculation that they weren't on speaking terms, in the years afterwards the brothers still saw each other regularly, and even shared information about their new independent television projects on rival networks.

Later life

After the 1992 bankruptcy, Mike and his second wife Margie ran a New Lambton

video store A video rental shop/store is a physical retail business that rents home videos such as movies, prerecorded TV shows, video game cartridges/discs and other media content. Typically, a rental shop conducts business with customers under condit ...

and worked for the park's new owner. In 1997 Mike sold part of his

Tea Gardens Tea Gardens is a locality in the Mid-Coast Council local government area, in Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. At the Tea Gardens had a population of 3,288, with most of the population resident in the town of Tea Gardens a ...

property to fund the production of a far-north Queensland film for Channel Seven. Mike and his wife Margie later signed a contract with Seven for a further 12 one-hour documentaries, the first of which aired in 1998 in '' The World Around Us'' slot. The series of documentaries were later released on DVD under the title ''Travel All Over The Countryside''. On 14 September 2009, Mike Leyland died from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

; he was 68 years old. Australian explorer Mike Leyland dies age 68] Mal had met with his brother shortly before he died, suggesting that they go on one last adventure. Mike is survived by his wife Margie, his daughters Kerry, Sandy and Dawn, his stepdaughters Sarah and Alison, and seven grandchildren. Mal and his wife Laraine ran a photo processing lab in Queensland and in 1997 launched a bi-monthly travel magazine, ''Leyland's Australia''. In 2000 Mal produced the television show ''Leyland's Australia'', with Laraine, daughter Carmen and her husband Robert Scott, in which they travelled around Australia in an RV and a camping trailer. In April 2000 Channel Nine cancelled the show after six episodes but the series was then picked up by

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...

. Mal and Laraine have also written travel stories for ''ROAM'' magazine, a number of novels and cookbooks, and in 2015, Mal published his memoirs, entitled ''Still Travelling''. Laraine died on 22 November 2018 in

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

aged 75. In 2019 Mal became a travel correspondent for ''

Studio 10 ''Studio 10'' was an Australian morning talk show on Network 10 which aired from 4 November 2013 to 22 December 2023. Its final hosts were Angela Bishop, Narelda Jacobs and Tristan MacManus. It aired between 10am and noon on weekdays and a hi ...

'', and as of 2021 contributes to ''The Camping & Off Road Radio Show''.The Camping & Off Road Radio Show
/ref> In 2023 he announced plans to film a project with daughter Carmen.

Filmography

Documentaries

*''Down the Darling'' (1963) – A trip from

Mungindi Mungindi is a town and locality on the border of New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland, Australia. The town is within Moree Plains Shire in New South Wales. Within Queensland, the locality is split between the Shire of Balonne (the western part) ...

, Queensland, to

Mildura Mildura ( ) is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 at the 2021 census. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point, Merbein and Red ...

, Victoria, following the 2,300-kilometre course of the

, part of Australia's longest river system, in a small aluminium boat. An accompanying book was titled ''Great Ugly River'' and was published by Lansdowne Press in 1965. *''Wheels Across a Wilderness'' (1966) – Driving two Land Rovers from

Steep Point Steep Point is the westernmost point of mainland Australia. It is located within the Gascoyne region of Western Australia, north of the state's capital Perth, in the proposed Edel Land National Park. It is also a part of the Shark Bay World ...

, Western Australia, across the centre of the continent to

Cape Byron Cape Byron is the easternmost point of the mainland of Australia, located in New South Wales. It is about east of the town of Byron Bay, New South Wales and projects into the Pacific Ocean at 28.6335° S, 153.6383° E. A lighthouse is situated t ...

, New South Wales. The trip was also published as a book, ''Where Dead Men Lie''. *''Open Boat to Adventure'' (1969) – A six-month journey from Darwin to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

in an 18-foot open boat, following the coast around

Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territorial capital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compa ...

and Cape York. The book was titled ''Untamed Coast''. *''The Wet'' (1972) – Documents a journey to what is now called

via Darwin. There were no sealed roads to the north-west part of the

at the time. It also provides footage of a Darwin before

Cyclone Tracy Severe Tropical Cyclone Tracy was a small but destructive tropical cyclone that devastated the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin, in the Northern Territory of Australia, in December 1974. The small but developing easterly storm was or ...

''Travel All Over The Countryside''

''Travel All Over The Countryside'' was originally a series of one-hour documentaries commissioned by the Seven Network in the late 1990s and produced by Mike and Margie Leyland. The films were later released on DVD by Flashback Entertainment. *''Lure of the Red Centre'' *''Border Country'' *''The Stormy Coast'' *''Outback Coast'' *''Along and Beyond the Tanami Track'' *''Tracks of the Past'' *''Travel Across The Cape'' *''Travel to the Lost City'' *''Trek Around The Pilbara'' *''Kakadu and Beyond'' *''Cape York Adventure''

Television series

*''Off the Beaten Track'', 1970–1972 *''Trekabout'', 1974–1975 *'' Ask the Leyland Brothers'' –

, 1976–1980 and 1983–1984. *''The Leyland Brothers Great Outdoors'' –

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

, 1980–1984 *''Leyland Brothers' World'' * ''Leyland's Australia'' –

, 2000

Bibliography

*''Still Travelling: Mal Leyland''. Mal Leyland (2015) *''Gold fever: Is it the perfect crime?''. Mal Leyland (2000) *''Gypsy's Animal Alphabet''. Mal and Mike Leyland (1982) *''Mike and Mal Leyland's Australian Animals A to Z''. Mike and Mal Leyland, Golden Press (1980) *''Trekabout''. Mike and Mal Leyland, Golden Press (1977) *''Leyland Brothers Australian Wildlife''. Mike and Mal Leyland, Golden Press (1976) *''Leyland Brothers Australia''. Mike and Mal Leyland, Golden Press (1975) *''Further Off The Beaten Track''. Mike and Mal Leyland, Golden Press (1974) *''Off The Beaten Track''. Mike and Mal Leyland, Golden Press (1973) *''Untamed Coast: Darwin to Sydney in an 18 ft. Boat''. Mike and Mal Leyland, Lansdowne Press (1969) *''Where Dead Men Lie: An Adventurous Journey that Spanned a Continent''. Mike and Mal Leyland (1967) *''Great Ugly River: A Modern Adventure in Australia’s Outback''. Mike and Mal Leyland (1965)

Honours

In 1980 the brothers were awarded the MBE for services to the film industry. In 2019 Mal Leyland received the Lifetime of Adventure award from

Australian Geographic Australian Geographic is a media business that produces the ''Australian Geographic'' and Australian Geographic Adventure magazine, australiangeographic.com.au and operates, either itself or business partners, Australian Geographic stores, Aus ...

References

External links

* * {{IMDb name , id= 0508054 , name= Mal Leyland
Mike Leyland was an Inspiration
1941 births 1945 births 2009 deaths 20th-century Australian explorers 20th-century Australian writers 21st-century Australian writers 21st-century memoirists Australian documentary filmmakers Australian television presenters Australian explorers Australian people of English descent Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire Sibling filmmakers Brother duos Uluru 20th-century British explorers