Scriptwriter, Tim Bain during his visit to schools and libraries in Federation Shire last week. Pictured with students from Mulwala Primary School.
Children across the shire had a very special treat last week when multi-award-winning scriptwriter Tim Bain visited the region.
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Tim has written hundreds of episodes on programs that rate among the best children’s television in a generation – shows like Bluey, Fireman Sam, Postman Pat, Thomas the Tank Engine, Bob the Builder, PJ Masks, and Kangaroo Beach, which he created.
He was at Mulwala Library last Thursday where the true extent of his achievements was lost on about 50 students from Mulwala Kindergarten and Primary School.
But they knew his characters and were brimming with questions, like “why don’t characters in children’s TV shows ever die?” and “how do the shows get to the other side of the world?”, and his personal favourite, “do you want me to tell you about every pet I have?”.
Bluey is the most popular television show in the world.
It is created, written and designed by Australians and screened in more than 140 countries in 2025.
For the uninitiated, Bluey is a six-year-old female cattle dog who lives with her four-year-old sister, Bingo, and her Mum and Dad, Chilli and Bandit.
Bandit, a blue heeler, works full-time as an archaeologist (digging up bones) and is loved by audiences for his patient, but playful parenting style.
Chilli works part-time in airport security, and being more pragmatic than Bandit, she balances his wild, imaginative games with real-world boundaries.
Together they help their two daughters navigate life’s big questions and small dilemmas through play.
Kangaroo Beach had more than 35 million plays on ABC Kids and iView in its first year and now screens on Nick Jr, Paramount Plus, TVO and Discovery Channel.
Writing scripts for children’s shows, Tim says, involves groups of writers gathered round the table, and brainstorming ideas, often from their own personal and relatable experiences, to create problems for characters to solve and mistakes for them to make.
Tim wrote the Bluey episode called Mount Mum and Dad, inspired by his own hangover.
“Characters need to have special qualities, but also flaws,” he said.
“Sometimes really good stories come from real life, from what’s happened at home, with your family, your brothers or sisters or at school.
“Other people in the audience can relate and think ‘oh, that happened to me as well’.
“I think that’s why Bluey is so popular, because we can all see our own family, or our own school.”
“I think that’s why Bluey is so popular, because we can all see our own family, or our own school.”
The children were very familiar with Tim’s work and his characters.
Being a writer on some of the best children’s television programs in the world, began with a dash of luck after making the move to London 15 years ago.
“I think I got lucky; I was in the right place,” Tim said.
“They were making shows like Bob the Builder, Fireman Sam and Thomas the Tank Engine… my chiropractor knew someone at the production office and I got onto Fireman Sam first.”
Tim first began writing during childhood in the tiny town of Freshwater in rural Victoria.
“We were on a block of land with lots of trees, but not many friends, so I was often entertaining my younger sister with stories and puppet shows,” he said.
“At the same time, I was consuming a lot of Saturday morning TV, but there wasn’t a lot of Australian stuff being made until Round the Twist came out.
“It was being shot not far from where I lived, and one of the boys from school played Pete Twist.
“That’s when I realized we could make that sort of quality stuff on a world scale... and that maybe I could have a go.”
From Freshwater to becoming a multi-award-winning script writer, it might be some time before the children of Federation Shire realise just who had come to visit them last week.
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