The Coral Island (1983) Thames / ABC ( ITV)

Peterkin and Jack

The Coral Island was written by R. M. Ballantyne in 1858, and remained a popular boys adventure story for almost a century. However by the 1960's, some of the books values had become dated, its Imperialistic and Christian messages having no place in the post Suez world. So when Thames TV and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation decided to make a kids TV mini series based on the story, in 1983, it may have struck some as an unwelcome throwback to the days of Empire. But this was not quite the case. It's easy for us sitting here in 2014 to mock, but things were very different in 1983, the series was well liked, and accepted in the spirit in which it was made, concentrating on the 3 boys and their struggle for survival on a remote Pacific island. The series omits the more controversial aspects of the book such as, dealings with 'primitive savages, pirates and Christian missionary's, which apart from upsetting the 1983 PC brigade (yep, they were around even back then!), would have cost a bloody fortune to make! Instead the production team used a cast of 5 for the whole series (3 of those being the boys), and plonked them on a real desert island off the coast of Australia.
The story starts with the 3 lads, Jack, Peterkin and Ralph (played by Herr Flick from Allo Allo), rowing to a desert island as the sole survivors of a shipwreck. Ralph is posh and the other 2 are low class oiks. As you can imagine Jack and Peterkin hate the sight of Ralph and call him 'Snotty'. This situation only changes when all three have to rely on each others skills and intelligence to get by. By the end all 3 have conquered the environment they have made home, and are predictably rescued at the end.
This was probably the last chance a series like this could have been made. To begin with, a modern audience would be too obsessed with the possible homosexual undertones of  3 boys on an island. Also a remake would be forced to include a girl and a black character as two thirds of the mix to satisfy 21st century values. Sadly it's unlikely The Coral Island will ever be repeated on British TV for the above reasons, but the moral of the story is a good one, dealing with the finer aspects of humanity, cooperation, friendship, team work, inner strength and the breaking down of class barriers.