Billy Connolly's World Tour of Australia
Billy Connolly's World Tour of Australia is the second in a line of ‘world tours’ that follow comedian Billy Connolly on his various travels across the globe. Filmed in 1995, Connolly takes the viewer on a scenic and informative tour of Australia, intercut with scenes from his stand-up comedy act at various venues around the country. The tour takes in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin, Alice Springs and Fraser Island. On the way, Connolly also experiences and demonstrates several Australian customs, traditions, and attractions, including swimming with the dolphins in Perth, eating a pie floater in Adelaide, and several museums and galleries, most of which feature some form of Aboriginal art.
Episodes
Runtime: 40m
A personal account of Billy's four-month trip Down Under, combining documentary footage with performances from his sell-out shows. The first programme sees him climbing to the top of Sydney Harbour Bridge and paying a fleeting visit to the home of one of the country's most popular artists - and it isn't Rolf Harris
Runtime: 40m
Billy continues his Antipodean adventure, visiting La Perouse and the capital Canberra, where he finds a city seemingly populated entirely by politicians and civil servants, before travelling to Sydney for a breathtaking climb up the famous Opera House's sails.
Runtime: 40m
The comedian continues his Antipodean odyssey in New South Wales, beach-fishing for salmon on the coast of industrial city Newcastle, where he also performs to an appreciative audience. He also visits the Sydney studio of late artist Brett Whiteley and the grave of world champion boxer Les Darcy
Runtime: 40m
Billy admires the sights and sounds of Melbourne, visiting the famous jail at in which Australia's own Robin Hood, Ned Kelly, was executed, and exploring an unusual sanctuary designed by sculptor William Ricketts, where Aboriginal and Western cultures merge
Runtime: 40m
Billy's Antipodean odyssey continues as he takes in Perth and visits Adelaide, where he enjoys an invigorating dip in the ocean with dolphins, samples a local delicacy known as a floater - a pie swimming in pea soup - and is overjoyed by a surprise visit from members of his family on his 53rd birthday
Runtime: 40m
Billy visits Brisbane, travels to the world's largest sand island where he swims in picturesque Lake McKenzie, and fulfils a lifetime's ambition to loop the loop. After witnessing a Queensland tradition, the comic believes he has found the answer to homeowners' prayers
Runtime: 40m
Billy treks into the Outback to visit the opal mining town of Coober Pedy, where he discovers ingenious locals have found relief from the heat by building their homes underground. Later, he visits Alice Springs and samples unusual foods such as dried kangaroo scrotum
Runtime: 40m
The comedian reaches his final destination, Darwin, where he arms himself with bait in a bid to lure hungry crocodiles inhabiting the Adelaide River. Later, he joins Tiwi Aborigines on a boat trip to Bathurst Island and taste-tests such local delicacies as mud crabs, mangrove worms and barbecued frill-necked lizards, then braves a storm to go fishing for barramundi
