The Curiosity Show was an Australian educational children's television show produced from 1972 to 1990, hosted by Prof. Rob Morrison and Dr. Deane Hutton. The show was produced by Banksia Productions in South Australia for the Nine Network. 149 episodes were produced.
From 1972 to 1980 the format was a 60 minute show presented by Rob Morrison, Deane Hutton, Ian Fairweather. The emphasis was on science but also included general craft and music. Producers were Neil Smith, Kate Kennedy White (1978-79) and James Lingwood (1980).
From 1980 the show was reduced to 30 minutes, presented by Morrison and Hutton, with emphasis on science, nature and the environment.
The Curiosity Show won the coveted Prix Jeunesse in 1982 voted by peers from around the world as the best factual program for children.
The programme placed a strong emphasis on practical demonstrations of various science topics, and included activities such as floating a ping-pong ball on a stream of air, setting off a room full of mouse traps, and freezing objects with liquid nitrogen.
Many segments described a sequence of steps to build something out of common household materials, which invariably ended with the phrase "here's one I prepared earlier". Hutton's catchphrase, after presenting a hypothesis he postulates the audience may be curious about, was to declare "well I'm glad you asked," before responding to the hypothesis. The use of household materials was initially due to the very low budget allocated for production, but this proved popular with the young audience who could easily replicate the demonstrations at home.
