Adventures In Rainbow Country

1 9 6 9 (Canada/UK/Australia)
39 x 25 minute episodes

15 year old  Billy Williams and his younger sister Hannah lived with their mother Nancy (played by the late Lois Maxwell - Miss Moneypenny of James Bond fame) at a hunting  and fishing lodge near Lake Huron in Rainbow Country, a popular wilderness area of Northern Ontario, Canada. The lodge was built by Billy's father Frank, who had disappeared when his plane went down while he was prospecting for gold. 

Although still a teenager, Billy was an accomplished wilderness guide, scuba diver, angler, white-water canoeist, photographer, marksman, rock climber, skydiver and bass player in his rock group The Thunderbirds. Billy had a mop of shaggy blonde hair and always wore a mohair sweater, a denim jacket and jeans (even on the hottest summer days). 

Billy's best friend was Pete Gawa, a native Canadian (Ojibway) who also had many outdoor skills (which led me to believe as I was growing up that every Canadian kid could do all this stuff!). The inseparable pair experienced an endless adventure after adventure, thwarting jewel thieves, kidnappers, defectors, hijackers, the military, witch doctors and even the Devil himself (in the episode Lac du Diable).

The series was an international co- production of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Television Films Ltd. of Britain and the Australian Broadcasting Company.  Unfortunately the show met with critical disappointment.