Episode 393 Part 2 (final episode) of Simon Townsend's Wonder World. It was recorded on 22 April 1987 and has been restored from the original 1 inch broadcast tape. The date it first went to air is not known. Watch the full upload below, then the final show's clips in order.
The full Episode 393 Part 2 upload on the official Wonder World YouTube channel, matched to this tape by its title and running time. Open on YouTube
First broadcast
Not known
Recorded
22 April 1987
Network
Network Ten
Broadcast cities
Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide
Host
Simon Townsend
Source
1 inch broadcast tape
Production number
XD1129
About this episode
This is the last one. The title card calls it the 1,961st and last show, and Simon opens it with 'Hello and goodbye.' After eight years and nearly 2,000 episodes, he spent the final program telling the story of Wonder World rather than adding to it.
Most of what follows is history. Simon replays the very first story from the very first show, dated 3 September 1979, then walks through how the program started, how it got its name and the 17 reporters who made it. A reel of bloopers and highlights follows, then his thanks, then the credits. The 1979 story is old footage replayed inside this show, and it is marked that way below so nobody mistakes it for 1987.
The tape's own slate says this show was recorded on 22 April 1987, and gives its transmission date as T.B.A. We have not found the day it first went to air, so this page does not give one. The full upload on YouTube is titled 1986. The slate was written at the time, so the slate wins.
He finished the way he always did: the world really is wonderful. It is a good line to go out on.
The stories, in order
Studio
Simon's opening and farewell from the last Wonder World
The 1,961st and last show: the title card, the final opening, and Simon's goodbye.