February 24, 2021 • 14 mins
Jet Jungle is the name of a mid-sixties scifi adventure superhero, who appeared in a hit radio play: "The incredible adventures of the most amazing man of our time" broadcast on South Africa's Springbok Radio as well as a Sunday comic of the same name. The main character Jet Jungle (created and voiced by Brian O'Shaughnessy).
Jet Jungle appeared with his black panther Jupiter, red-headed girlfriend Samantha Muller (Diane Appleby) and scientist and faithful friend Prof. Giuseppe "Spaghetti" Valetti (Victor Melleney). The team would routinely fly off from their island headquarters, Orion's Peak, in a Vertijet at the behest of their government liaison "the Minister", to battle criminal masterminds and the occasional extraterrestrial menace.
The show was broadcast every weekday at 4:30 p.m. in the afternoon on South Africa's English radio service, Springbok Radio from 1965 with re-runs continuing until the stations close in 1985. It was also broadcast on Radio Rhodesia in Rhodesia (the present day Zimbabwe). It is not known how many of the episodes were actually recorded, or how many of them were rebroadcast, since so little of the Springbok Radio archive exists. There appear to be screenplays and sound bytes available, and a number of archivists have attempted to preserve the work.
The enormously successful show, sponsored by Black Cat Peanut Butter and Jungle Oats was used to promote these South African products. Jet Jungle attributed his enormous powers of persuasion to the use of special ingredients, and his mastery of time, caused as a result of exposure to the Star Master, a mysterious entity. They appeared in several episodes similar in vein to the Project Farstar episodes.
Jet Jungle appeared with his black panther Jupiter, red-headed girlfriend Samantha Muller (Diane Appleby) and scientist and faithful friend Prof. Giuseppe "Spaghetti" Valetti (Victor Melleney). The team would routinely fly off from their island headquarters, Orion's Peak, in a Vertijet at the behest of their government liaison "the Minister", to battle criminal masterminds and the occasional extraterrestrial menace.
The show was broadcast every weekday at 4:30 p.m. in the afternoon on South Africa's English radio service, Springbok Radio from 1965 with re-runs continuing until the stations close in 1985. It was also broadcast on Radio Rhodesia in Rhodesia (the present day Zimbabwe). It is not known how many of the episodes were actually recorded, or how many of them were rebroadcast, since so little of the Springbok Radio archive exists. There appear to be screenplays and sound bytes available, and a number of archivists have attempted to preserve the work.
The enormously successful show, sponsored by Black Cat Peanut Butter and Jungle Oats was used to promote these South African products. Jet Jungle attributed his enormous powers of persuasion to the use of special ingredients, and his mastery of time, caused as a result of exposure to the Star Master, a mysterious entity. They appeared in several episodes similar in vein to the Project Farstar episodes.
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