Bananas in Pyjamas costumes were held for ransom, actor says

An Australian actor has revealed Russian gangsters stole the ABC’s iconic* Bananas in Pyjamas costumes and held them for ransom*.

Kenneth Radley, who played B1 for more than 10 years from when the show first aired in 1992, mentioned the story briefly during an appearance on The Final Encore Podcast, and then gave more detail in an interview with news.com.au.

Mr Radley said the theft happened when an ABC marketing boss took the costumes on a promotional* trip overseas.

“Grahame Grassby was the head of marketing and franchising* … and Grahame went all over the world with some banana suits to get photo opportunities at places like London Tower and the White House,” Mr Radley said.

“He took the suits to Moscow … and the suits were stolen, and there was a ransom note* given to Grassby for $100,000 Australian dollars for the return of the suits.”

The ransom note was allegedly* from the Russian mafia, an organised group of criminals operating in the country who only agreed to return the suits if they were given $100,000 in exchange.

“Grahame got in touch with ABC Sydney and said, ‘This has happened, they want $100,000, what will we do?’” Mr Radley said. “And the head of the ABC said, ‘Well, we’re not gonna give them $100,000. How much do they cost to replace?’ And Graham said, ‘They’re $20,000 to make.’”

The ABC boss allegedly told Mr Grassby to offer the mafia $20,000 for the suits, and if they refused, they would just let them keep the suits and get new ones made instead.

“So they wired $20,000 Australian through and then he’s (Mr Grassby) walking with a briefcase to meet the Russian mafia … and he stopped and thought, ‘What am I doing?’” Mr Radley told news.com.au.

After a few minutes of contemplation*, Mr Grassby decided it wasn’t a wise idea to meet with the criminals. He turned around and flew straight home to Australia instead.

“He went straight to the airport and got on a plane with the $20,000,” Mr Radley said.

“So the Bananas are actually in some gulag* in Russia, in some freezing cold jail,” he laughed.

Mr Radley also opened up to news.com.au about what it was like performing as B1 in the “impossibly hot” costumes, and the surprising reaction he received from athletes who wanted his autograph after taking part in the Sydney 2000 Olympics Closing Ceremony.

In addition to his role in Bananas in Pyjamas, Mr Radley has also appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge, Rabbit-Proof Fence and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

He is currently writing his first book to be called, Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking? A patchwork journey through my life so far.

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GLOSSARY

• iconic: representative or symbolic of an era or culture
• ransom: a sum of money demanded for the release of someone held captive
• promotional: to promote or advertise something
• franchising: selling the right for other businesses to use a company’s brand or image
• ransom note: a note demanding the payment of money in exchange for the release of a prisoner
• allegedly: claimed to have taken place though there is no proof that it did
• contemplation: deep thought
• gulag: a Soviet labour camp where prisoners were held during the reign of the Soviet Union

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QUICK QUIZ
1. What was the actor’s name who played B1?
2. Why were the banana costumes travelling the world?
3. How much did the ransom note demand for the return of the costumes?
4. How much did it cost to get new costumes made?
5. Which Olympic Games did the Bananas in Pyjamas appear in as part of the closing ceremony?

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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Costume Prices
The quote from the Kids News article states that it would’ve cost $20,000 for the Bananas in Pyjamas costumes to be remade after they were stolen.

Break up that amount into different factors that are involved in making professional costumes such as these to justify how the total comes to $20,000 (eg labour – the time it takes to make etc.)

Write your cost breakdown below:

–

–

–

–

Total $20,000

Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Mathematics, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension
What skills would you need to be the professional under a costume such as B1, Dorothy the Dinosaur, etc?

How would you go about applying for a job like that?!

Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
Read this!
A headline on an article – or a title on your text – should capture the attention of the audience, telling them to read this now. So choosing the perfect words for a headline or title is very important.

Create three new headlines for the events that took place in this article. Remember, what you write and how you write it will set the pace for the whole text, so make sure it matches.

Read out your headlines to a partner and discuss what the article will be about based on the headline you created. Discuss the tone and mood you set in just your few, short words. Does it do the article justice? Will it capture the audience’s attention the way you hoped? Would you want to read more?

Consider how a headline or title is similar to using short, sharp sentences throughout your text. They can be just as important as complex ones. Go through the last text you wrote and highlight any short, sharp sentences that capture the audience.