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Derum left the show after Series 1, wishing to pursue other interests.

He was replaced by a new cast member, Garry McDonald, a talented young actor, comedian and musician, who had recently graduated from NIDA.

His main role was as Aunty Jack's new sidekick, the cheeky, gum-chewing, freckle-faced Kid Eager, but in one episode McDonald premiered a new character, devised by staff writer Wendy Heather.

This character featured only briefly in Aunty Jack, but became much more prominent in the spin-off special Wollongong the Brave and went on to become one of the most popular comedy characters in the history of Australian television — the now-legendary Wollongong media ' un-personality ' Norman Gunston.

The Gunston character also appeared on the Aunty Jack Sings Wollongong LP and starred in his own hugely successful, Logie-winning Tonight Show parody, The Norman Gunston Show, which premiered in 1975.