Simon Townsend, beloved Australian kids’ TV host, has died

Australian journalist and TV presenter Simon Townsend, best known for Simon Townsend’s Wonder World!, has died. He was 79 and had an aggressive cancer.

Townsend’s titular program was a staple on Australian television for nearly a decade, running from 1979 to 1987.

Simon Townsend with his Wonder World co-host Woodrow the bloodhound.Credit: Network 10

Devised by Townsend, the magazine-style show launched the careers of many journalists and producers, including Angela Catterns, the late Edith Bliss and Jonathan Coleman, as well as TV producers Maurice Parker and Brett Clements.

Winning five Logies for most popular children’s series, the show was fronted by Townsend, with his bloodhound Woodrow by his side.

Pitched at children and teens, the program included entertainment and news, as well as music videos. Each episode, Townsend would sign off by saying: “Remember, the world really is wonderful.”

In his youth, the journalist was a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War. When conscripted, he refused to comply, saying in court he was a pacifist. As a result, he was jailed for a month in Long Bay jail and held in solitary confinement.

Tributes to the 79-year-old have been posted on social media, with many Gen Xers recalling Simon Townsend’s Wonder World! as mandatory viewing.

Townsend’s nephew Steve Corso posted on X: “Farewell to my Uncle Simon Townsend. He inspired me in so many ways! We were blessed to have an incredible childhood with so many experiences, laughs and fun times. The TV personality version of him translated into how he was with his family. Loving, sharing and motivating.”

Posting on Instagram, TV host and broadcaster Amanda Keller said she had her first job on the show, as a researcher.

“[I] was lucky enough to work alongside some of the most talented people of my generation. Many of my closest friends today are from those days. I’ll be forever grateful to the show, and to the groundbreaking force that was Simon Townsend. My condolences to all who loved him,” she posted.

Former ABC Radio Sydney host Sarah Macdonald also paid tribute to Townsend and his TV show on Instagram, crediting the show with sparking her first love of storytelling and journalism.

An publicity photo of the Wonder World team from the early 1980s. Clockwise from top left: Jonathan Coleman, Simon Townsend, Maurice Parker, Alita Fahey, Woodrow the bloodhound and Sandy Mauger.Credit: National Film and Sound Archive

Broadcaster Catriona Rowntree wrote on Instagram that she auditioned for the show “alongside 12,000 hopefuls” but didn’t quite make the cut.

She then “begged them to take me on behind the scenes and I began my career in TV as the Wonder World! researcher”.

“I owe so much to this show, this man,” she wrote.

Townsend’s family said in a statement that he was surrounded by family and a “mix of journalists, writers, actors, political activists and Italians” in his final days.

Townsend is survived by his three children.