Orkney Snork Nie

Orkney Snork Nie
Format	Sitcom
Created by	Willie Esterhuizen
Starring	Zack du Plessis Annette Engelbrecht Frank Opperman Sally Campher Anrich Herbst Clara Joubert
Opening theme	by Nicky Saks
Country of origin	South Africa
No. of episodes	52
Production
Running time	26 minutes per episode
Broadcast
Original channel	SABC
Picture format	PAL 576i/p (SDTV)
Original run	May 1989 – 1992

Orkney Snork Nie was a popular Afrikaans sitcom, originally broadcast by the SABC in South Africa between 1989 and 1992. The name translates directly into Orkney Doesn't Snore, but the message being conveyed in Afrikaans is that the town isn't sleepy, there's always something happening. The series was written and directed by Willie Esterhuizen who was also involved in other popular South African series and movies. The series consists of three seasons, with two movies also produced (see below for more details). As of 2006^[update], the series is being rebroadcast on the DStv channel KykNet.

Plot

The show was based in the mining town of Orkney, near the city of Potchefstroom (and not too far from Johannesburg), and followed the exploits of an Afrikaner family named Van Tonder, a common Afrikaans surname.

The head of the household, Hendrik, worked on the mines and his wife, Maggie, was a housewife. They had four children (listed from oldest to youngest): Ouboet, Bennie, Hester and Wimpie. Neels (nicknamed Ouboet, played by Frank Opperman) was a car mechanic. He and his wife, Yolanda (nicknamed Yollie), had a little baby of their own, named Hendrik after his grandfather. Hester (nicknamed Hess) and Wimpie (called Wimps by his girlfriend) were both at school. The character of Bennie was rarely seen as he joined the army in the first season of the series. Wimpie had an on and off relationship with a girl named Sonja, and a best friend named Koert.

From time to time other family members, such as grandfathers and grandmothers would stay with the family and cause all sorts of mischief. Later the family also adopted two orphans, a young Afrikaner girl named Riekie and a coloured boy named Neelsie.

History

Esterhuizen had played around with the idea since the early 1980's, but the SABC rejected the proposal for five years claiming it was "in bad taste". The series was finally given the go-ahead in 1987, but only after it was laboriously rewritten several times, and even then the SABC held the view that very few Afrikaners would associate with the series.

In May 1989 the first season of 13 episodes was finally broadcast. It was received extremely well, and led to two more seasons, the second being broadcast from August 1990 and the third and final one starting in April 1992.

The success of the TV series, which occupied a top ten spot on ratings for most of its run and held the number one spot for weeks on end, lead to two movies also being produced. Both were extremely successful at the South African box office.

Controversy

Although the series was one of South Africas best loved and most successful series at the time of its original screening, a small but vocal minority had criticism of the show. Some of those opposed to it felt that the show contained too many English words and slang, so harming the Afrikaans language. Compared to most modern Afrikaans TV shows, this claim now seems almost laughable.

A second group felt that the presence of Neelsie, the coloured orphan adopted by the family, was inappropriate. It must be remembered that part of the show was broadcast at a time when South Africa was still very much an Apartheid state.

Criticism against the show represented a tiny percentage of viewers though, and it was well received by the vast majority of South Africans.

Season 1 (1989)

The first season contains a total of 13 episodes which were originally broadcast on SABC (TV1).

Characters

Snapshot	Ep #	Title	Original airdate	KykNet airdate
	1x01	"Bossie Botha se longe"	May 10, 1989	April 7, 2007
	After Hendrik sees Bossie Botha's lungs in a jar at work, Hendrik decides to quit smoking. Ouboet has trouble putting their new all-in-one cot together. Wimpie and Koert are caught smoking in the garage by Hendrik.
	1x02	"Wingnuts"	May 17, 1989	April 14, 2007
	Yollie is in labour but her car's wheels have not yet been replaced by Ouboet. Ouboet also makes an error when he registers his new son’s name. This is baby Hendrikkie's first appearance.
	1x03	"Die Mynbestuurder se Bal"	May 24, 1989	April 21, 2007
	Hendrik takes Maggie to a ball. Grandpa feels unwelcome. Maggie, Yolie and Rusty wear gowns made from the exact same material to the ball. Grandpa picks a fight at the ball. The family receives a letter from Bennie.
	1x04	"Man Tot Man"	1989	2007
	1x05	"Rusty Sit en Roes"	1989	2007
	1x06	"Stink Pap en Stywe Lyne"	1989	2007
	1x07	"Kwaliteit - Tyd"	1989	2007
	1x08	"Flaminco en Koffietafel"	1989	2007
	1x09	"Ma Staak"	1989	2007
	1x10	"Bennie Kom Huistoe"	1989	2007
	1x11	"Die Kursus"	1989	2007
	1x12	"Ouboet En Yolanda Se Trek"	1989	2007
	1x13	"Wiele"	1989	2007
Picture	Name	by		Picture	Name	by
	Hendrik van Tonder (Season 1–3)	Zack du Plessis			Maggie van Tonder (Season 1–3)	Annette Engelbrecht
	Ouboet van Tonder (Season 1–3)	Frank Opperman			Bennie van Tonder (Season 1)	Charl van Heyningen
	Hess van Tonder (Season 1–3)	Clara Joubert			Wimpie van Tonder (Season 1–3)	Anrich Herbst
	Yolanda "Yollie" van Tonder (Season 1–3)	Sally Campher			Hendrik "Hendrikkie" van Tonder (Season 1)	Ruan de Jager
	Oupa van Tonder (Season 1–2)	Jacques Loots			Ouma Gous (Season 1–3)	Dulsie van den Bergh
	Oom Hans (Season 2–3)	Danie Smuts			Koert (Season 1–3)	Rinus van Niekerk
	Spike Potas (Season 1–3)	Pierre van Pletzen			Sonja Conradie (Season 1–3)	Carien Wandrag
	Riekie van Zyl (Season 3)	Bernice du Plessis			Neelsie van Zyl (Season 3)	Eugene Martin
	Rusty (Season 1)	Lerina Erasmus			Hendrik "Hendrikkie" van Tonder (Season 3)	unknown

Movies

In later years two movies were released based on the television sitcom. Many of the same actors were involved in the movies, though Ouboet was portrayed by Marcel van Heerden in the first one since Frank Opperman was acting in the lead role of another South African series The Big Time. The films were:

• Orkney Snork Nie (Die Movie), tagline "Dis Lekker By Die See" (translation: It's Fun At The Sea), released 1992
• Orkney Snork Nie 2, tagline "Nog 'n Movie" (translation: Another Movie), released 1993

External links

• http://152.111.1.251/argief/berigte/dieburger/1989/04/25/8/2.html