The Terrible Ten, originally produced as 10-minute fillers, showed the knockabout adventures of a group of children in the miniature hamlet of Ten Town, with a population of under-13s. (Filming was restricted to Saturdays because of the all-child cast.) It became the first Australian children's series with extensive overseas sales, selling to 20 countries.

Though the cast had to be replaced as they grew up, The Terrible Ten lasted 117 episodes, and led to a sequel series, The Ten Again (1963), and a feature film, Funny Things Happen Down Under (1965), starring a 16-year-old Olivia Newton-John.