Remember the iconic kids' TV show The Ferals? Meet puppeteer Tina Matthews who brought the punk critters to life after working with Jim Henson on Labyrinth. She talked to Dave May and Richard Mockler about making the iconic show.

The Ferals did so much that was dangerous and unhealthy. All these things that our kids are told. Not to walk on a wall in case they fall off. Never to climb a ladder or stand on a desk. And The Ferals did all that stuff.

Kids weren't told it so much in the '90s, but they're just told it obsessively now.

I think we get increasingly anxious about children and what they can and can't do and see and think. I think that's a shame.

It's even more necessary now to make that sort of children's television.

The Ferals were very anti-authority and very punk in their attitude. They weren't going to take any nonsense from the humans.

They were like a gang of kids saying things which kids probably don't say to authority.

The Ferals were very anti-authority and weren't going to take any nonsense from humans. ( Supplied: IMDb )

Rattus, who was a very cynical, dirty, sort of mean, clever leader of the group. He was a bit punk with a pink ponytail and little potbelly.

Modigliana the cat also had a pretty good attitude to keeping people in her place. She was pretty stroppy, aggressive and self-interested.

Darryn the dog was very dozy and would believe anything.

Mixy was a crazed rabbit really, I mean, she's called Mixy. It's like she's got some sort of terrible disease that wasted her brain.

The designs for The Ferals really amused me because the designer was a friend. He was more extreme in his design than I ever was.

All of them were a real extreme of a cat, a dog, a rat, and a rabbit.

I actually loved them right from the beginning.

It's not the same before you put the eyes in

Tina says when you're making puppets, you have to be open to the character you're creating as you make it. ( ABC News )

When you're making puppets, you have to be open to the character you're creating as you make it.

You have to be amused by them in a way or you have to think about their stance and their attitude and their jutting jaw.

You do really have to have a story in your head as you're making them so they don't end up just looking pretty or fluffy.

I had kids at the time who were of an age that I could play with them all the time and try them out. I probably got into their character by playing with them, with the kids.

My experience on Labyrinth was about making puppets that lasted, making puppets that could be remade if necessary.

For The Ferals, I used that same technique of pattern making. Making patterns both for the foam interior of the puppet and the covering, the fur, so that I could repeat that if necessary.

The eyes really can be disconcerting, particularly with The Ferals's big staring eyes. ( ABC News )

The eyes really can be disconcerting, particularly with The Ferals' big staring eyes. You talk to them. You don't walk past them unnoticed. You know they're aware of you.

It's not the same before you put the eyes in. They're still quite a blank canvas until the eyes go in.

I can see why it's considered traditionally a very significant moment to invest life in it really.

The next thing was that they would be durable. The puppets were really abused. The puppets were really physically thrown and slammed up against walls. They had to be sturdy.

They had to be light enough that the puppeteers could operate them for long periods of time.

Because to hold your hand up above your head for hours at a time all day for a few days of filming is really tough.

It's not the same before you put the eyes in, says Tina Matthews. ( ABC News )

Puppets are wild things and say what others can't

There was a lot of hitting and violence, which possibly wouldn't be allowed in children's television now. But it was brilliant.

It drew on the Punch and Judy tradition in a way, which was terribly violent.

There's a really interesting relationship with puppets being anti-authority and anti-establishment.

Loading...

They're wild things, and they always have been through history. They can say what others can't.

There's a possibility with puppets that kids seem to relate to. There's a wildness in them.

If you don't know the rules or you're not planning to stick to them, anything can happen. They explore and they're curious.

Puppets will ask a question that's really obvious and they don't feel silly doing it.

For kids who are used to the confines of school and authority, I think they represent something uncaged, uncontained.

Tina says she's sad that kids today aren't watching The Ferals. ( ABC News )

A program that worked for any age

It's very satisfying to make a book that a kid likes or a puppet or an object or a piece of artwork. It's a reminder of the intensity of childhood.

I think that experience of seeing a book or responding to a puppet as a child, it's so intense that you never have that back.

I think it feels very lucky to be able to work in an area that you're reminded of that intensity and the importance of it.

I never really know what the response of a child is going to be.

Tina Matthews says her experience on Jim Henson's Labyrinth was making puppets that could be remade if necessary. ( Supplied )

Children's perception is so strong and so intense that they actually almost enter into the television or the book in a way that I don't think adults can do.

I think it was a very different experience for me than it was to my kids.

But I love the fact that it worked for adults and it worked for children.

It was one of those great programs that you can watch at any age.

A rare opportunity

I definitely feel a bond to The Ferals and I'm really sad that kids today aren't watching it, because I think they'd really like it a lot.

It was a really satisfying job to work on right through from conception, right through to filming and the finish of the series.

Tina Matthews says The Ferals were like a gang of kids saying things which kids probably don't say to authority. ( ABC News )

It does feel like it was a rare opportunity.

That sort of money certainly doesn't get put into making children's television in Australia at the moment.

The time may come again. Who knows?

But I feel it was a really good opportunity, professionally, for me.

And it's great because I still teach people who remember The Ferals.

I mean, that won't go on forever. But I think that I was very lucky.