Jelly's on a roll

By Frances Grant

Bob Jelly is the man of the moment in heartland, small-town Australia. He may only be a small-beer local politician, and a fictional one at that, but he's in big demand.

Don't make the mistake, however, of confusing the big-thinking, wheeler-dealer Mayor Jelly of Pearl Bay - the small coastal town at the heart of TV3 drama SeaChange - with the man who plays him, John Howard.

And don't confuse this Australian John Howard, on the phone from Sydney, with the one in town for Apec this weekend.

"When I was at drama school they said, 'John, you should consider changing your name,'" says the actor.

"And I said, 'No, he won't last.' That was about 25 years ago, which explains why he's in politics and I'm not."

His character, Mayor Jelly, however, is on a roll a Prime Minister might envy. Pearl Bay's champion of free enterprise, real estate agent and incorrigible schemer is eagerly sought around the country.

The day before this interview, Jelly made an appearance at local elections in the northern New South Wales town of Byron Bay. His presence was requested by a film-maker documenting the event.

"He wanted Bob Jelly to speak a few words, set Byron Bay on the right path. And the Local Council Conference of Australia wants him, and lots of people want him to open stuff."

Howard is in no doubt of whom the voting public are actually after: "Nobody wants me." And he and his character share a suit size but that, he says, is where the similarities begin and end.

But he happily slips into the spirit of things.

"The Tidy Towns [Association] of Australia wants him to address them in November," he says, before a Jelly-ish pronouncement pops out.

"A great fillip to a small town," he says of the honour of winning one of the association's awards.

Jelly's political career first took on a life of its own, outside the show, in the Victorian town of Barwon Heads where SeaChange is filmed.

At a barbecue, put on as a thank-you to the local people, the real mayor of the district demanded Jelly get up and speak a few words.

"It was at the time Baywatch had been kicked out of Avalon Beach in Sydney and he was putting up his hand to get them down there. And so Bob Jelly suggested he build a biosphere over the whole town, so that it could be 25 degrees every day and then he could have Baywatch all year round. And bugger me, if he didn't think it was a feasible idea."

The ABC were at the party and Jelly's advice was broadcast on morning radio.

"And shortly afterwards in the Federal Parliament, one member accused another of being the Bob Jelly of Queensland ... So it's slowly entering the lexicon, to 'do a Bob Jelly.'"

Howard, who is married with two children, began acting after doomed attempts to study both medicine and law. His theatre work has earned him a Sydney Critics' Circle award for Best Stage Actor and a Variety Club of Australia Best Actor Award.

He played the chief villain Preston in the film Young Einstein and recent television credits include the role of Detective Frank Reilly in Wildside (TV4) and an upcoming part as a detective in Water Rats (TV2).

Creative inspiration for the character of Jelly came from a documentary called Rats in the Ranks, about the election campaign of a former mayor of the Sydney suburb of Leichardt.

"You wouldn't believe how open he was. You could see him conniving and it was just unbelievable. It was the perfect starting point. But then I went and watched about 80 real estate agents and I used a bit of my cousin Robert."

As for faultless Down Under business dress sense, that is probably partly wife Heather Jelly's doing, Howard speculates.

"But that thing about the red jacket he sometimes wears is something that's peculiar to Melbourne real estate agents. He usually wears it when he's selling a house. It's his 'bridge-to-the-future jacket.'"

The show's second series is now screening in Australia and is the country's top-rating programme. And a third series is looking likely, he says.

Meanwhile, the invitations for Mayor Jelly to show small towns the way to a brighter future keep on coming.

"I think he's beginning to see himself as a bit of a visionary. He's certainly got words of wisdom to give everyone."

But is Howard concerned Bob Jelly could be a difficult character to live down? "The way it's going, it's looking like that, isn't it? God help me, I'd better go see Garry McDonald and ask him how he got out of being Norman Gunston."

Who: John Howard

What: SeaChange

Where: TV3

When: Tuesday, 8.30pm