At the end of 1987, Dannii turned 16 and the
time came to say farewell to Young Talent Time.
Just before she left the show, John Young told
her about an acting role he'd heard about which
he thought she'd be perfect for. It was the part
of Penny in Channel Nine's All The Way.
With a little coaching help from Kylie, who was
by then a star on Neighbours, Dannii went in for
the audition and, to her surprise was offered
the part. "I didn't expect to get it at all,"
she says. "I just went along to the audition for
the experience."
The series was set in the 1960s and Dannii
played 'a real spoilt brat who used her father
to get anything she wanted'. In order to better
understand her character, Dannii started
researching the 1960s. "It was like cramming for
an exam, trying to learn all this stuff about
the 60s, but it was fun," she says. "I asked Mum
and Dad and other friends of theirs and read
bits out of books and old magazines and
newspapers." The show wasn't exactly a huge
success, but it was a great learning experience
for Dannii.
"I had an acting coach while I was doing the
show and every week I could see my work
improving. I really liked working on the show
because I was learning new things every day."
After All The Way, John Young called Dannii up
and asked her to be part of The New Generation.
"It was like an older but better version of
Young Talent Time because we had more time to
spend on it," she explains. "There were three
guys and three girls and we made thirteen
episodes that were sold in the United States and
Canada."