Inspired by the parks and playgrounds of the public housing towers in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Collingwood, near the Australian Children’s Television Foundation’s headquarters, the series has a slick urban aesthetic. In this colourful neighbourhood, Eddie’s diverse group of friends gets serious about schoolyard crazes such as rock, paper, scissors, while the series also confronts issues such as screen-time addiction. Along with three Indigenous characters (among them Miah Madden), are an Indian girl (Leela Varghese), a Chinese boy (Andrew Dang), a ginger-haired boy (James Smith) and a child in a wheelchair (Crystal Nguyen).

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“I wanted kids to see themselves, no matter what nationality they are, in these books,” says Betts. “When I wrote My Kind, a lady said, ‘My son, Duncan, he’s in a wheelchair, and there’s not really someone out there that he can relate to, and if you’re ever thinking about writing a next book, would you make a character that’s in a wheelchair?’ When I decided to write My People, I rang the mum and we got Duncan’s photo and we put him in the book. And it’s the same character, and the same wheelchair, and that’s continued on to the cartoon series.”

Betts is adamant he won’t even be pressed into a cameo voice role should the series be renewed, but he’s proud of his eight-year-old son, Billy Betts, who voices Eddie’s loyal younger brother, Junior.

“He kind of makes it, little Junior! He makes us laugh,” says Betts. “This is out of the blue for Billy and a lot of people have asked, ‘Will he go into acting?’. He’s a sporty kid, but we are not pushy parents. We just want to support him and make sure that he finishes school.”