Guy Edmonds hadn’t always wanted to be a director of kids’ shows – he hadn’t even intended to direct at all. After graduating with an acting degree in 2004, he worked for years as an actor on TV (everything from Home and Away to Underbelly: Razor) and stage (including Holding the Man locally, and David Williamson’s Rupert on London’s West End), before he switched to writing and directing in 2012.

He was developing an idea for an adult TV series with his mate and frequent collaborator, Matt Zeremes, about janitors in space when they toyed with the idea of making their lead characters 10-year-old children. “That act of changing it sort of … unlocked something,” says Edmonds, “and might also have said a little bit about our sense of humour, which has its moments of immaturity!”

But it was, he explains, a “rubber-hits-the-road moment”, and they began creating children’s shows, one of which was the acclaimed mockumentary series Hardball, which won a slew of awards, including an International Emmy in 2020. He and Zeremes then collaborated on a series of kids’ books, before developing Spooky Files – the second season of which drops this week on ABC Entertains – for Tony Ayres’ production company.

Sort of The X Files for youngsters, it follows step siblings Bert (Thomas Saddler) and Billie (Audrey Salinas) and their friend Xena (Alberta Brudan) as a trio of ghostbusters, confronting monsters in their small town. Not just any monsters though – each of the creatures, or “spookies”, as they’re called, are based on different fears or emotions that children experience.

It’s an idea that’s not dissimilar to horror aimed at adults, Edmonds adds. “All good genre, be it TV or film, horror or science-fiction, they’re interesting ways to explore primal, deeper parts of humanity, but in a really sick, cool context,” he says. “The greatest horror and sci-fi films are all about something much bigger – it’s like … hiding the vegetables in the meat.” Without being too overt, the show’s “spookies” represent fear, anxiety, chaos and different types of neurodivergence.

“Everyone, including the writing team, was very conscious of not wanting it to be message message message. It’s very subtle,” says Edmonds. “It’s in there, but first and foremost, it’s a great fun, spooky, action-packed adventure romp. And … I think they [children] can learn something from it; even if there’s not that conscious change, there’s an awareness and an openness to talk about fear.”

While he still wants his audience to enjoy the show as entertainment, Edmonds also hopes that his child viewers might also benefit from recognising fears of dark thoughts, and being able to talk about them. Something that’s embraced these days, unlike during many of our childhoods. “I’m a child of the ’80s and there was none of that,” says Edmonds. “It was just, ‘You’ll be right, soldier on’. Which fosters its own resilience in some ways, but I think there’s a balance to be struck.”

Visiting the Spooky Files set earlier this year (which included an invitation for my 11-year-old daughter to be an extra in an episode), filming was under way for scenes that included a large group of child extras, as well as Edmonds’ usual tween cast. It sounds potentially chaotic, but even with a long day on set, everyone, particularly Edmonds, remained upbeat.