The episode opens in the kids' room. Bluey, Bandit, and Bingo sit on Bingo's bed. Bandit is reading them a storybook, by the light of the salt lamp and glow-in-the-dark stars.
Bandit: "So Hansel and Gretel returned home and lived happily ever after."
He closes the book.
Bandit: "Wow, that was a wild ride."
Bluey: "Shyeah!"
Bingo: "Are fairy tales true or not true?"
Bandit: "Well, what do you mean by true?"
Bingo: "I mean, did it happen for real life?"
Bandit: "Well, no."
Bingo: "Phew!"
Bandit: "But it got true things in them."
Bingo: "Like what?"
Bandit: "Like, y'know, it's not good to be greedy ‘n' stuff, and if you’re brave and honest, things will work out!"
Bingo: "Oh, yeah."
Bandit: "Hey, you want to hear a fairy tale that *is* true?"
Bluey, Bingo: "Yes please!"
Bandit lays down on his side on the bed. Bluey and Bingo scoot over to face him in the new position.
Bandit: "It's about a mean brother who ends up good, and it's got a curse in it, and even a princess!"
Bingo: "Wooww..."
Bluey: "And it happened for real life?"
Bandit: "Yeah, you know how I know?"
Bluey, Bingo: "How?"
Bandit: "Cause it happened to me!"
Bluey, Bingo: "Oooh!"
TITLE CARD: Fairytale
Bingo: [voiceover] "This episode of Bluey is called: Fairytale."
Cut to a beach resort. A grove of palm trees lean towards the ocean, and a row of tiny beach houses lie underneath them.
Bandit: [voiceover] "This story is set a long, long time ago, in a place called the '80s."
Cut to 10-year-old Bandit riding a bike. He's wearing a mullet.
Bandit: [voiceover] "That's me when I was 10 years old, on holiday with your Uncle Rad and Uncle Stripe."
The camera pulls back, showing Stripe and Rad, also kids, riding their own bikes on either side of Bandit.
Cut back to the present.
Bluey: "Hang on, where's your helmet?"
Bandit: "This was the '80s, man, there were no helmets! It was a wild place."
Cut to a montage of scenes from the '80s. Rich J., a cocker spaniel kid in a neon hat, bounces on a trampoline with a simple metal frame.
Bandit: [voiceover] "Trampolines had no nets..."
The cocker spaniel kid launches off the side of the trampoline.
Rich J.: "Aaargh!"
The screen shakes as he hits the ground, out of frame.
Cut to a tabletop. It's scattered with items labeled "RICH.J" - school supplies, a portable tape player, an action figure, and front-and-center, a pair of underpants featuring a buff dog with sword and shield.
Bandit: [voiceover] "... your mum wrote your name on everything..."
Cut to Rich J. sitting on a bike. The 'ground' is a neon-coloured perspective grid, against a peach gradient starry sky, reminiscent of 80s graphic design trends.
Bandit: [voiceover] "...BMX seats were high..."
The bike seat suddenly raises several inches.
Cut to a tabletop with several homemade audio cassetes. A few feet of tape are unwound from the central cassette, which is labeled "BAD MEDICINE" in marker.
Bandit: [voiceover] "...music was on cassettes..."
Cut back to the beach resort. A gravel road runs through the grove of leaning palms.
Bandit: [voiceover] "..and skids were big."
Bandit rides his bike across the frame, and turns his bike perpendicular to the road, skidding to stop. Rad skids to a stop next to him.
'80s Bandit: "Woah, good skid, Rad!"
Stripe stops next to them, braking normally.
'80s Bandit: "You can't skid, Stripe!"
'80s Stripe: "Yes I can!"
'80s Bandit: "No you can't! And Mum wants you!"
Bandit points behind Stripe, who turns to look.
'80s Stripe: "Huh?"
'80s Bandit: "Make you look, ya dirty chook! Haha! SUFFER!"
Cut back to the present. Bluey and Bingo gasp.
Bluey: "You’re teasing Stripe!"
Bandit: "'Fraid so."
Bingo: "But that's mean!"
Bandit: "I told you, this fairy tale is about a mean brother - me!"
Bluey and Bingo gasp harder.
Bandit: "But don't worry, I was about to learn my lesson."
Cut back to the past.
'80s Radley: "Bandit, stop teasing Stripe!"
Stripe, annoyed, starts to ride off.
'80s Bandit: "Make me! Hey Stripe, your wheels are turning!"
Stripe looks down at his wheels as he exits the frame.
'80s Stripe: "Huh? Aaaahhh!"
The sound of Stripe's bike falling over can be heard from offscreen.
'80s Bandit: "Haha! Make you look you dirty—"
'80s Bandit, '80s Radley: "Chook!"
'80s Radley: "Jinx!"
The flashback pauses like a VHS tape - a pause symbol appears in the upper left corner of the screen, and the video is distorted with chromatic aberration and screen tearing as a tape clicks and whirrs.
Cut back to the present.
Bluey: "Huh?"
Bingo: "What's 'jinx?'"
Bandit: "Okay, in the 80's, if 2 people say the exact same word, at the exact same time like:"
Cut back to the paused flashback. The distortion gets much worse, as it rewinds for a moment. Playback then resumes in slow motion.
'80s Bandit, '80s Radley: (low pitched) "Choooooook!"
Cut back to the present.
Bandit: "One of you would yell out 'jinx.'"
Cut back to the past.
80s Radley: "Jinx!"
Bandit: [voiceover] "Meaning you had ten seconds to touch them."
Radley drops his bike and starts running. Bandit drops his own bike and chases after.
Rad runs through the palm grove with Bandit close behind.
'80s Radley: "One!"
Cut to the row of beach houses. Rad and Bandit run past the camera, towards a fish and chips shop.
'80s Radley: "Two!"
Cut to the inside of the fish and chips shop. Rich J. sits at a table with a built-in video game, while a dog in garish neon swim briefs orders at the counter. Rad and Bandit run past the open door.
'80s Radley: "Three!"
Cut to a closer view of the beach houses. Various beach recreation gear, from a crab pot to a ricket bat is scattered in front of them. Rad and Bandit run past.
'80s Radley: "Four!"
Cut to a few trailers parked next to the beach houses. Rad runs in front of them, knocking over a bucket (and freeing a live crab) before vaulting over a cooler. Bandit loses a moment going around the crab.
'80s Radley: "Five!"
Cut to Rad running towards the camera, followed by Bandit. The background is obscured by motion blur.
'80s Radley: "Six! Seven!"
Cut to another palm grove. Rad weaves between the trees, pursued by Bandit.
'80s Radley: "Eight!"
Bandit: [voiceover] "If you didn't touch them in that ten seconds..."
Cut to the beach. Ran runs out of the palm tree grove towards the water, followed by Bandit.
'80s Radley: "Nine!"
Rad reaches the water.
'80s Radley: "TEN!"
Bandit falls to his knees panting.
Bandit: [voiceover] "...they'd say:"
Rad points at Bandit.
'80s Radley: "SKINT!"
Cut to the present.
Bandit: "...and then, you could never speak again."
Bluey and Bingo gasp.
Bingo: "What? You can never speak forever and ever?"
Bandit: "Nope, you were cursed."
Bluey: "Wow."
Cut back to the '80s. Bandit and Stripe are playing an arcade machine in a little shop, selling snacks and magazines.
Bandit: [voiceover] "The only thing that could break the curse..."
Cut to a view of the arcade cabinet screen. It seems to be a dog-themed version of Double Dragon.
Bandit: [voiceover] "...was if someone said your name."
The camera cuts to inside the arcade cabinet. Bandit and Stripe can be seen operating the controls, through the screen.
'80s Stripe: "Do you want me to say your naaame?"
Bandits eyes go wide, he nods eagerly.
'80s Stripe: "Okay. Ban... diddums! Ha!"
Cut back to the present.
Bluey: "Can't you just say your own name?"
Bandit: "Nope, you're not allowed to speak."
Bluey: "What happens if you do speak?"
Bandit: "Oh, well, look, I shouldn't tell you, but:"
Bandit whispers inaudibly.
Bluey, Bingo: "What?!"
Bingo: "That's terrible!"
Bandit: "I told you, the '80s was a wild place."
Cut back to the past. In the fish and chips shop, Rad, Bandit and Stripe sit around the table with the built-in video game. Chris (sporting a big perm and big pink glasses) considers the menu.
Bandit: "Anyway, being cursed is not a lot of fun when you're on holiday."
'80s Chris: "Kids, d'you want your fish battered or crumbed?"
'80s Radley: "Battered."
'80s Stripe: "Battered!"
'80s Chris: "How about you? Come on, speak up!"
'80s Radley: "He wants crumbed."
'80s Chris: "Okay."
Nana turns to the shopkeeper to order. Bandit tries to wave his arms to cancel the order but it's too late.
'80s Stripe: "Yeah, he loves crumbed. Don’t you, Ban... dishwasher! HA!"
Cutting Chris, Bob, Rad, Stripe, and Bandit eating their fish and chips at a picnic table outdoors. Bandit picks up his fish between thumb and forefinger and looks at it skeptically.
Bandit: [voiceover] "Ugh, I hated crumbed."
Cut to the front yard of their rental beach house. Stripe, Bandit, and Radley are sitting on the lawn, reading comics. Chris comes out of the house, brandishing an empty single-serve box of cereal.
'80s Chris: "Who ate all the mini cereals?!"
Rad and Stripe point at Bandit.
'80s Radley, '80s Stripe: "He did!"
'80s Chris: "Right, you! Get over here!"
She takes off a thong, and raising it as a weapon, chases Bandit offscreen. Rad and Stripe laugh.
Cut back to the present.
Bluey: "Gee, Nana was a bit mean."
Bandit: "Yeah, it was the '80s. Mums were allowed to be mean."
Cut back to the '80s. Bob, Radley, and Stripe are on a sand flat, dotted with shallow pools of water. Rad and Stripe are holding sticks, which they use to bother a crab. Chris is using a yabby pump to dig up marine yabbies (ghost shrimp)
Bandit: [voiceover] "And dads weren't much help either."
'80s Stripe: "Let's see who can shout the loudest!"
'80s Radley: "Okay."
'80s Stripe, '80s Radley: "AAAAAAAAAAAH!"
'80s Bob: "Kids, keep it down!"
Bandit walks in and taps Bob.
'80s Bob: "What do you want, Stripe, uh... Rad, uh.'. Gerald, agh, whatever your name is!"
Bandit gestures with increasing frustration. He taps his chest urgently.
'80s Bob: "What are you on about?"
Bob turns to Stripe and Rad. He points his thumb at Bandit.
'80s Bob: "What's he on about?"
'80s Stripe: "Rad jinxed him. He can't talk until someone says his name!"
'80s Bob: "Ah, right. So you want me to say your name so you can talk again."
Bandit nods, hopefully.
'80s Bob: "Well, you’re dreamin, mate! Y'know what I call this? I call this, I call it a good start. How do I jinx it so none of you can talk?"
'80s Radley, '80s Stripe: "Dad..."
'80s Bob: "Is it like this? Ooo-OOO-ooo-ooo!"
He waves his hand over Rad and Stripe's heads in a vaguely magical fashion.
Cut to the beach at sunset. Bandit sits, sadly staring at the water. In the background, Stripe throws a rock into the sea.
Bandit: [voiceover] "I was never going to talk again. No one was going to say my name."
Chris walks up behind Bandit and takes a seat next to him. Bandit's tail wags as he looks at her hopefully.
'80s Chris: "I'm not going to say your name."
He goes back to sulking.
'80s Chris: "I think this'll do you some good. All holiday, you've been mean to your little brother."
Cut to a flashback - In front of the beach house, Stripe balances on a skateboard while Bandit drinks a juicebox. Stripe shifts his weight to his back foot and bounces the front of the skateboard from side to side.
'80s Bandit: "You can't tick-tack, Stripe!"
Cut to the view from inside the arcade cabinet. Bandit and Rad are playing a heated game. Stripe waits behind them.
'80s Stripe: "It's my turn now!"
Bandit shoves his body in between Stripe and the machine.
'80s Bandit: "No it isn't!"
Cut to the palm grove. Stripe is laying on the ground, having just fallen off his bike. Bandit skids to a halt next to him. He points and laughs.
'80s Bandit: "Haha, nice stack!"
Cut back to Bandit and Chris, on the beach.
'80s Chris: "This is a chance for you to have a good think about it."
Bandit: [voiceover] "Nana was right, not about her perm, but about me. I hadn't been a very good brother to Stripe.
Cut to a view of Chris and Bandit from behind, as they stare at the horizon. Stripe throws another rock into the ocean.
Bandit: [voiceover] "I deserved to be cursed."
Cut to the present.
Bingo: "So, when did the curse get broken?"
Bandit: "The very next morning actually."
Cut to the '80s. Bandit, wearing a garish hat with a neck shade and carrying a toothbrush, walks in front of the row of beach houses.
Bandit: [voiceover] "I was on my way to the shower block to clean my teeth."
Cut to the present.
Bluey: "All by yourself?!"
Bingo rolls her eyes.
Bingo: "It was the '80s!"
Cut back to the '80s.
'80s Stripe: (off screen) "Mum! Ow!"
Bandit stops. He stares at Stripe, who is standing one foot in a weedy bit of lawn.
Bandit: [voiceover] "Stripe had taken a shortcut to the toilets and got stuck in the prickles!"
'80s Stripe: "Help!"
Cut back to the present.
Bluey gasps.
Bluey: "So you could tell him you won't help him unless he says your name!"
Bingo: "Oh yeah!"
Bandit: "You're right, I could've done that."
Cut back to the '80s. Stripe turns around and spots Bandit.
Bluey: [voiceover] "So did you?"
Bandit: "No, I just helped him."
Bandit takes off his hat, and tosses it into the prickles, halfway between Stripe and the footpath. Stripe jumps onto Bandit's hat, and Bandit takes his hand and helps him jump to the footpath.
'80s Stripe: "Thanks... Ban.. dina! Haha!"
Stripe runs away. Bandit watches him go.
Cut to the present.
Bluey, Bingo: "What?!"
Bluey: "You helped him and even then he didn't say your name?!"
Bandit chuckles.
Bandit: "That's brothers, kid."
Cut back to the '80s. Bandit watches Stripe run away. After a moment, he smiles.
Bandit: [voiceover] "To tell you the truth, I was proud of him."
Cut back to the present.
Bingo: "But then... who broke the curse?"
Bandit: "Well, remember I said this fairy tale has a princess?"
Cut back to the '80s. The camera focuses on Bandit's face.
'80s Chilli: (off screen) "Bandit.. Heeler."
The camera pans to the left, revealing a young Chilli was standing straight behind Bandit. She's wearing a home-made She-Ra costume, with a cardboard sword and crown. She's holding Bandit's hat in her other hand.
'80s Chilli: "Is this your hat?"
Bandit turns around, looking at Chilli.
Bluey: [voiceover] "Is that... Mum?"
Cut back to the present.
Bandit: "That's Mum."
Bluey, Bingo: "What?!"
Chilli appears at the doorway.
Chilli: "Don't listen to him, it wasn't me."
Bandit: "Don't listen to her, it was!"
Chilli walks to the foot of the bed.
Chilli: "Well, look. It might've been. We did used to go on holidays on that caravan park."
Bandit: "Case closed!"
Chilli: "But, I've got no memory of that happening."
Bandit: (melodramatically) "Oh, it's like a dagger in my heart!"
Bingo: "How did she know your name?"
Cut to the '80s. A close-up of Bandit's hat reveals his name, written on the underside of the brim.
Bandit: [voiceover] "It was written on my hat."
Bingo: [voiceover] "Wow."
Cut back to the present.
Chilli: "Either way, it's a good story."
Bluey: "But, is it true, or not true? I need to know!"
Bandit: "Well, I guess you have to decide."
Cut to a shot of the full moon, shining extraordinarly brightly, surrounded by stars and a few drifting clouds.
Bandit: [voiceover] "Do you believe in fairy tales?"
Cut back to the kids room. The moon is visible through the leadlight, and casts a faint circle of light in the middle of the room. Bandit and Chilli tuck the girls in. They turn, and hold each others hands in the circle of moonlight. They look into each others eyes.
Cut to the '80s. Chilli walks up to Bandit and gives him his hat back.
'80s Chilli: "Here you go."
'80s Bandit: "Thanks."
'80s Chilli: "See you later."
She runs off, brandishing her sword. Bandit watches her go.
'80s Bandit: "Yeah. See you later."
[End credits]
The music crescendos into a triumphant, soaring, and very '80s synth melody. Instead of Bluey dancing, Bandit's hat is thrown onto the ground from screen left.