McLeod's Daughters is a 1996 Australian
television film
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
, it aired on the
Nine Network on 11 May 1996, which was Mother's Day. It remains the highest-rated telemovie of all time in Australia. The movie serves as a back door pilot for the later
McLeod's Daughters
''McLeod's Daughters'' is an Australian drama television series created by Posie Graeme-Evans and Caroline Stanton for the Nine Network, which aired from 8 August 2001, to 31 January 2009, lasting eight seasons. It stars Lisa Chappell and Bri ...
television series.
Synopsis
Following the death of her mother, Tess Silverman travels to
Drovers Run, a rural cattle property in
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
, and the farm where she spent the first few years of her life. She intends to make her visit a short one and move on to
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
to continue on with her life. Once there she endeavours to reconnect with her only remaining family, her father Jack McLeod and her half-sister Claire, whom she has not seen in 20 years, since her mother left Jack and moved to the city, and taking Tess with her. Tess arrives in a complex situation and finds herself meeting an adoring father but a hostile sister whom she no longer knows and who resents her sudden arrival and even quicker ability to win over Jack, something she feels that she has never completely been able to accomplish.
The unexpected accidental death of their father forces the sisters to overcome their differences and the many obstacles before them to realise their father's dream of running Drovers Run together. To complicate matters, Tess begins to take drastic action to alleviate the property's debts, including firing stockmen, and organising an all female muster of cattle for sale. Her actions alienate her sister's fiancé, putting strain on their engagement and forcing Claire to begin re-evaluating her own future plans. Despite problems with the local bank and the temporary loss of their prized bull, things turn out well in the end as the sisters learn to work together and are able to refinance their father's loans, thus saving the property.
Cast
*
Jack Thompson Jack Thompson may refer to:
Sports
* Jack Thompson (footballer, born 1892) (1892–1969), English footballer who played for Sheffield United and Bristol City
* Jack Thompson (1920s footballer), English footballer who played for Aston Villa and Brig ...
as Jack McLeod
*
Kym Wilson
Kym Wilson (born 1 April 1973) is an Australian actress and former television host.
Career
Wilson made her television debut playing a minor role in the 1985 mini-series ''Professor Poopsnagle's Steam Zeppelin''. Her first major role was in the ...
as Tess Silverman McLeod
*
Tammy MacIntosh
Tammy MacIntosh (born 16 February 1970) is an Australian actress known for portraying Dr. Charlotte Beaumont in the medical drama '' All Saints'' and Jool in the TV series ''Farscape''. She is also known for her roles on television series ''The F ...
as Claire McLeod
*
Kris McQuade as Meg
* Mercia Deane-Johns as Rosa Wilcox
*
Simone Kessell
Simone Kessell (born 19 August 1975) is a New Zealand television actress known for her role as Lt. Alicia Washington in the short lived Fox science fiction television series '' Terra Nova.'' In 2016, Kessell starred opposite Ray Winstone on t ...
as Jodi Wilcox
*
Maya Stange
Maya Stange is an Australian television and film actress known for starring roles in the films ''In a Savage Land'', ''Garage Days'' and '' XX/XY''. She also had recurring roles on the TV series '' Love Child'' and '' A Place to Call Home''. She ...
as Becky Howard
*
Robert Mammone
Robert Mammone (born 1969 in Adelaide, South Australia) is an Australian actor. He is known for his role as AK in ''The Matrix'' movies, as Sid Walker in the soap opera ''Home and Away'' and as Tim Palmer in '' Sons and Daughters''. He was also ...
as Patrick
*
Kevin Smith
Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film '' Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, ...
as Rod
*
John Walton as Terry Wilcox
* Patrick Rees as Noddy Barlow
*
Grant Piro
Grant Piro is an Australian actor. He is best known as the host of the children's television show '' Couch Potato'' on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He also appeared as Captain Schnepel in Escape From Pretoria.
Career
He began his ca ...
as Steve Creeley
* Audine Leith as Dottie Prendergast
* Roger Newcombe as Clem Prendergast
* Denis Nobel as Neville Grady
* Jo Peoples as Freddy
* Gary Heath as Stockman #1
* Gary Tielen as Stockman #2
* Philip Keen as Auctioneer
* Thomas Penna as Calm Operator
Production
Creator and Executive Producer
Posie Graeme-Evans had the idea for the creating the show as far back as 1992. She was reading a magazine and saw a picture of a group of Australian cowgirls leaning over a farm gate, with big hats and wide grins. Evans immediately thought of a group of women running a cattle station.
The movie went into production in 1995 and was shot over 1995–1996 in and around
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
. Evans needed to find a location that was in reach of a major city, and it was hard to do outside of
Sydney and
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
. She looked at doing it in
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, establishe ...
, but she didn't know Queensland well as she knew South Australia. She eventually located a government owned farm which was empty, so the production was moved in and it was treated as a backlot.
Reception
The movie aired on the
Nine Network on Mother's Day 1996 and it became the highest rated telemovie of all time in Australia.
In 1997 cinematographer David Foreman won the Award of Distinction award for the best Telefeatures, TV Drama & Mini Series by the
Australian Cinematographers Society
The Australian Cinematographers Society (ACS) is a not-for-profit organisation founded in 1958 for the purpose of providing a forum for Australian cinematographers to further develop their skills through mutual co-operation.
Location
Its Nati ...
.
Home releases
The first ever release was included in the season one boxset in Australia. It was also included in the U.S. season one boxset, released by
Koch Entertainment
Koch Entertainment was an American record label and a distributor of film, television, and music. It was purchased by Canadian entertainment company Entertainment One in 2005.
History First years
The company began in 1975 as part of Koch Inter ...
(now
E1 Entertainment). On 8 December 2009, E1 Entertainment released the movie separate on
region 1 with extras including: the first two episodes of season one.
[Paul Mavis (7 January 2010)] Also released on Region 2 in Germany under the title ''McLeod's Töchter''.
Television series
Despite the success of the movie, Nine decided not to pick it up for a series as they thought a female driven drama would not appeal to audiences. Initially, following further negotiations, Nine agreed to commission three more telemovies, before eventually ordering a season of 13 (later renegotiated to 22) episodes. Initially, the film served as a pilot with the first season to follow soon after. However, as the series was not picked up until some years later, the decision was made to go back to basics for episode one of the series. The series eventually went into production from late 2000 to early 2001 and premiered on the Nine Network on 8 August 2001. The series soon became one of Australia's most successful and was popular around the world; running eight seasons and 244 episodes between 2001 and 2009 on the Nine Network.
Several casting changes occurred, such as with the main characters of Claire, now played by
Lisa Chappell
Lisa Irene Chappell (born 18 October 1968) is a New Zealand actress and musician. She is known for her roles as Chelsea Redfern in '' Gloss'' (1987–90), her acting debut, and as Claire McLeod in ''McLeod's Daughters'' (2001–03), a performanc ...
and Tess, now played by
Bridie Carter
Bridie Carter (born 18 December 1970) is an Australian actress best known for her role as the main character of Tess Silverman McLeod on the television drama series ''McLeod's Daughters''.
Early life
Bridie was born and raised in Melbourne, Au ...
.
Sonia Todd
Sonia Todd (born 1959; Adelaide) is an Australian actress. She is best known for her television roles as Sgt. Georgia Rattray in '' Police Rescue'', Meg Fountain in ''McLeod's Daughters'' and Gina Austin in the soap opera ''Home and Away''.
...
as Meg Fountain,
Rachael Carpani as Jodi Fountain, and
Jessica Napier
Jessica Napier (born 13 April 1979) is a New Zealand-born actress based in Australia. She has appeared in a number of feature films, including ''Love Serenade'', ''Blackrock'', '' Cut'', ''City Loop'', ''Angst'', '' The Illustrated Family Docto ...
as Becky Howard, were also recast. Other new characters, who did not appear in the film, include brothers Alex Ryan (played by
Aaron Jeffery
Aaron C. Jeffery is a Logie Award-winning New Zealand-Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as Terry Watson in '' Water Rats'', as Alex Ryan in ''McLeod's Daughters'', and as Matt "Fletch" Fletcher in '' Wentworth''.
Early and persona ...
) and Nick Ryan (played by
Myles Pollard
Myles Pollard (born 4 November 1972) is an Australian actor. He is known for his role as Dr. James Edmunds in ''Home and Away'' and previously Nick Ryan on the TV series ''McLeod's Daughters''.
Early life
Myles Pollard was born in Perth, and ...
).
References
External links
McLeod's Daughtersat the
Internet Movie Database
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
{{McLeod's Daughters
1996 television films
1996 films
1990s English-language films