McLeod's Daughters
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McLeod's Daughters is an Australian television drama set in the rural outback. As of 2004, it is the most popular drama on Australian television, averaging 1.5 million viewers each week on the Nine Network. As of 2003, it was shown in 100 countries throughout the world on the Hallmark Channel. In the Logie Awards of 2004, the show won four Logie awards.
Series history
Posie Graeme-Evans developed the idea for McLeod's Daughters in the early 1990's for her company Millennium Television in conjunction with the South Australian Film Corporation - she also developed the idea for children's television programs such as The Miraculous Mellops and Hi-5. The idea was for a television drama set on an Australian rural property with two half-sisters running the property inherited from their father with an all-female workforce. She developed the idea from stories from friends who grew up in the country and from the love of South Australian landscapes as shown in the paintings of Hans Heysen.Graeme-Evans pitched the idea to the board of the Nine Network who agreed to film a telemovie in 1996 with Jack Thompson starring as Jack McLeod who is the father and whose death leads to the two half-sisters inheriting the property. Despite the success of the miniseries shown on Mother's Day 1996, the show was put in development. The Nine Network bought "Kingsford" near Gawler in South Australia, the site where the original miniseries as a set and ran it as a rural property while the program was developed.
The Nine Network board agreed to commission a 13-show series in late 2000 after the Opening Ceremony for the 2000 Sydney Olympics featured a The Man From Snowy River theme highlighting the cultural significance of the bush to Australians. The first episode of McLeod's Daughters debuted in August 2001 and proved to be a smash hit, attracting 1.89 million viewers. The first series proved to be a success attracting an average of 1.5 million viewers an episode in Australia. The show also proved to be a success when shown in New Zealand on TV2 one of TVNZ's free-to-air channels.
The second series of McLeod's Daughters was equally successful being the third most popular drama on Australian television. By 2003, the show was the most popular drama series on Australian television. Lisa Chappell who played Claire McLeod, the older McLeod daughter, left the show in October 2003 to play other roles with her character being killed off. The popularity of the program in Australia was highlighted where the show won four Logies including Lisa Chappell winning most popular female actor, Aaron Jeffrey most popular actor and most popular Australian drama series.
Cast
Current cast members
- Rachael Carpani
as Jodi Fountain McLeod (2001-) - Aaron Jeffery
as Alex Ryan (2001- - Brett Tucker
as Dave Brewer (2003-2006) - Simmone Jade Mackinnon
as Stevie Hall (2003- - Michala Banas
as Kate Manfredi (2004- - Luke Jacobz
as Patrick Brewer (2005,2006- - Zoe Naylor
as Regan McLeod (2005,2006- - Dustin Clare
as Riley Ward (2006- (debuts on Wednesday 26th July)
Regular guest stars
- Inge Hornstra
as Sandra Kinsella Ryan (2003- - Reece Horner
as Nat (2004- - Doris Younane
as Moira Doyle (2005- - Jonny Pasvolsky
as Rob Shelton (2005- - Michelle Langstone
as Fiona Webb (2006)
Future cast members/guest stars
- John Blackman
TBA (2006) - Gareth Nixon
TBA (2006)
Former significant cast members
- Craig Woodland - Luke Ford (2001-2004)
- Alberto Borelli - Ben Mortley (2001,2002)
- Peter Johnson - Rodger Corser (2001-2002,2003,2004)
- Brett (Brick) Buchanon Fletcher Humphrys (2001-2003)
- Sgt. Frank Da Costa Stelios Yiakmis (2002)
- Liz Ryan Catherine Wilkin (2001-2003,2004,2006)
- Sally Clements Kathryn Hartman (2002,2003,2004,2005,2006)
- Becky Howard Jessica Napier (2001-2003)
- Jake Harrison Charlie Clausen (2002-2003)
- Claire Mcleod Lisa Chappell (2001-2003)
- Kane Morgan Craig McLachlan (2004)
- Jasmine McLeod Anna Torv (2004)
- Rose Hall-Smith Basia A'Hearn (2004,2005)
- Luke Morgan Dean O'Gorman (2004-2005)
- Nick Ryan Myles Pollard (2001-2005,2006)
- Tess Silverman McLeod Ryan Bridie Carter (2001-2006)
- Terry Dodge John Jarratt (2001-2006)
- Meg Fountain Dodge Sonia Todd (2001-2006)
- Harry Ryan/Carl Weatherdon Marshall Napier (2001-2006)
Brief guest appearances
- Bob the Postie - Chris Haywood (2001)
- Brian Cronin - John Sheerin (2001)
- Sean Howard Richard Wilson (2002)
- Kevin Fountain Richard Healy (2002,2003,2006)
- Finn O'Neill Tim Campbell (2002)
- Kylie Buchanan - Jovita Lee Shaw (2003)
- Bryce Redstaff - John Stanton (2003,2004)
- Ken Logan - Harold Hopkins (2004)
- Jennifer Logan - Susan Godfrey (2004)
- Celia Rivers - Glenda Linscott (2004)
- Tracy Morrison - Tasma Walton (2004)
- Jared Wuchowski - Grant Bowler (2004)
- Jeremy Quaid - Rhys Muldoon (2005)
- Greg Dawson - Henry Nixon (2005)
- Will Hamilton - Jeremy Sims (2005)
- Alessa Manfredi - Sonja Tallis (2005)
- Michelle Hall-Smith - Tara Morice (2005)
- Catriona Bradfield Sophie Cleary (2005,2006)
- Greg Hope - Matt Passmore (2006)
- Leo Coombes - Daniel Feuerriegel (2006)
- Phil Rakich - Peter Hardy (2006)
DVD releases
Series of McLeod's Daughters have been released on Region 4 DVD. All of them are in different colour box sets with a different cover including Claire & Tess, Stevie & Tess, Nick & Tess.
Series Releases
| DVD Name | Release Date | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|
| Series 1 | September 10 2003 | Includes series 1 episodes 1 - 22. |
| Series 2 | July 12 2004 | Includes series 2 episodes 23 - 44. |
| Series 3 | April 13 2005 | Includes series 3 episodes 45 - 74. |
| Series 4 | October 12 2005 | Includes series 4 episodes 75 - 106. |
| Series 5 | May 3 2006 | Includes series 5 episodes 107 - 138. |
| Series 6 | TBA | Includes series 6 episodes 139 - ???. |
Soundtracks
There have been two soundtracks from the series released in Australia both making the Australian ARIA Top 50. The songs are written by Posie Graeme-Evans and Chris Harriott and performed by Rebecca Lavelle. Graeme-Evans also writes many of the songs for Hi-5. On the website for the show, Posie Graeme-Evans tells of the songwriting process for the soundtracks.
For me, writing the songs for McLeod's has become an emotional journey into the heart of the series and the characters we've all come to love so much. I'd always thought Chris Harriott and I could use songs as a way to get under the skin of Claire, Tess, Meg, Jodi, Becky, Nick and Alex; almost like tools within an episode, the songs would give voice to what the characters were feeling but could not say. But as Chris and I have developed the songs, they've become much more to me than that: they've become a way of exploring how we all feel, the things we'd all like to say.
So far, there have been two soundtrack albums released from the series:
- (2002)
- (2004)
International
- In Australia, the show screens on Nine Network
- In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the show screens on VOX
- In the United Kingdom and Asia, the show screens on the Hallmark Channel
- In the Netherlands and Belgium, the show screens on the Net 5 and VTM
- In New Zealand, the show screens on TVNZ
- In Canada, the show screens on both Vision TV and One - the Mind, Body & Spirit Channel
- In the United States, the show does not screen. BooHoo and shame on WE: Women's Entertainment for cancelling a good thing and keeping rubbish.
- In the Italy, the show screens on Rai Uno
- In Latin America, the show screens on The Hallmark Channel
See also
External links
- [McLeod's Daughters Official Website]
- [Television Information Archive]
- [Lisa Chappell Site (Claire McLeod)]
- [Fans of McLeod's]
- [Information on Zoe Naylor, star of McLeod's Daughters]
- [Information on Rachael Carpini, star of McLeod's Daughters]
- [Rebecca Lavelle Site (Voice of McLeod's)]
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