| McLeod's Daughters | |
|---|---|
Title card |
|
| Also known as | Drovers Run, McLeod's |
| Genre | Drama |
| Created by | Posie Graeme-Evans Caroline Stanton |
| Starring | Lisa Chappell Bridie Carter Rachael Carpani Simmone Jade Mackinnon Aaron Jeffery Michala Banas Abi Tucker Matt Passmore Zoe Naylor Jessica Napier Brett Tucker Myles Pollard Doris Younane Sonia Todd Luke Jacobz Jonny Pasvolsky Gillian Alexy Dustin Clare Edwina Ritchard John Schwarz |
| Opening theme | Rebecca Lavelle Posie Graeme-Evans Chris Harriot |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| No. of seasons | 8 |
| No. of episodes | 224 and Telemovie (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Kris Noble, Susan Bower, Posie Graeme-Evans, Jo Horsburgh |
| Location(s) | Kingsford, between the townships of Gawler and Freeling, one hour north of Adelaide |
| Running time | 45 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Nine Network |
| Picture format | 576i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
| Audio format | Dolby Digital 5.1 |
| Original run | 8 August 2001 – 31 January 2009 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
McLeod's Daughters (English pronunciation: /məˈklaʊdz ˌdɔːtəz/) is a Logie award-winning Australian drama series that aired on the Nine Network from 2001 to 2009. It tells the story of two sisters, Claire and Tess McLeod, who are reunited after they inherit the family farm. Brought together after 20 years apart they put together an all-female workforce and commit to life at Drovers Run in South Australia, 180 km from the nearest town and 400 km from the city. The show had a major cast change in the final episode of season three when main character Claire McLeod (Lisa Chappell) departed the show and co-star Simmone Jade Mackinnon, who played Stevie Hall, became a main character.[1] In season 5 we discover that Jodi Fountain's biological dad was Jack McLeod, as a result of Jack's affair with Jodi's mum Meg, which makes her the half-sister of Claire and Tess McLeod. From season four onwards, more McLeod women joined who were cousins of Claire, Tess and Jodi McLeod. On 31 January 2009 the Nine Network aired the show's 224th and final episode in a movie length special. The show suffered poor ratings after Bridie Carter (Tess) and Rachael Carpani (Jodi) departed in seasons 6 and 7 respectively. There were no original cast members left at the time the show ended. However, Rachael Carpani ( Jodi ) and Sonia Todd ( Meg ) appeared in the series finale just as the voice of Bridie Carter ( Tess )
Currently reruns are being shown on the Nine Network's new female skewed HD Multichannel GEM.
Contents |
Jack McLeod dies and leaves his heavily mortgaged family farm, Drovers Run, to his daughters. Claire is Jack's daughter from his first marriage. His first wife, Prudence, died giving birth to Claire's brother Adam. He later married Ruth Silverman, and they had a daughter, Tess. The two girls were close growing up, but were separated when Ruth took five-year-old Tess back to the city. At the beginning of the series, Tess returns home to the place she left more than 20 years before.
Tess, who recently lost her mother to breast cancer, hopes to sell her share of the farm and open a café in the city, but is disappointed when she is met with a less-than-rosy financial picture and the open resentment of her older sister. Claire fires the male workforce after they are caught stealing petrol from the farm, and the sisters run the farm themselves, with the help of housekeeper Meg Fountain, her daughter Jodi, and local girl Becky. The tentative partnership is the first step in the reunited sisters' effort to heal old wounds, improve their relationship, and lift the property out of debt.
Three years later, in October 2003, Claire’s best friend Stevie Hall arrives at Drovers Run to replace Becky, who left with Jake to run a farm. Weeks after Stevie arrived, and after Claire gives birth to a daughter in a paddock. Tess and Alex barely makes it to her side to help her. Claire and Tess are driving home with party supplies, with baby BOM (baby of McLeod), when Claire loses her life in a tragic car accident. Alex had plans with an engagement ring on her pillow. Heartbroken, Tess is left to run Drovers by herself with the help of Stevie and the girls. Eventually, Stevie invests her opals into Drover's Run, and Tess gives her 10% of the property, promising Stevie she will always have a home.
In March 2006, Tess and her husband Nick decide to leave Drovers to run a farm in Argentina. After finding letters and DNA support, Jodi discovers that Jack McLeod was her real father. Tess and Nick come home, Jodi reveals to Tess she is her sister. Tess and Nick leave again for Argentina, Stevie is now running the family property with the help of Jodi, her cousin Regan, and Jodi's best friend Kate Manfredi, who arrived in 2004.
In 2007, Jodi decides to go into witness protection with her boyfriend Matt, leaving Drover's Run. In Jodi's absence, she deeds her part of the family property to her cousins Regan, Grace and Jazmine as per her "will" because she is presumed dead in a car accident, and cannot own property.
With Regan running the farm with Stevie, Tayler and Kate, Regan’s estranged sister Grace Kingston arrives at Drover's Run after getting a letter in the mail. Regan is a geologist and is torn between her love for rocks and Drover's. The romantic relationship between Alex and Stevie continues to develop and later that year, they marry. Regan also departs to study for a new job.
In 2009, Kate Manfredi leaves Drover's for a new job, and Regan returns after a year away. After her return, Regan and Grace's sister Jazmine McLeod makes a surprising appearance at Drovers, hiding a dark secret. Stevie Hall's cousin Ben Hall also arrives at Drovers to help out after Alex's death. In the series finale, Jodi Fountain-McLeod happily returns to Drover's Run to give birth to her first child, after coming out of witness protection. Her husband Matt is working elsewhere.
Posie Graeme-Evans developed the idea for McLeod's Daughters in the early 1990s for her company Millenium 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 the father Jack McLeod, whose death leads to the two half-sisters (portrayed by Kym Wilson as Tess and Tammy MacIntosh as Claire) inheriting the property. Following the success of the telemovie shown on Mother's Day 1996 the Nine Network board agreed to commission a 22 episode series, but the project was left on the shelf for four years. It wasn't until late 2000 after the Opening Ceremony for the 2000 Sydney Olympics featured a The Man from Snowy River theme, which highlighted the cultural significance of the bush to Australians. The first episode of McLeod's Daughters eventually debuted in August 2001 and proved to be a hit, attracting 1.89 million viewers. The first series was a success, attracting an average of 1.5 million viewers per episode in Australia. The show aired in New Zealand on TV2, one of TVNZ's free-to-air channels. The final season on TV2 began airing a month after Australia and eventually became 10 episodes in front of Australia until the finale. Re-runs from Season 1 are currently on Vibe in New Zealand, a channel aimed at woman's programming.
The second season 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, left the show in October 2003 to further her acting and singing career. Her character was killed off in the landmark episode 72 (season 3, episode 28) "My Noon, My Midnight", but appeared in episode 73 "The Long Goodbye" (3.29) as a figment of Tess' imagination.
The popularity of the program in Australia was highlighted when the show won four Logie Awards (Logies), including Lisa Chappell winning most popular female actor and Aaron Jeffery winning most popular actor, with the show itself winning most popular Australian drama series in 2004 and 2005.
The show then began to decline in popularity and perceived quality. Cast turn-over was high, and increasingly far-fetched explanations were employed to explain the sudden departure of formerly important characters. Rachael Carpani's departure in 2007 meant that the show had only one original cast member left, Aaron Jeffery, who left in 2008. 2007 marked the point at which many viewers considered the show to have "jumped the shark" as the show had drifted into a new direction, that of a soap opera; at that point, the show began to experience low ratings. Aaron Jeffery commented to The Daily Telegraph that his desire to depart from the show was due to the new direction the show was taking, which he did not like.
The 200th episode of McLeod's Daughters aired on 3 October 2007, with Hugh McLeod (Grace, Jasmine and Regan's father) returning for this special event. An entirely different script was originally written when one of the original cast (speculated to be Bridie Carter) agreed to come back; however, it was pulled at the last minute. Ratings for this episode were very poor by Australian standards, with only 1,008,000 viewers tuning in; the highest that season was 1,415,000 for episode 16.
The eighth and final season began on 23 July 2008 with the episode 203, "Aftermath," but after two further episodes, Channel 9 pulled the show from its schedule due to extremely low ratings. The remaining episodes were eventually aired from December to January in a double-episode format, with the final two episodes ("Into the Valley of the Shadow" and "The Long Paddock") airing on 31 January 2009[2] with original cast members Rachael Carpani and Sonia Todd returning for the special event.
The final season began airing in the UK on the Hallmark Channel (now Universal Channel) on 12 October 2008 with double episodes every Sunday morning from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm. The final two episode aired in the UK on Sunday 21 December 2008, a month before the episodes aired in Australia.[3] The show continues to air repeat episode on the Universal Channel weekday mornings at 6.00am, usually only seasons 6-8 in rotation.
In Ireland, RTÉ Two began airing the final season in mid-2010, with the final episode airing early 2011. This was the first time season 8 had been shown on the channel, as RTÉ had long period gaps between each season. In early 2011, the channel began airing the series from the beginning.
| Actor | Character | Episode Count | Main Cast Seasons | Recurring Cast Seasons |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lisa Chappell | Claire Louise McLeod | 74 | 1, 2, 3 | NA |
| Bridie Carter | Teresa Charlotte McLeod | 135 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | NA |
| Rachael Carpani | Jodi Margaret McLeod6 | 180 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 | 8 |
| Jessica Napier | Becky Howard | 70 | 1, 2, 3 | NA |
| Aaron Jeffery | Alexander "Alex" Marion Ryan | 202 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 | 8 |
| Myles Pollard | Nicholas "Nick" Gary Ryan | 124 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 | 6 |
| Sonia Todd | Margaret Fountain1 | 107 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 | 6, 7, 8 |
| Simmone Jade Mackinnon | Stephanie "Stevie" Hall | 153 | 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 | NA |
| Brett Tucker | David "Dave" Brewer | 100 | 4, 5, 6 | 3 |
| Michala Banas | Kate Manfredi | 117 | 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 | NA |
| Doris Younane | Moira Doyle2 | 94 | 6, 7, 8 | 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| Zoe Naylor | Regan McLeod | 53 | 6, 7 | 5, 8 |
| Jonny Pasvolsky | Matt Bosnich | 36 | 5, 6 | 7 |
| Luke Jacobz | Patrick Brewer | 78 | 6, 7, 8 | 5 |
| Dustin Clare | Riley Ward | 49 | 6, 7 | 8 |
| Gillian Alexy | Tayler Geddes3 | 54 | 7, 8 | 6 |
| Matt Passmore | Marcus Turner4 | 53 | 7, 8 | NA |
| Abi Tucker | Grace Kingston McLeod | 45 | 7, 8 | NA |
| Anna Torv and Edwina Ritchard | Jasmine McLeod5 | 17 | 8 | 4 |
| John Schwarz | Ben Hall | 15 | 8 | NA |
| Actor | Character | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Marshall Napier | Harry Ryan/Carl Wetherdon | 2001–2006 |
| John Jarratt | Terry Dodge | 2001–2006 |
| Fletcher Humphrys | Brett "Brick" Buchanan | 2001–2003 |
| Henry Nixon | Shearer/Greg Dawson | 2001, 2005, 2006 |
| Rodger Corser | Peter Johnson | 2001–2004 |
| Ben Mortley | Alberto Borelli | 2001, 2002–2003 |
| Kathryn Hartman | Sally Clemments | 2002–2005 |
| Stelios Yiakmis | Sergeant Frank Da Costa | 2002 |
| Charlie Clausen | Jake Harrison | 2002–2003 |
| Richard Healy | Kevin Fountain | 2002, 2003, 2006 |
| Inge Hornstra | Sandra Kinsella-Ryan | 2002–2006 |
| Reece Horner | Nat | 2003–2008 |
| Peter Stefanou | Vince Lavise | 2003 |
| Jovita Lee Shaw | Kylie Buchanan | 2003 |
| John Stanton | Bryce Redstaff | 2003–2007 |
| Carmel Johnson | Beth Martin | 2003–2009 |
| Brooke, Kaitlyn and Tahlia Stacey-Clark | Charlotte Prudence McLeod | 2004–2006, 2009 |
| Harold Hopkins | Ken Logan | 2004 |
| Susan Godfrey | Jennifer Logan | 2004 |
| Tasma Walton | Tracy Morrison | 2004 |
| Grant Bowler | Jared Wuchowski | 2004 |
| Glenda Linscott | Celia Rivers | 2004 |
| Craig McLachlan | Kane Morgan | 2004 |
| Basia A'Hern | Rose Hall Smith | 2004–2009 |
| Dean O'Gorman | Luke Morgan | 2004–2005 |
| Anna Torv / Edwina Ritchard | Jazmine McLeod | 2004 |
| Josef Ber | Hugh McLeod | 2004, 2005, 2007 |
| Zoe Naylor | Regan McLeod | 2005, 2008–2009 |
| Rhys Muldoon | Jeremy Quaid | 2005 |
| Jeremy Sims | Will Hamilton | 2005 |
| Sonja Tallis | Alessa Manfredi | 2005 |
| Tara Morice | Michelle Hall – Smith | 2005 |
| Sophie Cleary | Catrina Bradfield | 2005, 2006 |
| John Atkinson | Roger McIvor | 2005, 2006, 2007 |
| Matt Passmore | Greg Hope | 2006 |
| Michelle Langstone | Fiona Webb | 2006 |
| Peter Hardy | Phil Rakich | 2006–2009 |
| Damien Richardson | Tom Braiden | 2006 |
| Daniel Feuerriegel | Leo Coombes | 2006 |
| Joe Petruzzi | Sgt. Tony Rablsi | 2006 |
| Andrew.S.Gilbert | Joel Sanderson | 2006 |
| Alicya Debnam Carey | Chloe Sanderson | 2006 |
| Robert Coleby | Howard Webb | 2006 |
| Steve Vidler | Hugh Doyle | 2006 |
| Rebecca Lavelle | Bindy Martin | 2006 |
| Sullivan Stapleton | Drew Cornwell | 2006 |
| Sonia Todd | Meg Fountain | 2007, 2009 |
| Samantha Tolj | Heather Richardson | 2007 |
| Liam Hemsworth | Damon | 2007 |
| Callan Mulvey | Mitch Wahlberg | 2007 |
| Jay Laga'aia | Gabe | 2007 |
| Wendy Bos | Karen Aitken | 2007 |
| Sam Healy | Ashleigh Redstaff | 2007 |
| Rachael Coopes | Ingrid Marr | 2007–2009 |
| Scott Lowe | Jim Selkirk | 2007–2008 |
| Sandy Winton | Heath Barrett | 2007 |
| Anita Hegh | Sharon Buckingham | 2008 |
| Martin Lynes | Frank Edwards | 2008 |
| Alex Cook | Lily Edwards | 2008 |
| Gus Murray | Father Dan | 2008 |
| Ashton & Tate Hutchins | Xander Hall | 2008–2009 |
| Aaron Jeffery | Alex Ryan | 2001–2009 |
Locations in Gungellan:
McLeod's Daughters is filmed on location at Kingsford, a 35-acre (55ha) propertyon the outskirts of Gawler. Gawler is one hour north of Adelaide, which Posie Graeme-Evans refers to as "our very own backlot". Kingsford was originally part of a 30,000-acre (12,245ha) property, Kingsford has been used in recent years by the South Australian Government as a wheat research starion. The property was purchased by The Nine Network in 1999. The Historical house was built from Edinburgh sandstone, transported to Australia as a ship ballast. The house took over 30 years to build and was finished by 1856. The producers of McLeod's Daughters were thrilled to have a location. Although Kingsford was a grand property at the time, it is now quite run down - a look that was important for the production design of the series, as the McLeod family has no money for maintenance.
The interior scenes set at Drover's Run are all, in fact, filmed inside the house. It added authenticity to the production, and it was convenient in that the large rooms and high ceilings were ideal for filming. Kingsford was a working farm in its day.[4]
The show was shot on Super 16mm film,[5] and is the first Australian drama series to be delivered in HDTV format. Three cameras were used, two on main unit and the third on second unit. The cinematography is vast and in composition is beautiful. Director of phototography, Roger Dowling had masterfully created the illusion that the series is shot on 200,000-hectare property in the Australian bush, instead of on a heritage estate, the size of a hobby farm, one hour north of Adelaide.[6]
| Season | Timeslot | Season premiere | Season finale | Television season | Rank | Fans rank | Viewers (in millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | Wednesday 7:30 pm | 8 August 2001 | 20 March 2002 | 2001–2002 | #1 | #1 | 1.85 |
| Season 2 | Wednesday 7:30 pm | 27 March 2002 | 16 October 2002 | 2002 | #1 | #1 | 1.84 |
| Season 3 | Wednesday 7:30 pm | 12 February 2003 | 29 October 2003 | 2003 | #1 | #1 | 1.82 |
| Season 4 | Wednesday 7:30 pm | 11 February 2004 | 24 November 2004 | 2004 | #1 | #1 | 1.68 |
| Season 5 | Wednesday 7:30 pm | 9 February 2005 | 23 November 2005 | 2005 | #1 | #2 | 1.65 |
| Season 6 | Wednesday 7:30 pm | 15 February 2006 | 29 November 2006 | 2006 | #2 | #3 | 1.44 |
| Season 7 | Wednesday 7:30 pm | 7 February 2007 | 17 October 2007 | 2007 | #8 | #5 | 1.17 |
| Season 8 | Wednesday 8:30 pm (1–3), Saturday 8:30 pm (4–6), Saturday 10:00 pm (7–8), Saturday 9:30 pm (9–22) | 23 July 2008 | 31 January 2009 | 2008–2009 | #30 | #10 | 0.65 |
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| Season | Length | Episodes |
|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 5 VHS tapes | 1–22 |
| Season 2 | 5 VHS tapes | 23–44 |
| Season 3 | 6 VHS tapes | 45–74 |
| Season 4 | 7 VHS tapes | 75–106 |
Sony Pictures has released the entire series on DVD in Region 4.
In Region 1, Entertainment One has released all 8 seasons on DVD.
| Season | Ep | Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | Special Features | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 22 | 3-10-06 | - | 10-9-03 | Pilot TV Movie, Cast and Crew Interviews | M |
| Season 2 | 22 | 8-5-07 | - | 13-4-04 | None | M |
| Season 3 | 30 | 14-8-07 | - | 12-4-05 | None | M |
| Season 4 | 32 | 6-11-07 | - | 10-10-05 | None | M |
| Season 5 | 32 | 5-2-08 | - | 2-5-06 | None | PG |
| Season 6 | 32 | 10-6-08 | - | 11-4-07 | None | M |
| Season 7 | 32 | 9-12-08 | - | 30-4-08 | None | M |
| Season 8 | 22 | 19-5-09 | - | 17-11-08 | Cast Interviews, Top 3 Moments | M |
| Complete | 224 | - | - | 23-11-09 | Pilot TV Movie, Cast and Crew Interviews, Top 3 Moments | M |
All 8 seasons and the complete boxset have been released on region 2 in other countries not Ireland or UK. The original pilot TV movie has also been released separately in other countries.
Three volumes of McLeod's Daughters: Songs from the Series were released. They were composed by Chris Martin with vocals by Rebecca Lavelle.
McLeod's Daughters has been nominated for, and won, numerous Logie awards. Lisa Chappell won "Most Popular New Female Talent" in 2002 and Aaron Jeffery was awarded "Most Popular Actor" in 2004. McLeod's Daughters was nominated in 2008 and 2009 for "Most Popular Australian Drama" and Simmone Jade Mackinnon was nominated in 2008 and 2009 for "Most Popular Actress".
| Country | Name | Network/Channel | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
McLeod's Daughters | Universal Channel (formerly Hallmark Channel) | ||
| Australia | McLeod's Daughters | Universal Channel | ||
| Nine Network | 8 August 2001 | 31 January 2009 | ||
| GEM | ||||
| Austria | McLeods Töchter | VOX | January 2006 | 2009 |
| Belgium | McLeod's Daughters | VTM | 2011 | |
| Hallmark Channel | - | |||
| Brazil | As filhas de McLeod | |||
| Bulgaria | Дъщерите на Маклауд | Universal Channel | ||
| Canada | McLeod's Daughters | Vision TV Series Plus(in french) | ||
| Spain | Las hermanas McLeod | Sony Entertainment Television | 20 July 2009 | 25 jun 2010 |
| Catalonia | Les germanes McLeod | TV3 | ||
| Croatia | McLeodove kćeri | HRT | 2 August 2010 | |
| Czech Republic | McLeodovy dcery | CT1 | February 2008 | November 2008 |
| Denmark | McLeod's Daughters | Kanal 4 | ||
| Estonia | McLeodi tütred | Kanal 2 | ||
| Kanal 11 | ||||
| Finland | McLeodin Tyttäret | YLE TV2 | ||
| Hallmark Channel | ||||
| Galicia | As irmás McLeod | TVG | ||
| Germany | McLeods Töchter | VOX | 19 January 2006 | 4 November 2008 |
| Greece | Οι Κόρες του McLeod | ET-3 | September 2009 | 27 July 2010 |
| Hungary | McLeod Lányai | M1, M2 | ||
| Hallmark Channel | ||||
| Ireland | McLeod's Daughters | RTÉ One | ||
| RTÉ Two | 2003 | 2011 | ||
| Israel | Hallmark Channel | |||
| Italy | Le Sorelle Mc Leod | - | ||
| Rai Uno | ||||
| Kuwait | McLeod's Daughters | KTV2 National Channel | ||
| Kuwait TV2 | ||||
| Latin America | Hallmark Channel | |||
| Lithuania | Makleodo dukterys | LTV | February 2009 | 27 January 2010 |
| Latvia | "Makleoda meitas" | TV3 Latvia | ||
| Malaysia | McLeod's Daughters | Hallmark Channel | ||
| Namibia | - | |||
| Netherlands | - | |||
| Net 5 | 2001 | 3 August 2009 | ||
| New Zealand | TV2[7] | Between 2001–2003 | 12 February 2009 | |
| Norway | TVNorge | |||
| Poland | Córki McLeoda | Hallmark Channel | ||
| TVP2 | March 2009 | March 2010 | ||
| Philippines | McLeod's Daughters | Hallmark Channel | ||
| Portugal | As Irmãs McLeod | SET Portugal | ||
| Romania | Fiicele lui McLeod | Hallmark Channel | ||
| Russia | Дочери Маклеода | |||
| Serbia | McLeod's Daughters | |||
| Singapore | ||||
| Slovenia | McLeodove hčere | RTV SLO (only Season 1) and Hallmark Channel | ||
| South Africa | McLeod's Daughters | Hallmark Channel[8] | ||
| Sweden | McLeods döttrar | - | ||
| Kanal 5 | ||||
| Switzerland | McLeods Töchter | 3+ | September 2006 | 2009 |
| VOX | January 2006 | 2009 | ||
| United Kingdom | McLeod's Daughters | Universal Channel (formerly Hallmark Channel) | 21 December 2008 |
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