MCLEOD'S DAUGHTERS

'''McLeod's Daughters''' is an Australian television drama set in the rural outback. 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.

Contents

Series history

Cast

Current Cast

Regular guest stars

Former significant cast members

Brief guest appearances

DVD releases

Awards

Soundtracks

International

See also

External links

Series history

Posie Graeme-Evans developed the idea for ''McLeod's Daughters'' in the early 1990s 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 (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 show was put in development. The Nine Network bought "Kingsford" near Gawler in South Australia, the location for the original movie, and ran it as a rural property while the program was developed.
The Nine Network board agreed to commission a 22 episode 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 further her acting and singing career. Her character was killed off in the landmark episode 72, 'My Noon, My Midnight'.
The popularity of the program in Australia was highlighted when 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

Actor	Role	Status
Simmone Jade Mackinnon	Stevie Hall Ryan	2003-
Aaron Jeffery	Alex Ryan	2001-
Michala Banas	Kate Manfredi	2004-2008
Doris Younane	Moira Doyle	2002-2003, 2005-
Luke Jacobz	Patrick Brewer	2005-
Dustin Clare	Riley Ward	2006-2007
Gillian Alexy	Tayler Geddes	2006-
Matt Passmore	Marcus Turner	2007-
Abi Tucker	Grace Kingston McLeod	2007-

Regular guest stars

Actor	Role	Status
John Stanton	Bryce Redstaff	2003-
Basia A'Hern	Rose Hall-Smith	2004-
Reece Horner	Nat	2004-
Peter Hardy	Phil Rakich	2006-
Sam Healy	Ashleigh Redstaff	2007-
Sandy Winton	Heath Barrett	2007-

Former significant cast members

★ 'Lisa Chappell' as Claire McLeod (2001-2003)

★ 'Bridie Carter' as Tess Silverman McLeod Ryan (2001-2006)

★ 'Myles Pollard' as Nick Ryan (2001-2006)

★ 'Rachael Carpani' as Jodi Fountain McLeod (2001-2007)

★ 'Aaron Jeffery' as Alex Ryan (2001-2007)

★ 'Sonia Todd' as Meg Fountain Dodge (2001-2006, 2007)

★ 'Marshall Napier' as Harry Ryan/Carl Weatherdon (2001-2006)

★ 'Brett Tucker' as Dave Brewer (2003-2006)

★ 'Inge Hornstra' as Sandra Kinsella Ryan (2002-2006)

★ 'John Jarratt' as Terry Dodge (2001-2006)

★ 'Jessica Napier' as Becky Howard (2001-2003)

★ 'Brooke, Kaitlyn and Tahlia Stacey-Clark ' as Charlotte McLeod (2004-2006)'

★ 'Alisha and Sarah Hart ' as Charlotte McLeod (2003)

★ 'Kathryn Hartman' as Sally Clements (2002-2006)

★ 'Michelle Langstone' as Fiona Webb Ryan (2006)

★ 'Catherine Wilkin' as Liz Ryan (2001-2004, 2006)

★ 'Rodger Corser' as Peter Johnson (2001-2004)

★ 'Dean O'Gorman' as Luke Morgan (2004-2005)

★ 'Luke Ford' as Craig Woodland (2001-2004)

★ 'Ben Mortley' as Alberto Borelli (2001-2002)

★ 'Fletcher Humphrys' as Brett "Brick" Buchanon (2001-2003)

★ 'Anna Torv' as Jasmine McLeod (2004)

★ 'Craig McLachlan' as Kane Morgan (2004)

★ 'Charlie Clausen' as Jake Harrison (2002-2003)

★ 'Stelios Yiakmis' as Sergeant Frank Da Costa (2002)

★ 'Jonny Pasvolsky' as Rob Shelton/Matt Bosnich (2005-2007)

★ 'Zoe Naylor' as Regan McLeod (2005-2007)

Brief guest appearances

★ 'Bob the Postie' - ''Chris Haywood'' (2001)

★ 'Brian Cronin' - ''John Sheerin'' (2001)

★ 'Briony Masters' - ''Alexandra Davies'' (2001,2002)

★ 'Simon Birch' - ''Murray Bartlett'' (2001, 2002)

★ 'Sean Howard' - ''Richard Wilson'' (2002)

★ 'Finn O'Neill' - ''Tim Campbell'' (2002)

★ 'Kylie Buchanan' - ''Jovita Lee Shaw'' (2003)

★ 'Celia Rivers' - ''Glenda Linscott'' (2004)

★ 'Tracy Morrison' - ''Tasma Walton'' (2004)

★ 'Jared Wuchowski' - ''Grant Bowler'' (2004)

★ 'Ken Logan' - ''Harold Hopkins'' (2004)

★ 'Jennifer Logan' - ''Susan Godfrey'' (2004)

★ 'Jeremy Quaid' - ''Rhys Muldoon'' (2005)

★ 'Will Hamilton' - ''Jeremy Sims'' (2005)

★ 'Alessa Manfredi' - ''Sonja Tallis'' (2005)

★ 'Michelle Hall-Smith' - ''Tara Morice'' (2005)

★ 'Kevin Fountain' - ''Richard Healy'' (2002, 2003, 2006)

★ 'Catriona Bradfield' - ''Sophie Cleary'' (2005, 2006)

★ 'Greg Dawson' - ''Henry Nixon'' (2005, 2006)

★ 'Greg Hope' - ''Matt Passmore'' (2006)

★ 'Leo Coombes' - ''Daniel Feuerriegel'' (2006)

★ 'Sgt. Tony Rablsi' - ''Joe Petruzzi'' (2006)

★ 'Howard Webb' - ''Robert Coleby'' (2006)

★ 'Hugh Doyle' - ''Steve Vidler'' (2006)

★ 'Bindy Martin' - ''Rebecca Lavelle'' (2006)

★ 'Drew Cornwell' - ''Sullivan Stapleton'' (2006)

★ 'Heather Richardson' - ''Samantha Tolj'' (2007)

★ 'Damon' - ''Liam Hemsworth'' (2007)

★ 'Mitch Wahlberg' - ''Callan Mulvey'' (2007)

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. Koch Entertainment released Season One in Region 1 DVDs under its Koch Vision label in the United States, October 3, 2006. Seasons Two through Six will be released in the United States beginning on May 8, 2007 with Season 2. Season 3 will be released on August 14, 2007. Subsequent seasons will be released every few months.
'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	April 11 2007	Includes series 6 episodes 139 - 170.

Awards

'Logie Awards'
'2007:'
'Won':
Most Popular Actor - Aaron Jeffery
Most Popular New Talent Male - Dustin Clare
'Nominated:'
Gold Logie - Most Popular Personality On Australian Television - Rachael Carpani
Gold Logie - Most Popular Personality On Australian Television - Simmone Jade Mackinnon
Most Popular Actress - Rachael Carpani
Most Popular Actress - Simmone Jade Mackinnon
Most Popular Australian Drama Series - McLeod's Daughters
Most Popular New Talent Female - Michelle Langstone
'2006:'
'Nominated:'
Gold Logie - Most Popular Personality On Australian Television - Bridie Carter
Most Popular Actor - Aaron Jeffery
Most Popular Actress - Bridie Carter
Most Popular Australian Drama Series - McLeod's Daughters
Most Popular New Talent Male - Jonny Pasvolsky
Most Outstanding Drama Series - McLeod's Daughters
'2005:'
'Won:'
Most Popular Australian Drama Series - McLeod's Daughters
'Nominated:'
Gold Logie - Most Popular Personality On Australian Television - Bridie Carter
Most Popular Actor - Aaron Jeffery
Most Popular Actress - Bridie Carter
Most Popular New Talent Male - Dean O'Gorman
'2004:'
'Won:'
Most Popular Australian Drama Series - McLeod's Daughters
Most Popular Actress - Lisa Chappell
Most Popular Actor - Aaron Jeffery
Most Popular Australian Program - McLeod's Daughters
'Nominated:'
Gold Logie - Most Popular Personality On Australian Television - Lisa Chappell
Most Popular Actor - Myles Pollard
Most Popular Actress - Bridie Carter
Most Popular New Female Talent - Simmone Jade Mackinnon
Most Outstanding Drama Series - McLeod's Daughters
Most Outstanding Actress In A Drama Series - Bridie Carter
'2003'
'Nominated:'
Most Popular Actor - Myles Pollard
Most Popular Actress - Lisa Chappell
Most Popular Actress - Bridie Carter
Most Popular Australian Program - McLeod's Daughters
Most Popular New Talent Male - Ben Mortley
'2002'
'Won:'
Most Popular New Talent Female - Lisa Chappell
'Nominated:'
Most Popular Australian Program - McLeod's Daughters

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, and earlier seasons repeats on Foxtel's Hallmark Channel.

★ In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the show screens on VOX under the name "McLeods Töchter"

★ In the United Kingdom and Asia, the show screens on the Hallmark Channel

★ In the Netherlands, the show screens on Net 5

★ In Belgium, the show screens on the 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 English, Série+ in French.

★ In the United States, the show does not screen. cancelled the show.

★ In Hungary, the show screens on the Hungarian version of The Hallmark Channel

★ In Italy, the show screens on Rai Uno and the Italian version of Hallmark Channel

★ In Latin America, the show screens on The Hallmark Channel

★ In Estonia, the show screens on Kanal 2

★ In Bulgaria, the show screens on GTV

★ In Poland the show screens on The Hallmark Channel

★ In Israel, the show screens on The Hallmark Channel

★ In South Africa, and Namibia the show screens on The Hallmark Channel

★ In Romania the show screens on The Hallmark Channel

★ In Malaysia the show screens on The Hallmark Channel

★ In Singapore the show screens on The Hallmark Channel

★ In Galicia (Spain) the show screens on TVG

★ In Norway the show screens on TVNorge

★ In Sweden the show screens on Hallmark Channel and Kanal 5

★ In Ireland the show screens on RTÉ 2

★ In Denmark the show screens on Kanal 4

See also

★ List of Australian television series

External links

★ McLeod's Daughters Official Website

★ Television Information Archive

★

★ Lisa Chappell Site (Claire McLeod)

★ Simmone Jade Mackinnon Fanpage (Stevie Hall)

★ Posie Graeme-Evans Official Site

★ Interview with the cast on WHO.com

★ McLeods - fan - danish fansite

★ The McLeod's of Drovers Run::a U.S. fansite

★ McLeod's Daughters at the National Film and Sound Archive