McLeod's Daughters

Start date: Country of Origin: Australia Genre: Director: Producer: Writer: Cast: Quirky Quote:

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Located in the Australian outback, television drama McLeod’s Daughters is based on a fictional cattle station, called Drovers Run. The show is the first prime-time drama series to be filmed entirely in South Australia. Creator Posie Graeme-Evans says that a photograph was her inspiration for the show, of "blue skies and quintessentially Aussie girls' faces with big wide grins under the broad brim of a classic RM Williams hat".

  Storyline

The original story tells of sisters Claire McLeod (Lisa Chappell) and Tess Silverman McLeod (Bridie Carter). Following the death of his wife and son during childbirth, cattle run owner Jack McLeod remarries, to a city girl called Ruth Silverman. Already having a daughter (Claire) from his first marriage, Jack’s relationship with Ruth produces a second child (Tess), and the young girls enjoy a close relationship to begin with. However, when Jack and Ruth separate, Claire stays with her father whilst Tess returns to the city with her mother.

Fast-forward to Jack’s passing twenty years later and each daughter inheriting half of Drover’s Run. Losing her mother to breast cancer, Tess decides to return to the cattle station in order to sell her share but finds the property in poor financial health. Dismissing the male workers, the sisters decide to run the property themselves, assisted by housekeeper Meg Fountain (Sonia Todd), her daughter Jodi (Rachael Carpani) and local girl Becky Howard (Jessica Napier). Working together through their joint-ownership of Drover’s Run, Jack McLeod’s daughters gradually find a way to overcome resentment and strive to ease the cattle station’s financial debt.

With the show on its seventh series, running the property presently are Grace Kingston (Abi Tucker), who is the cousin of Claire and Tess and daughter of Jack McLeod’s brother Hugh, Kate Manfredi (Michala Banas) and part owner Stevie Hall (Simmone Jade Mackinnon), who runs the accounts and paperwork after Tess’ departure for Argentina.

  Awards

In 2004 the show won Most Popular Australian Drama Series and Most Popular Australian Program at the Logie Awards (the Australian television awards, named after television inventor John Logie Baird), and in 2005 the show won Most Popular Australian Drama Series. McLeod’s Daughters has also earned many individual Logie Awards and has continually been nominated in several categories.