The Thorn Birds (TV miniseries)

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The Thorn Birds
Directed by Daryl Duke
Written by Carmen Culver
Lee Stanley
Colleen McCullough (novel)
Starring Richard Chamberlain
Rachel Ward
Barbara Stanwyck
Christopher Plummer
Jean Simmons
Bryan Brown
Philip Anglim
Richard Kiley
Music by Henry Mancini
Cinematography Bill Butler
Editing by Robert F. Shugrue
David Saxon
Carroll Timothy O'Meara
Country United States
Language English
Original channel ABC
Release date  ()
Running time 467 minutes

The Thorn Birds is a television mini-series broadcast on ABC between 27 and 30 March 1983. It starred Richard Chamberlain, Rachel Ward, Barbara Stanwyck, Christopher Plummer, Richard Kiley, Bryan Brown, Mare Winningham, Philip Anglim and Jean Simmons. It was directed by Daryl Duke and based on a novel by Colleen McCullough.

Set primarily on Drogheda, a fictional sheep station in the Australian outback, the story focuses on three generations of the Cleary Family and spans the years 1920 to 1962.

Contents

Plot [edit]

Deviations from the novel [edit]

The novel begins in New Zealand on December 8, 1915, Meggie Cleary's fourth birthday. The miniseries begins in Australia five years later.

Three of Paddy and Fiona's children, Hughie and twins Jims and Patsy, are left out of the miniseries. In the miniseries, Meggie and Stuart visit Frank in prison, where Frank eventually dies. In the novel, Ralph acts as a go-between and no one in the Cleary family sees Frank until he is released from prison after 30 years.

In the novel, Meggie is totally ignorant of sexual matters until her wedding and has her own childish idea of how babies are made, which is revealed in her dialogue with Ralph. In the corresponding dialogue in the film, she is at least aware that animals copulate. The scene in the novel where Meggie reveals to Ralph that she has begun menstruating has Ralph reacting with anger toward Fee (although he never confronts Fee about it), whereas in the miniseries, Ralph is amused.

Justine visits Greece with Dane in the miniseries, while in the novel she stays in London.

In the miniseries, Anne and Luddie Mueller attend Dane's funeral. In the novel, Luddie had died prior to Dane's funeral and Anne attended alone.

Ralph dies while sitting in a chair with Meggie's head in his lap, recalling the legend of the thorn bird, not in Meggie's arms as in the novel, and not immediately after Dane's funeral.

The miniseries ends with Ralph's death. The novel continues with Justine's and Rainer's story.

The novel contains a continuity device where characters visit the Drogheda graveyard. This device is not used in the miniseries.

Cast [edit]

Actor Role
Richard Chamberlain Ralph de Bricassart
Rachel Ward Meggie Cleary (as an adult)
Sydney Penny Meggie Cleary (as a child)
Barbara Stanwyck Mary Carson
Richard Kiley Paddy Cleary
Jean Simmons Fee Cleary
Bryan Brown Luke O'Neill
Mare Winningham Justine O'Neill
Philip Anglim Dane O'Neill
Ken Howard Rainer Hartheim
John Friedrich Frank Cleary
Dwier Brown Stuart Cleary (as an adult)
Vidal Peterson Stuart Cleary (as a child)
Piper Laurie Anne Mueller
Earl Holliman Luddie Mueller
Christopher Plummer Archbishop Vittorio di Contini-Verchese
Brett Cullen Bob Cleary
Stephen W. Burns Jack Cleary
Barry Corbin Pete
Holly Palance Miss Carmichael
John de Lancie Alastair MacQueen
Allyn Ann McLerie Mrs. Smith
Richard Venture Harry Gough
Stephanie Faracy Judy
Antoinette Bower Sarah MacQueen

Filming [edit]

  • The mountainous terrain of the southern California "outback" filming location does not resemble western New South Wales, which is predominantly level to gently rolling.
  • The mini-series included "the most dangerous bus in Australia". Since filming took place in the US an American bus was used. In Australia, where there is right-hand drive, it would set down its passengers in the middle of the road.
  • In the miniseries, Drogheda, Mary Carson's sheep station, is said to have been named after the Irish town of Drogheda, by a former resident of that town. However, its name is mispronounced by all characters as "Drog-ee-da". In fact, the g should be silent and the e short. A former resident would pronounce it as Draw-hed-ah or Dro-hed-ah (with a soft o as in "drop"), or draw-da.
  • Actor Bryan Brown, was actually the only Australian born cast member hired in a major role. This is not too unusual since although the series takes place in Australia, Luke O'Neill and Meggie's children were the only major characters who were Australian born. Father Ralph, Mary Carson, and Paddy Cleary were all Irish born. Fee and most of the Cleary children were born in New Zealand.
  • The serial has had great success in France. The French title is "Les oiseaux se cachent pour mourir" (The birds hide to die). The series is still regularly repeated on TV channels.
  • The series was also very successful in Brazil, where it was broadcast by SBT. During its first broadcast, in 1985, the minisseries beat Globo TV network in the ratings, which had always been the leader in ratings in Brazil. The series last aired in Brazil from October 2 through October 13, 2006, at 9:40 PM (local time).

Emmy Awards [edit]

The Mini-series was nominated in 16 categories at the Primetime Emmy Awards in 1983, 7 of which were for acting. The winning actors were:

  • Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special- Barbara Stanwyck.
  • Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Special- Richard Kiley.
  • Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special- Jean Simmons.

Also nominated for their roles:

  • Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Special- Richard Chamberlain.
  • Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Special- Bryan Brown.
  • Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Special- Christopher Plummer.
  • Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special- Piper Laurie.

Competing against these actors were Roger Rees and David Threlfall for their performances in the television version of the Royal Shakespeare Company's The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, which beat out both The Thorn Birds and The Winds of War for Best Miniseries.

External links [edit]