McLeod's Daughters

McLeod's Daughters
Genre	Drama
Created by	Posie Graeme-Evans Caroline Stanton
Starring	Simmone Jade Mackinnon Aaron Jeffery Abi Tucker Michala Banas Zoe Naylor Matt Passmore Luke Jacobz Doris Younane Gillian Alexy
Country of origin	Australia
No. of seasons	8
No. of episodes	234 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	45 minutes (per episode)
Original release
Network	Nine Network
Release	8 August 2001 – December 2008

McLeod's Daughters is an Australian television drama shown on the Nine Network.

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 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.

Rachael Carpani's departure in 2007 meant that the show had only one original cast member, Aaron Jeffery (who will officially leave in 2008 leaving no original cast members). 2007 also marked the year which many viewers considered the show to have "jumped the shark", with the storylines becoming so far-fetched that the show had drifted into a new direction, that of a soap-opera (which is also reflected in the low ratings). Aaron Jeffrey's commented to The Daily Telegraph that his desire to departure from the show was due to the new direction which the show was moving in, and he did not like it.

The 200th episode of McLeod's Daughters aired on October 3, 2007, with Hugh McLeod returning for this special event (Grace, Jasmine & Regan's father). Ratings for this episode were very poor by Australian standards, with only 1,008,000 viewers tuning in.

Rachael Carpani may be returning for the final season in 2008 as Jodi Fountain McLeod, also returning is Regan McLeod (Zoe Naylor) & Jasmine McLeod (Edwina Ritchard).

Plot

After the death of his wife and son during childbirth, Claire's father, Jack McLeod, married city girl Ruth Silverman. Tess was the product of this tempestuous but short-lived relationship. Growing up, the two girls had been very close but were separated when Ruth took 5-year-old Tess back to the city. Twenty years later, after Jack's sudden death, his daughters each inherit half of heavily mortgaged Drover's Run. Tess, who recently lost her mother to breast cancer, returns to Drover's in the hopes of cashing out and opening a cafe in the city, but is disappointed to be met with a less-than-rosy financial picture and the open resentment of her older sister. After Claire fires the male workforce, the sisters, with the help of housekeeper Meg Fountain, her daughter Jodi, and local girl Becky, decide to run the property themselves. The tentative and presumably temporary partnership is the first step in the reunited sisters' effort to heal old wounds, improve their relationship, and lift the property out of debt. The next few seasons depicts the growing bond between the sisters, including Tess' decision to stay at Drover's permanently, as well as their relationships with the neighboring Ryan brothers and others within the district. By the fourth season, Claire's old friend Stevie Hall had relocated to Drover's and was intent on establishing a rodeo school. Jodi's old school chum Kate Manfredi also joined the Drover's women. Also in Series 6 Regan McLeod Jodi's cousin; joined the team at Drovers Run after Tess Silverman McLeod Ryan departure. Then in 2007 Tess's sister Jodi Fountain McLeod departed Drovers Run with Matt Bosnich. McLeod's Daughters returns Wednesday 16th April at 7:30pm on Channel Nine for it's final season.

Reception

Ratings

Series	Average	Peak	Weekly Rank
Series 1	1,795,000	1,900,000	#1
Series 2	1,763,000	1,888,000	#1
Series 3	1,733,000	1,983,000	#1
Series 4	1,710,000	1,795,000	#1
Series 5	1,693,000	1,715,000	#1
Series 6	1,625,000	1,645,000	#1
Series 7	1,020,000	1,401,000	#15
Series 8

• Series 7 Ratings Note: Ratings dropped very low when Rachael Carpani (Jodi Fountain McLeod) & Zoe Naylor (Regan McLeod) left early in series 7 but picked up briefly, hitting 1,401,000 for the episode of Alex & Stevie's wedding day mid series 7. Then in episodes; Fanning the Flames ratings drop to 945,000 and in Seeing is beliving it drop to 905,000, Then in the series 7 finale rated slightly better than the season average gaining 1,209,000 viewers.

Main cast

Main article: List of characters from McLeod's Daughters

Current cast

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

Former cast

Actor	Role	Tenure	Episode count
Lisa Chappell	Claire McLeod	2001 - 2003	73 Episodes
Bridie Carter	Tess Silverman McLeod Ryan	2001 - 2006	135 Episodes
Rachael Carpani	Jodi Fountain McLeod	2001 - 2007	178 Episodes
Myles Pollard	Nick Ryan	2001 - 2006	125 Episodes
Sonia Todd	Meg Fountain Dodge	2001 - 2006, 2007	106 Episodes
Jessica Napier	Becky Howard	2001 - 2003	70 Episodes
Brett Tucker	Dave Brewer	2003 - 2006	114 Episodes
Jonny Pasvolsky	Rob Shelton/Matt Bosnich	2005 - 2007	35 Episodes
Dustin Clare	Riley Ward	2006 - 2008	50 Episodes

Former recurring cast members

Actor	Role	Tenure
Dean O'Gorman	Luke Morgan	2004-2005
Michelle Langstone	Fiona Webb Ryan	2006
Marshall Napier	Harry Ryan	2001-2006
Craig McLachlan	Kane Morgan	2004
Inge Hornstra	Sandra Kinsela	2002-2006
Kathryn Hartman	Sally Clements	2002-2005
Rodger Corser	Peter Johnson	2002-2006
Reece Horner	Nat	2003-2008
Basia A'Hern	Rose Hall-Smith	2004-2008
Peter Hardy	Phil Rakich	2006-2008
Martin Lynes	Frank	2008
Rachael Coopes	Ingrid Marr	2007-2008

Locations

Drovers

Main article: Drovers (Fictonal Farm)

Gungellan

A hotel in Freeling, is painted as the "Gungellan Hotel" for a set in McLeod's Daughters.

Locations in Gungellan:

• Drovers Run - Drovers Run is the local farm and is the main setting for the show. Drovers has been passed down to father, son & now daughter with Claire , Tess & Jodi McLeod all have run Drovers.With the help of all the staff

• Killarney - Killarney is a local farm also know as the Ryan Empire that Harry Ryan owned and as he grew older his sons Alex and Nick took over and when Nick left Alex ran Killarney until Marcus came along and is the current owner along with Alex of Killarney. Killarney is the opposite of Drovers

• Kinsellas - Kinsellas is a local farm that was run by Sandra Kinsella from 2003 - 2006 when she was arrested and Killarney and Kinsellas shared a lot of equipment. The name has changed since Heath Barret brought it.

• The Local Pub - The Local Pub is where everyone goes for a drink after a hard days labour. Jodi worked there briefly in 2005 and Tayler also worked there briefly in 2007. The pub is most likley the only pub in Gungellan

• The Truck Stop - The Truck Stop is where most of town buy there supplies and when they need fuel. It was first owned by Harry Ryan. Then Terry Dodge then Moira Doyle & Regan McLeod and the current owner Phill Rakich

• The Town Hall - The Town Hall is where most major events are helf like Miss Gungellan, Plays and much more things and the much recent bad turn out with Jodi crashing the towns birthday celebration

• Fisher - Gungellans closes Large Town

Episodes

Main article: List of McLeod's Daughters episodes

In McLeod's Daughters it's first & second season it aired 22 episodes each which meant by the end of 2002 it had only aired 44.By 2003 the show began airing 30 episodes making the total 74. In it's fourth season the show aired 32 episodes and also aired the 100th episode and finished on a total of 106 episodes. Season 5 remained the same airing episodes 107 - 138. The sixth season also remained the same airing episodes 139 - 170.The seventh season suffered a major drop in viewers because the seventh's season was so far fetched and also aired it's 200th episode.The Show has currently aired 202 episodes in Australia since 16 October 2007 and will air the final 32 in 2008 making the total by the end of the series 234 Episodes with no character starring in each and every episode.

Merchandise

Main article: McLeod's Daughters (Merchandise)

Music From McLeod's Daughters

Main article: Music From McLeod's Daughters

Awards

Logie Awards

Main article: McLeod's Daughters awards

McLeod's Daughters has been nominated for, and won, numerous Logie awards including Lisa Chappell who won "Most Popular new Female talent" in 2002 and Aarron Jeffery who was awarded "Most popular Actor" in 2004. McLeod's Daughters is nominated for two awards in 2008 including" Most Popular Australian Drama" and Simmone Jade Mackinnon who is nominated for most popular actress.

Broadcast

Country	Name	Network/Channel	Start Date	End Date
Australia	McLeod's Daughters	Nine Network	8 August 2001	2008
	McLeod's Daughters	Hallmark Channel
New Zealand	McLeod's Daughters	TV2	Between 2001 - 2003	2008 or 2009
Germany	McLeods Töchter	VOX
Austria	McLeods Töchter	VOX
Switzerland	McLeods Töchter	VOX
UK	McLeod's Daughters	Hallmark Channel
Asia	McLeod's Daughters	Hallmark Channel
Netherlands	McLeod's Daughters	Net 5
Belgium	McLeod's Daughters	VTM
Canada	McLeod's Daughters	One
	McLeod's Daughters (french)	Vision TV
Hungary	McLeod's Daughters	The Hallmark Channel (Hungary)
Italy	McLeod's Daughters	The Hallmark Channel (Italy)
Latin America	McLeod's Daughters	The Hallmark Channel
Estonia	McLeod's Daughters	Kanal 2
Bulgaria	McLeod's Daughters	GTV
Poland	McLeod's Daughters	The Hallmark Channel
Israel	McLeod's Daughters	The Hallmark Channel
South Africa	McLeod's Daughters	The Hallmark Channel
Namibia	McLeod's Daughters	The Hallmark Channel
Romania	McLeod's Daughters	The Hallmark Channel
Malaysia	McLeod's Daughters	The Hallmark Channel
Singapore	McLeod's Daughters	The Hallmark Channel
Galacia (Spain)	As irmás McLeod	TVG
Norway	McLeod's Daughters	TVNorge
Sweden	McLeod's Daughters	Hallmark Channel Kanal 5
Ireland	McLeod's Daughters	RTÉ 2
Denmark	McLeod's Daughters	Kanal 4
Finland	McLeod's Daughters	YLE 2
Croatia	McLeod's Daughters	HRT
Serbia	McLeod's Daughters	The Hallmark Channel
Kuwait	McLeod's Daughters	KUWAIT TV2 KTV2 National Channel

See also

• List of Australian television series

External links

• McLeod's Daughters at the Australian Television Information Archive
• Interview with the cast on WHO.com
• McLeod's Daughters at the National Film and Sound Archive
• Template:Tviv