Across the Lachlan plains, into the Weddin Mountains, around the shores of Lake Cowell and through the streets of Forbes, Grenfell, Cowra and even Bathurst rode Ben Hall and his gang. Loved, hated; pursued, sheltered; robbed, donated: loyal to his family and friends but hounded to the bitter end.
This is the amazing character brought to you in this series who is realistically represented by actor John Finch. Script, story, costumes and early colonial life are brought to the screen with exciting clarity. The story is based on and keeps to the facts from police and other government records, newspaper reports, personal recounts, poetry and tradition.
I have a personal bias as my home country borders the Forbes district and we lived only 15 miles from the eastern boundaries of Ben's territory. Ben played an important part in local history and folklore and was considered to be a gentleman wrongly treated by the law and supported by the poor settlers.
As a young child my grandmother would tell stories and recite poetry about Ben and his gang and he developed into my childhood hero. As youngsters we dreamed how we would find Ben's share of the Eugowra stage coach robbery which was supposed to be over 1400 pounds worth of gold dust from the gold diggings and hidden in one of his hideouts in the Weddin mountains. Recounts of the unjust treatment handed out by police and the prejudiced 'squatocracy' and the daring exploits of Ben, Frank Gardener and the rest of the gang are true to the era.
The inadequacies of the NSW troopers and the colonial government to deal with crime in small settlements that are many miles apart are realistically portrayed and historically true. The police efficiency and unfair treatment of the poorer settlers whether miners, farmers or labourers follows a similar pattern in other bushrangers' activities throughout the colonies from settlement in 1788 to Federation in 1901. A major reason for the success of bushrangers was the mistrust of the government and the police by the poor settlers and the willingness to support anyone prepared to stand against an unfair system.
What made Ben special to me was the fact that he never killed anyone and that his friend Billy,an indigenous policeman worked for the troopers as a tracker.
Brian Blain as Sir Frederick Pottinger, an untrained 'remittance' man forced into a job that couldn't be achieved and a victim of the English class system, acted very well giving the unhappy flipside of the story.
You will love this mini-series if it is ever put on DVD. I do have a colour booklet that was released with the series and can only hope for more, Thanks,hope it's helpful, q ridley.
This is the amazing character brought to you in this series who is realistically represented by actor John Finch. Script, story, costumes and early colonial life are brought to the screen with exciting clarity. The story is based on and keeps to the facts from police and other government records, newspaper reports, personal recounts, poetry and tradition.
I have a personal bias as my home country borders the Forbes district and we lived only 15 miles from the eastern boundaries of Ben's territory. Ben played an important part in local history and folklore and was considered to be a gentleman wrongly treated by the law and supported by the poor settlers.
As a young child my grandmother would tell stories and recite poetry about Ben and his gang and he developed into my childhood hero. As youngsters we dreamed how we would find Ben's share of the Eugowra stage coach robbery which was supposed to be over 1400 pounds worth of gold dust from the gold diggings and hidden in one of his hideouts in the Weddin mountains. Recounts of the unjust treatment handed out by police and the prejudiced 'squatocracy' and the daring exploits of Ben, Frank Gardener and the rest of the gang are true to the era.
The inadequacies of the NSW troopers and the colonial government to deal with crime in small settlements that are many miles apart are realistically portrayed and historically true. The police efficiency and unfair treatment of the poorer settlers whether miners, farmers or labourers follows a similar pattern in other bushrangers' activities throughout the colonies from settlement in 1788 to Federation in 1901. A major reason for the success of bushrangers was the mistrust of the government and the police by the poor settlers and the willingness to support anyone prepared to stand against an unfair system.
What made Ben special to me was the fact that he never killed anyone and that his friend Billy,an indigenous policeman worked for the troopers as a tracker.
Brian Blain as Sir Frederick Pottinger, an untrained 'remittance' man forced into a job that couldn't be achieved and a victim of the English class system, acted very well giving the unhappy flipside of the story.
You will love this mini-series if it is ever put on DVD. I do have a colour booklet that was released with the series and can only hope for more, Thanks,hope it's helpful, q ridley.