This series I liked in the tradition of those mini-series found on PBS such as Poldark and Jewel In The Crown. I saw this on the History Channel in the late 90s and they encored it a number of times. It's about the first Europeans to Australia, aristocrats & convicts alike. They arrive and co-exist with the Aborigines who are natives to the continent. The convicts are basically treated like slaves by the higher ups. Nicola Pagett is the only player I recognize in the cast and she plays the wife of one of the arrogant landowners Mr Mannion. She later begins a relationship with a younger more gentler man John MacArthur whom her husband detests. Amongst the indentured women is the character played by Angela Punch MacGregor. She has a young son Johnny(about 9) and she is virtually a sexual slave as well as being a trodded upon servant to Mannion. Her son is cast off as he is not wanted and goes and lives with the Aborigines. He does not return until he is a fully grown man in his early twenties. By then his mother has died from despair and mistreament from Mannion. When Johnny learns that his mother was mistreated by Mannion all through the years and is responsible for his banishment he later kills him.(One is kept wondering if Mannion was Johnny's father. We never know.) Quite touching is how Johnny grew up with the Aborigines and how he has learned to survive through their cultural attitudes. After her husband's death Mrs Mannion(Pagett)blossoms in her relationship with John MacArthur and they eventually marry. A subplot of this series is the travails of two convicts who are always chained and are mistreated and do some mistreating to others. These are mean scenes but do justice historically to how those convicts would have been treated 200 years ago. All in All this is a very well done series, shot in color, which contrasts with so much despair the convicts and poor had to go through. Particularly Angela Punch MacGregor's character.
3 Reviews
An Honest & Erotic Piece of Australia's History
Camelot_200021 July 2018
Warning: Spoilers
I can't ever forget this Australian mini-series when it hit Canadian TV way back in 1980-81. I found it unforgettable due to the excessive amount of nudity involved which went against the strict standards of broadcast censorship back then, but this show got away with it.
From what I recall, there were several stories involving several characters, but the one to stick out in my mind was the woman and her red headed son. Her son was rebellious to the British penal colony and was drawn to the land, particularly to a nearby aborigine tribe. He later leaves the colony to join the native tribe for good.
In the red head's later years as an adult, he abducts a British maid he had his eye on and she's screaming in hysterics about her capture. He takes her to a large luxurious tree-house inhabited by an elderly aborigine couple and tries to have "domestic bliss" with that English girl.
She's resentful of the capture, but eventually grows to love the red head and they later have a baby. The final scene of this whole mini-series showed him playing a flute by the fire as she's rocking the baby and its cooing in contentment from the music.
That was the best story out of the whole series which is why I specifically remember it out of all the others. It was very heartwarming.
I also can't forget the scene where a woman is caught stealing from the penal colony's food supply and goes to court. She's sentenced to be whipped and it was unforgettable when her hands were tied to the back of a wagon and the whipper grabs the back of her shirt and rips it open, causing her boobs to pop out and jiggle erotically. I'll also never forget the sight of her nipples. That was forever etched in my mind.
All that clearly showed how this particular mini-series gave an honestly raw depiction of Australian history which is what made it so riveting. The British colonization of that continent was brutal at first and this show perfectly captured that, even giving an explicit look at the punishments involved, such as what happened to that thieving woman.
I highly recommend this Australian mini-series, but only if you can stomach the brutality shown of that time, particularly the punishment of women. There's no political correctness at all here, but this was made before that righteous attitude came about. It was, after all, simply giving a look at how things really were back then. A great saga.
From what I recall, there were several stories involving several characters, but the one to stick out in my mind was the woman and her red headed son. Her son was rebellious to the British penal colony and was drawn to the land, particularly to a nearby aborigine tribe. He later leaves the colony to join the native tribe for good.
In the red head's later years as an adult, he abducts a British maid he had his eye on and she's screaming in hysterics about her capture. He takes her to a large luxurious tree-house inhabited by an elderly aborigine couple and tries to have "domestic bliss" with that English girl.
She's resentful of the capture, but eventually grows to love the red head and they later have a baby. The final scene of this whole mini-series showed him playing a flute by the fire as she's rocking the baby and its cooing in contentment from the music.
That was the best story out of the whole series which is why I specifically remember it out of all the others. It was very heartwarming.
I also can't forget the scene where a woman is caught stealing from the penal colony's food supply and goes to court. She's sentenced to be whipped and it was unforgettable when her hands were tied to the back of a wagon and the whipper grabs the back of her shirt and rips it open, causing her boobs to pop out and jiggle erotically. I'll also never forget the sight of her nipples. That was forever etched in my mind.
All that clearly showed how this particular mini-series gave an honestly raw depiction of Australian history which is what made it so riveting. The British colonization of that continent was brutal at first and this show perfectly captured that, even giving an explicit look at the punishments involved, such as what happened to that thieving woman.
I highly recommend this Australian mini-series, but only if you can stomach the brutality shown of that time, particularly the punishment of women. There's no political correctness at all here, but this was made before that righteous attitude came about. It was, after all, simply giving a look at how things really were back then. A great saga.
Now available on DVD
Scottles11 October 2006
It's just come out in the ABC shops - see: http://shop.abc.net.au/browse/product.asp?productid=740972 In order to for this now to be posted i have to fill up 10 lines. How should I do that - well i saw this show back in the 80's and enjoyed it. I liked Against the Wind more - but this was good - I've even got the book about the making of it. You don't see them very often! Now I'm going to try submitting this again - why did they come up with this rule? Okay so that wasn't enough - I need another 4 lines - this is insane - anyway all i wanted to do was to show that it's available on DVD - perhaps I should have started a message about it in the forum section - oh well -- The girl from Upstairs Downstairs is also in it - can't remember much else - time to check again (here's hoping) Scot
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