September 1, 2004 — McLeod’s Daughters, an emotionally charged, engaging saga of two feisty and beautiful sisters who pull together an all-female workforce when they inherit a Australian cattle farm, will premiere on WE: WOMEN’S ENTERTAINMENT on Saturday, October 2 (10:00-11:00 PM ET/PT). McLeod’s Daughters is WE’s first primetime drama series.
McLeod’s Daughters follows the lives of five extraordinary women living in a rugged environment, experiencing the hardships of working the land in a man’s world. The women drive the herds and shear the sheep at Drover’s Run, and still find time to encounter romance, laughter and sometimes heartache. As the series unfolds, the women discover that their love and respect for the land, and for each other is ultimately, their key to their survival and happiness.
The Australian cast stars Lisa Chappell (Claire), winner of the Australian LOGIE Awards for Most Popular New Actress, and Bridie Carter (Tess). McLeod’s Daughters opens as audacious city-slicker Tess McLeod arrives at her family’s farm, Drovers Run, to announce to her reticent, stubborn half-sister Claire that she has inherited half of the family’s cattle farm from their recently deceased father. Tess is determined to sell her share, only to find that Claire, who has never left the land, cannot afford to buy Tess out. Suddenly, the outside world and a whole new way of life are forced upon Claire. Tess reminds her that she is a woman and that life is not just about work.
A simple mistake by Tess during her stay leads Claire to make some difficult decisions including hiring an all-female workforce to help run the farm. They include affable housekeeper Meg Fountain (Sonia Todd) and her teenage daughter Jodi (Rachel Carpini). Local Becky Howard (Jessica Napier), through a set of unfortunate circumstances, also comes to work on the ranch.
With Tess’ arrival, Claire must deal with the attentions focused on her long lost sister by the handsome brothers, Alex (Aaron Jeffrey) and Nick (Myles Pollard) living on the neighboring property, Killarney. The competition between the brothers for Tess’ heart and the realization of Claire’s own feelings for one of the brothers, adds to the dramatic tension at Drover’s Run.
Filmed on a 135 acre ranch near Adelaide, Australia, McLeod’s Daughters has been described as “stylishly produced” (Sydney Morning Herald) with “delicious romantic tensions” (Sydney Herald Sun.) It premiered on Australia’s Nine Network in 2001 and is the number one drama in the country. The series has won the Australian Independent Producer of year for 2001 and the South Australia Gold Cinematography Award. The series is a co-production between Millennium Television and Nine Films and Television and is produced with the assistance of the South Australian Film Corporation.
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