''Brides of Christ'' is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

miniseries produced by the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

in 1991.Albert Moran, ''Moran's Guide to Australian TV Series'', AFTRS 1993 p 94 The series takes place behind the walls of a Sydney convent school and deals with the struggles of both the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

nuns and the young students to adapt to the many social changes taking place within the church and the outside world during the 1960s.

Plot

Diane Markham (Josephine Byrnes) joins a convent, 'Santu Spiritu School for Girls' after dropping her fiancé and becomes 'Sister Catherine', under the guidance of 'Sister Agnes' (Brenda Fricker). Catherine begins a friendship with another convent newcomer 'Sister Paul' (Lisa Hensley) and she begins to teach English and acts as the school newspaper adviser. Rosemary (Kym Wilson) is a naughty, rebellious student who gets herself into trouble, while another student Frances (Naomi Watts) is upset because her divorced mother is planning a wedding (Eventually, Sister Paul attends the civil ceremony, and dances the Twist at the celebration). Catherine and Paul help Frances overcome her depression. Another convent

novice A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession with no prior experience. Religion Buddhism ...

falls in love with an ultra-liberal priest (Simon Burke) while another priest struggles with the papal doctrine while the real-life of the Vietnam war, rock 'n' roll, free abortions and free love flood the news.

Cast

Production

The series cost A$6.2 million to produce, with half the budget provided by the

Film Finance Corporation Australia The Film Finance Corporation Australia (FFC) was the government agency responsible for funding commercial productions of Australian film, documentary, and television from 1988 to 2008. Unlike other publicly funded organisations responsible for f ...

. Six fifty-five minute episodes were made. Each episode focused on a particular story and set of characters. Some characters would appear in multiple episodes with varying levels of prominence from episode to episode. Lead characters in one episode might appear in a support role in another episode.

Josephine Byrnes Josephine Byrnes (born 1966) is an Australian actress best known for her work in television, including a lead role in ''Brides of Christ'' for which she won a Logie Award The Logie Awards (officially the TV Week Logie Awards; colloquially k ...

' character was the focus of both the first and last episodes. In her first major role,

Naomi Watts Naomi Ellen Watts (born 28 September 1968) is a British actress. After her family moved to Australia, she made her film debut there in the drama '' For Love Alone'' (1986) and then appeared in three television series, '' Hey Dad..!'' (1990), '' ...

starred as Frances, one of the students. One episode also guest starred the then unknown Russell Crowe as a young man distressed about being called up for the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. The series was filmed on location at St Mary's Concord, Douglas Park, New South Wales,

Santa Sabina College , motto_translation = Truth , established = , slogan = Shake the world , principal = Paulina Skerman , chairperson = Tony Woods , location = Strathfield, In ...

, Strathfield, New South Wales, St Scholastica's College,

Glebe, New South Wales Glebe is an inner-western suburb of Sydney. Glebe is located southwest of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney, in the Inner West region. Glebe is surrounded by Blackwattle Bay a ...

Carcoar, New South Wales Carcoar is a town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, in Blayney Shire. In 2016, the town had a population of 200 people. It is situated just off the Mid-Western Highway 258 km west of Sydney and 52 km south-we ...

and Australian Catholic University, Mount St Mary Campus, Strathfield, NSW

Reception

''Brides of Christ'' earned a rating of 30 in its first run, making it the most viewed drama ever produced by ABC. The series continued to garner high ratings in its subsequent re-runs. When broadcast in the United Kingdom by

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

, it attracted an estimated audience of 6 million, a considerable success by the channel's standards. When A&E ran the series in North America, in 1993, it drew in an estimated average of 1.76 million viewers.Stuart Cunningham, ''Australian Television and International Mediascapes''.

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...

, 1996. pp. 91-92, 184-187. The entire series has since been released on DVD, and as at December 2021, it is available on Australian streaming service STAN.

Tony Scott Anthony David Leighton Scott (21 June 1944 – 19 August 2012) was an English film director and producer. He was known for directing highly successful action and thriller films such as '' Top Gun'' (1986), '' Beverly Hills Cop II'' (1987), ''D ...

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

stated ''a serious attempt, if not riveting one, to explore a special world''.Prouty The series won the following awards: * 1991

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission The Australian Human Rights Commission is the national human rights institution of Australia, established in 1986 as the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and renamed in 2008. It is a statutory body funded by, but oper ...

TV Drama Award was presented to the ABC TV and accepted by Penny Chapman and Sue Masters (Executive Producers) * 1992 Logie Awards the show and cast won several awards: ::* Most Popular Telemovie or Mini-Series ::* Most Popular Actress in a Telemovie or Mini-Series to Josephine Byrnes ::* Most Popular New Talent to

Kym Wilson Kym Wilson (born 1 April 1973) is an Australian actress and former television host. Career Wilson made her television debut playing a minor role in the 1985 mini-series ''Professor Poopsnagle's Steam Zeppelin''. Her first major role was in the ...

(along with her work on '' A Country Practice'') ::* Most Outstanding Actress to Josephine Byrnes ::* Most Outstanding Telemovie or Mini-Series

Notes

External links

*
Australian Television Information Archive''Brides of Christ''
at

Australian Screen Online The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national c ...

{{AACTA Award TeleFilmMiniSeries 1990–2009 ARIA Award-winning albums Australian drama television series 1990s Australian television miniseries Period television series Television series about Christianity Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming Television shows set in New South Wales 1991 Australian television series debuts 1991 Australian television series endings APRA Award winners