''Ring of Scorpio'' is a 1990 Australian TV miniseries by Alan Bateman, Errol Sullivan and Kim Williams. It was made with assistance from 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 ...

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

and the

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

. It was shot in Morocco, Spain, Sydney and Broken Hill. The casting of Americans Jack Scalia (who had recently completed a season-long role in ''

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

'') and

Catherine Oxenberg Catherine Oxenberg (born September 22, 1961) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Amanda Carrington on the 1980s prime-time soap opera ''Dynasty (1981 TV series), Dynasty''. Oxenberg is the daughter of Princess Elizabeth of ...

(then best known for her role as

Amanda Amanda is a Latin feminine gerundive (i.e. verbal adjective) name meaning, literally, "she who must (or is fit to) be loved". Other translations, with similar meaning, could be "deserving to be loved," "worthy of love," or "loved very much by ev ...

on ''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

''), and Briton

Caroline Goodall Caroline Goodall Pecorini (born 13 November 1959) is an English–Australian actress, screenwriter and producer. Awards and nominations include Best Actress nominations AFI Awards for her roles in the 1989 miniseries '' Cassidy'' and the 199 ...

was indicative of a trend in Australian miniseries from the early 1990s to cast well-known foreign actors in leading roles to increase the potential appeal to international audiences.

Plot

''Three women (

Linda Cropper Linda Cropper (born 1 January 1958) is an Australian actress, primarily known for her role as Geraldine Proudman in the TV series ''Offspring'' and as Dame Nellie Melba in the television series '' Melba''. A shortened version of ''Melba'' was s ...

) plot revenge against a drug dealer ( Jack Scalia) who seduced them before scamming them to participate in his operations, ultimately causing them to spend time in Moroccan prisons, ruining their lives.''

Synopsis

''A gripping story of secrets within secrets, of disloyalty and deception, of passion, murder and revenge. Helen Simmons cannot believe her eyes. There, on the floor of the Sydney Stock Exchange, is a man she thought was dead. Richard Deveraux, the man who once told her he loved her, the man who betrayed her, the man who nearly destroyed her and her friends. Now, it seems Richard is not only alive and well, he is even more dangerous than ever. When Helen discovers he is planning a multi-million dollar stockmarket scam, she decides it's time to act. With her two former friends, she sets out to avenge all the wrongs and the hurt of the past. But, like the scorpion on the ring that he once gave each girl as a symbol of his love, Richard Deveraux is a venomous and deadly enemy.'' — Banijay Rights

Production

* Ian Barry (Director) * Suzanne Hawley (Writer) * Errol Sullivan (Producer)

Cast

as Fiona Matthews McDonald *

as Helen Simmons *

as Marlene Walker * Jack Scalia as Richard Devereaux * Peter Kowitz as Gary Withers *

Caz Lederman Caz Lederman (born c. 1951/1952), is an Australian former actress. Early life Lederman is Jewish and was born to Viennese parents who emigrated to Australia. She studied at University of New South Wales and took on early stage roles as a means ...

as Pauline * Victoria Longley *

Bruno Lucia Bruno Lucia is an Australian stand-up comedian, actor and performer. Background Hailing from Adelaide, Lucia was born on 27 January 1960 and is of Italian descent. Career Stand-up comedy Bruno began his comedy career at the Sydney Comedy St ...

as Bruno *

Rebecca Gibney Rebecca Catherine Gibney is a New Zealand actress known for her roles on Australian television in '' The Flying Doctors'', '' Halifax f.p.'', ''Packed to the Rafters'', ''Winter'' and '' Wanted''. She has also featured in a number of Australia ...

as Judith *

Richard Moir Richard Moir (born 1950) is an Australian former actor and editor. Career Moir initially began his career as a film editor for low-budget 1970s Australian films and TV series, many of which were the work of director Esben Storm. Moir struck u ...

as Sergeant Hayes

Music

Martin Armiger John Martin Armiger (10 June 1949 – 27 November 2019) was an Australian musician, record producer and composer. He was one of the singer-songwriters and guitarists with Melbourne-based rock band the Sports from August 1978 to late 1981, whic ...

: composer * Derek Williams: orchestrator, conductor, composer additional music

Reception

''Ring of Scorpio'' was nominated for an AFI Award for 'Best Television Mini Series or Telefeature' in 1991. It rated well in a small number of

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

user reviews, garnering an average of 7.1/10User Reviews

References

External links

* {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2019 *

Screen Australia Screen Australia is the Australian Federal Government's key funding body for the Australian screen production industry, created under the ''Screen Australia Act 2008''. From 1 July 2008 Screen Australia took over the functions of its predecess ...

''RING OF SCORPIO''
Australian English-language television shows 1990s Australian television miniseries 1990 Australian television series debuts 1990 Australian television series endings 1990 television films 1990 films