''Sara Dane'' is a 1982 Australian television
miniseries
In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...
about a woman transported from England to Australia for a crime she did not commit.
[Ed. Scott Murray, ''Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995'', Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p231]
Original novel
The mini-series was based on the best-selling 1954 novel of the same name by
Catherine Gaskin. Gaskin had spent two years researching the book, which was inspired by the true story of
Mary Reibey, a woman convict who married an officer while travelling to Australia, went on to become a successful businesswoman in her own right, and whose image has been featured since 1994 on the
Australian $20 note.
The novel was Gaskin's most successful, selling over two million copies. Film rights were sold and Gaskin announced in 1955 that a movie version would be made at Elstree Studios the following year, but this did not occur. Neither did another proposed production starring
Sylvia Syms.
1956 radio adaptation
The novel was adapted for radio in 1956 by the ABC.
Plot
Sara Dane, who was falsely accused and convicted of stealing, is among a group of women convicts aboard an English ship bound for
Sydney Town.
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
in 1797. Halfway through the voyage, she is taken from the ship's prison hold to serve as a maid to a migrating settler, James Ryder and his family. Stripped of her convict rags, bathed and decently dressed, Sara is surprisingly attractive and proves to be well educated and intelligent.
This changed Sara catches the eye of one of the ship's officers, Andrew McClay, who soon falls in love with her and proposes. Against all advice, McClay marries Sara and buys her freedom, but she soon becomes the object of gossip and animosity - the local society refuses to accept her; even her own servants treat her with envy and suspicion, but they all underestimate Sara, who devotes all her energies to her husband's business interests. Very soon they are prospering and as their wealth grows, McClay is able to buy what Sara desperately needs and wants - respectability. For a brief time the former convict girl is warmly received at
Government House and welcomed at glittering parties.
However, everything changes when McClay is killed in the
Irish Convict Rebellion. There are no more party invitations for Sara, no more guests at her fashionable townhouse. Sara Dane is ostracized once again.
To regain her social status and standing in the community, Sara marries a wealthy (refugee from the
French Revolution) French aristrocat, Louis de Bourget. Sara has now achieved the height of her social status and power - she is the wealthiest woman in the
Colony of Australia who no longer can be ignored and insulted.
Then, Louis de Bourget is killed in a riding accident and Sara becomes widowed for a second time. She decides to take her children and return to England, but once in London, Sara no longer feels England to be her 'home country'. She yearns for Australia and the freedom of her adopted land. So Sara once again sails halfway across the world to Australia again, but this time by choice: not as a convicted thief, but as a woman of wealth, power and status.
Cast
*
Juliet Jordan as Sara
*
Harold Hopkins as Andrew McLeay
*
Brenton Whittle as Jeremy Hogan
*
Barry Quin as Richard Barwell
* Sean Scully as Louis de Bourget
*
Ilona Rodgers as Julia Ryder
*
Paul Sonkkila as James Ryder
*
Robert Grubb as John Macarthur
* Judy Dick as Annie Stokes
*
Peta Toppano as Alison Barwell
* Henry Salter as Ted O'Malley
* Wayne Bell as Mr. Clapmore
*
Roger Oakley as Major Foveaux
*
Roger Ward as Johnny Pigman
*
Damon Herriman as David
*
Michael Pope as David
* Cameron Scott as Duncan
*
Graham Harvey as Duncan
*
Amanda Muggleton as Nell Finnigan
Production
In 1980 it was announced that the
South Australian Film Corporation would make a mini-series of the novel for
Network Ten, possibly starring
Judy Morris and
Sam Neill. Eventually Juliet Jordan was cast. Gaskin later said that Juliet was "not at all what I expected in Sara ... but I'm more than delighted Juliet was cast ... My young Sara was supposed to be a very strong character. You would have had to have been, to have survived and succeeded in the early days of Australia. If anything, the television Sara is even stronger than the novel's leading character in the end."
Reception
It was a ratings success.
Soundtrack
A soundtrack was released in 1982 by Cherry Pie.
Charts
References
External links
''Sara Dane''at
AustLit''Sara Dane''at
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 ...
{{Rod Hardy
1980s Australian television miniseries
Network 10 original programming
Television shows set in New South Wales
1982 Australian television series debuts
1982 Australian television series endings
Television shows set in colonial Australia
Television shows based on Australian novels
Historical novels
Novels set in Sydney
Films directed by Rod Hardy
1956 Australian radio dramas
Australian radio dramas set in colonial Australia
1950s Australian radio serials