With a budget of $1.25 million and shot over 16 weeks, this six-part Aussie mini-series – financed by the Seven Network, the BBC, the Victorian Film Corporation and the Australian Film Commission – was one of Australian television’s most ambitious projects ever.
The series proved to be one of the Seven Network’s biggest-ever success stories, achieving dream ratings in some territories. In Sydney, it rated 49 while Melbourne recorded a 44 – and Australians were not alone in loving the story either.
When the series screened in Britain, it was watched by more than 15 million people, which made it Britain’s third-highest-rated mini-series at the time, behind only Rootsand Holocaust.
Filmed by award-winning Russel Boyd (Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Last Wave), shooting took place in Broken Hill, England, Malaysia and Sydney
It’s the story of British woman Jean Paget (Helen Morse), who, while a prisoner of war in Malaya, falls in love with Australian POW Joe Harmon (Bryan Brown), a classic Australian hero with a ready sense of humour, courage, and honesty in any situation.
Believing Joe has been executed by the Japanese, a heartbroken Jean returns to England at the end of the war. It is only when she revisits Malaya to build a well for the villagers who helped the POWs that she discovers Joe is alive and living in Alice Springs, Australia.
The series assured instant global stardom for both Brown and Morse.
Jean Paget
Helen Morse Joe Harman
Bryan Brown Noel Strachan
Gordon Jackson Lester ‘Les’ Robinson
John Lee Mrs Frith
Dorothy Alison Sergeant Mifune
Yuki Shimoda Sally Wilson-Hayes
Anna Volska Al Burns
Maurie Fields Robyn Holland
Melissa Crawford Annie
Arkie Whiteley Mrs O’Connor
Maggie Dence Jonnie Horsefall
Crispian Ashby Rita Collard
Rebecca Marshall Marlene Collard
Mandy Boocock Bourneville
Tommy Lewis Rose Sawyer
Lorna Lesley Captain Sugamo
Richard Narita Miss Carter
Joan Lord Derek Wilson-Hayes
Donald MacDonald Bill Holland
John Allen
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When the series screened in Britain, it was watched by more than 15 million people, which made it Britain’s third-highest-rated mini-series at the time, behind only Roots and Holocaust.
