Far Country, The

1 9 7 2 (Australia)
6 x 60 minute episodes

This six-part serial from the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) was based on the novel by Neville Shute and set in a beautiful secluded valley in the rugged Victorian high country just after World War II.

Jennifer Morton (Bernadette Hughson) – an English girl from a sheltered background – is invited to stay with some distant relatives on a country property in Australia where she falls in love with Czech migrant Carl Zlinter (Graham Corry, pictured), who – although a qualified doctor in his own country – is unable to practise medicine in Australia.

In a land of hope, the future was everything they could wish for – but Carl, who is working in a logging camp, is not all that he seems and Jennifer is not privy to his dark secret. A secret that, when exposed, will shatter all his dreams and expectations.

Jennifer’s Australian relatives, grazier Jack Dorman and his wife, Jane, were played by Peter Gwynne and Betty Dyson.

The production team found an old, abandoned homestead near Bathurst in New South Wales which exactly fitted their idea of the house in the story, and it was renovated to suit the series. One of the most dramatic scenes is an accident in the lumber camp where Carl works. This was staged in a real logging camp near Orange, with co-operation from the manager.

The series was remade in 1987 as a four-hour miniseries starring Michael York and Sigrid Thornton.

Jennifer Morton
Bernadette Hughson
Carl Zlinter
Graham Corry
Jane Dorman
Betty Dyson
Jack Dorman
Peter Gwynne