More than 25 years after McLeod’s Daughters first premiered on Nine, the beloved series is set to return as a Stan Original.
The reboot was announced at the Nine Upfront yesterday afternoon in Sydney, one of several new drama announcements for the streamer, alongside the Rachel Griffiths led Slander and Stuck Up & Stupid, starring Angourie Rice, Brendon Tremblay, Yvonne Strahovski and Brooke Satchwell.
Roadshow Rough Diamond’s medical drama The F Ward was also confirmed for a second season, while Jacki Weaver was announced as joining Sheridan Smith and Judy Davis in upcoming ITV co-order Two Birds.
Hamish Blake will front new eight-part unscripted series Unskilled Adult, from UA Productions, which will see the Gold Logie winner and his unqualified mates learn to master a completely new skill from scratch and attempt to get paid for it. Tim Bartley, Greg Sitch and Plum Stubbings executive produce.
In reality, MAFS: The Dinner Party will return for a second season, while the streamer will also be home to The Block: The House Next Door and Love Island Australia: Unseen. Uncut.
The new version of McLeod’s Daughters will be produced by Werner Film Productions. A reboot of the series in some form has long been in the works, with Posie Graham-Evans, who co-created the original show with Caroline Stanton, working on feature film spin-off with producer Sue Clothier and screenwriter Emma Jensen back in 2020 with development support from Screen Tasmania. The series also won the MEAA’s The Great Australian Binge vote for Australia’s most favourite show in the same year.
The synopsis from Stan reads: “A lot has happened since Australia last visited Drovers Run, but what hasn’t changed is the landscape and the uplifting spirit of the strong, resilient women navigating life on the land alongside the challenges of finding love and connection in the modern world.”
No cast or further details about the crew have been announced as yet. The original, which ran for eight seasons and 224 episodes, starred Bridie Carter, Sonia Todd, Jessica Napier, the late Rachael Carpani, Simmone Jade Mackinnon and Aaron Jeffery.
The cast of ‘Slander’. L-R: Rachel Griffiths, Max Beesley, Jessica De Gouw and Roxie Mohebbi.
Slander, produced by Blackfella Films and created by executive producers Rachel Griffiths and Marieke Hardy, will begin production in Melbourne soon.
Griffiths is Adelaide Craig, one of the country’s most formidable defamation lawyers. After a hugely successful career in London, she moves back to Australia to establish an ambitious and groundbreaking women-led defamation chambers. Teaming up with sharp, tenacious solicitor Jasmine Maloney (Jessica De Gouw) and eager junior lawyer Leila Badim (Roxie Mohebbi), the trio shakes up the tight-knit legal world with their bold tactics and no-nonsense approach.
The cast also includes Max Beesley, David Berry, Doris Younane and Lincoln Younes. Darren Dale and Penny Smallacombe produce for Blackfella Films, with Anne Renton to direct. Hardy wrote the scripts with Tamara Asmar and Christine Bartlett. The series major backers are Screen Australia and Stan, in association with 9Network Australia and VicScreen. Sphere Abacus is handling international sales.
Produced by Goalpost Pictures and CBS Studios, Stuck Up & Stupid is in production now in Sydney. The eight-episode series, based on the best-selling book by Kate and Angourie Rice, is a reimagining of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice set against the sun-soaked Australian coast and the glittering world of Hollywood.
The series is created and adapted by Gretel Vella, with set-up director Jocelyn Moorhouse. In addition to Angourie Rice, Brendon Tremblay, Yvonne Strahovski and Brooke Satchwell, the cast include Raff Law, Antonia Eaton, Oliver Edis, Ed Oxenbould, lolanthe, Julia Morris, Luke Carroll, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Hannah Gadsby, Erika Heynatz, Sophie Monk, Christian Wilkins and Rob Mills.
Executive producers are Kylie du Fresne, Rosemary Blight, Vella, Lauren Kisilevsky, Strahovski, Lindsey Martin and Dave Clarke for CBS Studios International, as well as Andy Ryan and Donna Chang from the 9Network and Stan. Alongside du Fresne, Angourie Rice and Kate Rice also produce. Helena Brooks will direct alongside Moorhouse. Major production investment is from Screen Australia and Stan with further support from Screen NSW. Paramount Global Content Distribution will handle global distribution.
In terms of international fare, in 2027 Stan will be home to the Baywatch reboot, spy thriller Honey, The Siege, The Only Suspect, Stephen Fry-starrer The Interrogator, You Are Here, S.W.A.T Exiles, the second season of The Walsh Sisters, and the third and final season of psychological thriller Doctor Foster. The streamer will also exclusively screen the 84th Annual Golden Globes and the 60th Annual CMA Awards.
Nine managing director of streaming and broadcast Amanda Laing said Stan’s line-up represented a “new era” in Australian content and would be “lightning rod for conversation.”
“As Australia’s only locally-owned streamer, we have a unique understanding of Australian audiences and the content that resonates with them,” she said.
“This knowledge powers the content we commission and acquire – from our Originals, to scripted and unscripted shows, our global exclusives, and our stacked lineup of sport. Stan’s slate remains unmatched, and today’s lineup showcases that extraordinary breadth.
“This content sits at the heart of a broader streaming and broadcast engine with Stan, Channel 9 and 9Now all working together to drive fandom, engagement and growth and we look forward to sharing this compelling content slate with Australians over the coming year.”
The 9Network slate next year is nominated by reality and documentary, with new seasons of Married at First Sight, The Block, The Golden Bachelor, The Floor, Tipping Point and Travel Guides. Ronde Media’s Events that Changed Australia is set to return, as will WTFN’s Emergency and micro-reality series Flex.
Journalist John Silvester returns to front documentary series Naked City: The Snake Pit, from Jam TV. The three-parter, directed and produced by Michael Venables and Graham Watson, and edited by Billy Steele and Duncan Balmain, will cut through mob mythology to expose the unvarnished reality of contract hits, street executions and crime families.
The line-up also includes Heath Davis’ documentary LIGHT: The Ian Roberts Story, a portrait of the former rugby league player and current LGBTQIA+ rights advocate, who remains the only professional rugby league player to come out as gay, as well as Mark Hartley doco Sweat It Out!, which charts the rise and fall of the OzRock music scene.
Police is a new premium observational documentary series taking viewers inside the real world of the Western Australia Police Force, promising access across the frontline and specialist policing.