The highly-anticipated release of Australian drama Picnic At Hanging Rock is so close we can taste it.
And to tide us over until its May 6 premiere date is the latest chilling sneak peek at what to expect.
In the gripping trailer (above) Game of Thrones star Natalie Dormer brings to life terrifying English headmistress Mrs Hester Appleyard (originally played by British actress Rachel Roberts).
“To play Hester Appleyard is a joy,” Natalie said.
“This re-imagining of the iconic story will no doubt grab a contemporary audience with its mystery, emotion and wide range of complex, smart female characters.”
The cast includes (from left) Samara Weaving, Madeleine Madden, Natalie Dormer and Miranda Reid.
In the original promotional image released by Foxtel, Natalie poses alongside Aussie Samara Weaving as Irma Leopold, Madeleine Madden as Marion Quade and Lily Sullivan as Miranda Reid.
Australian actress Yael Stone (Orange Is The New Black) is also set to star in the six-part series based on the disappearance of three students and a teacher during a school excursion on Valentine’s Day 1900.
Yael will portray Miss Dora Lumley, mistress of Deportment and Bible Studies. The rest of the teaching staff will be played by French actress Lola Bessis (Cassandra, Swim Little Fish Swim), Anna McGahan (The Doctor Blake Mysteries, Anzac Girls) and Sibylla Budd (Tomorrow When The War Began, Winners & Losers).
Yael Stone as Miss Dora Lumley.
Other characters both inside and beyond the college walls will be played by Don Hany, Harrison Gilbertson, James Hoare, Marcus Graham, Mark Coles Smith, Jonny Pasvolsky and Philip Quast.
Emily Gruhl, John Flaus, Ros Gentle, Julie Nihill, Kaarin Fairfax, Randall Berger, Mayah Fredes, Alyssa Tuddenham, Kate Bradford, Bethany Whitmore, Markella Kavenagh, Felix Johnson, Ines English, Huw Higginson, Rob Jacobson and Kim Gyngell also join.
Even Mrs Appleyard can’t get her head around the ending!
Viewers and critics were left divided over the iconic original film directed by Peter Weir (who later produced Gallipoli and Dead Poets Society), with many left unsatisfied with the vague and mysterious ending and lack of resolution.
The ambiguous ending was famously resolved in the late-80s when the original final chapter of the novel was released. It suggested the missing girls disappeared into a time warp found in a crack in the rock.
There’s no inkling as to which ending the new series will follow, but it won’t be long until all is revealed.
The first episode of the six-part Picnic At Hanging Rock miniseries premieres on Sunday, May 6 at 8.30pm on showcase.
