The script for the first McLeod’s Daughters movie has been finished. But Posie Graeme-Evans knows not everyone will love what she’s written.
“There’ll be some people who want to kill me,” the 70-year-old tells TV WEEK with a laugh.
Posie started out writing a film set in two different eras: the 19th century, telling the story of the original drover of Drover’s Run and his wife, Henrietta “Henri” McLeod; and the present day, telling the story of Claire (Lisa Chappell), Tess (Bridie Carter) and Stevie’s (Simmone Jade Mackinnon) children.
But now, the movie will be set entirely in the 19th century.
Posie Graeme-Evans knows not everyone will love what she’s written.
(Image: TV WEEK)“I know that fans desperately want to know what happens to all those children,” she says.
“But I’ve swerved and gone in a different direction, and I’ll tell you why: because writing the story set in the past just fell out of the ends of my fingers,” she says.
The drover is Scottish, from a “very grand” family, and has moved to Australia because he doesn’t get on with his mother. He meets an Australian girl and together they take on a piece of land.
“She’s the one who brings in the energy and transforms their lives,” Posie adds. “They’re like Harry and Meghan.”
The married couple make a trip to Scotland to meet the family, before returning to Drover’s Run. The drover’s “haughty and quite aristocratic” Sister also becomes part of the story.
Tess (Bridie Carter) and Stevie (Simmone Jade Mackinnon).
(Image: Nine)“I think, out of this film, we understand much more about the McLeods that we know, and why the women are the way they are,” Posie says.
Posie, who has been working with another McLeod’s writer, Alexa Wyatt, says she wants the movie to be “big and luscious” and “an event”.
“If you go out seriously searching for international money, sometimes something really big is quite attractive,” she explains.
For fans wanting to see faces they know and love, there’s a very real possibility some of the McLeod’s cast could take on roles in the movie.
There’s a very real possibility some of the McLeod’s cast could take on roles in the movie.
(Image: Nine)Posie stresses the possibility isn’t limited to those actors who played McLeods playing their ancestors, but across the board of the series”.
Rachael Carpani, who played Jodi, is open to a new direction.
“It doesn’t necessarily have to involve the characters from the TV series for it [the movie] to be part of the McLeod’s universe,” the 41-year-old says.
Meanwhile, Myles Pollard, 49, who starred as Nick, says the 19th-century setting sounds exciting.
“I’d love to put on a waistcoat, fob watch and monocle and grow my moustache!” he enthuses.
As for whether McLeod’s could return as a series set in the present, Posie doesn’t know. She says she and Alexa found lots of “good stories” involving the children, but felt the story in the past was stronger.
Posie says if the movie does gets made, and it’s a success, “all bets are off” when it comes to a series. If the movie doesn’t get made, she has a back-up plan.
“I’ll bloody write the books!” she declares.
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(Image: TV WEEK).jpg?resize=760%2C608)
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