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Golden Girl Lisa Returns

MULTIPLE gold Logie winner Lisa McCune has returned to the medium which made her Australia's most bankable star with the launch of the new Channel Seven TV drama Marshall Law. The 17-part series stars McCune, and former Frontline regular, Tasmanian-born Alison Whyte, as sisters Ros and Verity Marshall.

William McInnes and Jane Hall are among a host of other leading names featured in the series, which has taken two years and numerous cast and script changes to bring to fruition.

McCune, who became a household name playing Maggie Doyle on Blue Heelers for five years, said she always planned to make her TV series return with Channel Seven.

"Channel Seven always said they had an idea in mind for me and I always said I wanted to work with them because I had had such a wonderful time on Blue Heelers," she said.

"It was supposed to get up and running a lot earlier but I was pregnant with Archer [her son, now 1] and so it was put on hold.

"I am glad it has not happened any earlier because I don't think people would have been ready to see me on screen again any sooner than this.

"I am loving playing opposite Alison [Whyte] and William [McInnes] is wonderful."

The series pilot was shot towards the end of last year and originally featured AFI and Logie-winning actor Kerry Armstrong in the role of Verity Marshall.

Armstrong recently revealed she was quietly dropped and her character rewritten before the project was signed as a series.

"I think Kerry is a really wonderful actor. I think she has handled this beautifully," McCune said.

"Like any actor, I have done many a pilot that have not gone into series. I did two back to back that did not go into series.

"She [Armstrong] knows and Channel Seven knows on any show you have got to get the mix right. Kerry is a really smart lady and I think she has been really kind about the whole thing.

"She is probably in a better place with MDA [the ABC series she headlines] and Alison is really wonderful in this role.

"It seems as though it [Armstrong's sacking] has been beaten up a tad and made into a bigger thing than it actually is. I do hope I get to work with her again."

With her small-screen return approaching, McCune said she was not feeling any undue pressure.

"We are not out to prove anything with this show," she said.

"It is a really entertaining program and hopefully the viewers will want to savour it every now and again—or every week if they like.

By FIONA BYRNE
July 21, 2002
Sunday Tasmanian