australian television information archive

Episode 1.01

Australia: Sun, May 06, 2018 (Showcase, 8:30)
USA: Fri, May 25, 2018 (Amazon Prime Video)
Canada: Sunday, July 17, 2018 (Bravo)
Written by Beatrix Christian
Directed by Larysa Kondracki

In the final decade of the 19th century, Hester Appleyard — a beautiful, mysterious widow — arrives in Macedon, Australia. She pays cash for the local white elephant — a formal mansion isolated out in the bush. Here, she establishes a school for young ladies.

Six years later, Appleyard College is a success. A bastion of Victorian England, ruled with an iron fist by its enigmatic headmistress. But something haunts Hester. Is it the bush — dangerous and untamed? Or is it her own secret past?

Appleyard College has three star pupils. Sophisticated Irma, a Rothschild heiress. Whip-smart Marion, daughter of a High Court Justice. And rebellious tomboy Miranda, a cattle-station princess. Their friendship ignites the magical and dangerous energy of adolescence. They resist the edicts of society.

Confronted by the unwelcome advances of a young soldier headed for the Boer War, Miranda impales his foot with a pitchfork, earning her headmistress's contempt for her lack of self-regard. But the girls have already convinced Hester to allow a visit to the local landmark.

And so, as she punishes devoted young orphan Sara for Miranda's recklessness by keeping her back from the outing, and Miranda retaliates by showing the headmistress an unseen object which clearly reveals some unwelcome truth.

On Saint Valentine's Day, 1900, the Appleyard girls and governesses go on a picnic, to Hanging Rock. And there, in the strange brooding landscape, something unthinkable happens…

Cast:

• Natalie Dormer as Mrs. Appleyard
• Lily Sullivan as Miranda Reid
• Lola Bessis as Mademoiselle de Poitiers
• Harrison Gilbertson as Michael Fitzhubert
• Samara Weaving as Irma Leopold
• Madeleine Madden as Marion Quade
• Inez Currò as Sara Waybourne
• Ruby Rees as Edith Horton
• Yael Stone as Dora Lumley
• Philip Quast as Arthur
• Marcus Graham as Tomasetti
• James Hoare as Albert Crundall
• Mark Coles Smith as Tom
• Don Hany as Dr Mackenzie
•  
• Anna McGahan as Miss Greta McCraw
• Emily Gruhl as Minnie
• Nicholas Hope as Colonel Fitzhubert
• John Flaus as Mr Whitehead
• Tom Hobbs as Louis Montpelier
• Aaron Glenane as Reg Lumley
• Ros Gentle as Mrs. Fitzhubert
• Neil Melville as Mr Hussey
• Sibylla Budd as Mrs. Valange
• Kim Gyngell as Charlie Seymour-Baker
• Felix Johnson as Trooper Nolan
•  
• Bethany Whitmore as Blanche Gifford
• Mayah Fredes as Rosamund Swift
• Alyssa Tuddenham as Lily Kenton
• Kate Bradford as Rose Kenton
• Markella Kavenagh as Myrtle Dawson
• Lise Rodgers as Melbourne Snob
• Julie Nihill as Mrs Horton
• Kaarin Fairfax as Cook
• Trudy Ager as Governor's Wife
• Ken Rundal as Rider #1
• Rod Pinter as Roder #2
• John Baird as Hussey Riding Double
• Bryce Jurgens as Cadet #1
• Lachlan Cobb as Cadet #2
• Matt Gleeson as Cadet #3