The miniseries The Thorn Birds, based on Colleen McCullough's 1977 best selling novel, was broadcast on ABC for 10 hours between 27 and 30 March 1983. Set primarily on Drogheda, a fictional sheep station in the Australian outback, the melodrama focused on the multi-generational Cleary family, and spanned the years 1920-1962.

    At the outset, the family--patriarch Paddy Cleary (Richard Kiley), his wife, Fiona (Jean Simmons), and children--moved from New Zealand to Australia to help run Drogheda, owned by Paddy's wealthy sister, Mary Carson (Barbara Stanwyck). Over the years, numerous deaths and disasters--fire, a drowning, a goring by a wild boar-- were to befall the family.

    While the saga recounted the story of the entire Cleary clan, it focused primarily on the lone Cleary daughter, Meggie (Rachel Ward) and her relationship with Father Ralph de Bricassart (Richard Chamberlain). Although they met when she was just a child, Meggie grew up to fall in love with the handsome, young Catholic priest who had been banished to the outback for a previous disobedience. Father Ralph was torn between his own love for Meggie, his love for God, and his ambition to rise in the Catholic hierarchy. Spurred on by the spiteful Mary Carson--who was herself attracted to the priest--Father Ralph was forced to choose between his own advancement in the church and his love for Meggie. He chose the former, and soon found himself at the Vatican. As Father Ralph rose quickly through the hierarchy of the Catholic church (eventually becoming a Cardinal), Meggie married a sheep shearer named Luke O'Neill (Bryan Brown), bore a daughter (played as an adult by Mare Winningham), and ended up working as a maid in Queensland.

    Years later, de Bricassart returned to Australia and to Meggie, who eventually left her husband. In the controversial third episode, the two consummated their relationship in what Newsweek's Harry F. Waters called "the most erotic love scene ever to ignite the home screen," but de Bricassart still was unable to give up the church. Unbeknownst to him, Meggie gave birth to his son (played as an adult by Philip Anglim), who in an ironic twist of fate himself became a priest before dying in a drowning accident. As in McCullough's novel, the key underlying message of this miniseries was that each generation is doomed to repeat the missteps and failures of the previous generation.

    While winning the 1983 Golden Globe award for Best Miniseries, The Thorn Birds was not without its controversy. The subject matter--a priest breaking his vow of celibacy--was contestable enough, but the fact that ABC chose to broadcast the program beginning on Palm Sunday and running through Holy Week, raised the ire of the United States Catholic Conference. In response, McDonald's Corporation initially requested that its franchisees not advertise during the broadcasts. In the end, however, the company simply advised its franchisees to advertise only before Father Ralph and Meggie consummated their relationship.

    Despite its controversial subject matter (or perhaps because of it), The Thorn Birds garnered an average 41 rating and 59 share over the course of its four-night run, making it then the second highest rated miniseries ever, second only to Roots (1977). Its controversial third episode, in which Meggie and Father Ralph consummated their relationship, was at the time the fourth highest rated network entertainment show of all time (preceded only by the final episode of M*A*S*H, the "Who Shot JR?" episode of Dallas, and the eighth episode of Roots.) In the end, an estimated 110 million-140 million viewers saw all or some of the miniseries. "TV Guide," in fact, has listed The Thorn Birds as one of the top 20 programs of the 1980s.

    Produced for an estimated $21 million, The Thorn Birds appeared during the heyday of the network television miniseries, from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s, when the form was seen as "the salvation of commercial television." In this context The Thorn Birds stood out for both its controversial qualities and its success. Like Roots and The Winds of War before it, The Thorn Birds exemplified the miniseries genre--family sagas spanning multiple generations, featuring large, big-name casts, and laden with tales of love, sex, tragedy, and transcendence that kept the audience coming back night after night. In 1996 ABC broadcast a sequel to The Thorn Birds in which Father Ralph and Meggie are again untied, and again struggle with their passion and their consciences. Though widely promoted, the program received far less attention from both critics and audiences.

    -Sharon A. Mazzarella

    FURTHER READING

    Bawer, Bruce. "Grand Allusions Sacred and Profane." Emmy Magazine (Los Angeles), March/April 1982.

    Morris, Gwen. "An Australian Ingredient in American Soaps: The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough." Journal of Popular Culture (Bowling Green, Ohio), Spring 1991.

    Waters, Harry F. "Sex and Sin in the Outback." Newsweek (New York), 28 March 1983.

    CAST

    Father Ralph de Bricassart ..............Richard Chamberlain

    Meggie Cleary (as a girl).......................... Sydney Penny

    Meggie Cleary (adult)................................. Rachel Ward

    Mary Carson ........................................Barbara Stanwyk

    Fiona Cleary........................................... Jean Simmons

    Archbishop Contini-Verchese ..........Christopher Plummer

    Rainer Hartheim ..........................................Ken Howard

    Justine O'Neill................................... Mare Winningham

    Anne Mueller ..............................................Piper Laurie

    Paddy Cleary ............................................Richard Kiley

    Luddie Mueller ..........................................Earl Holliman

    Luke O'Neill.............................................. Bryan Brown

    Sarah MacQueen .................................Antoinette Bower

    Stuart Cleary ..............................................Dwier Brown

    Alastair MacQueen................................. John de Lancie

    Angus MacQueen.......................................... Bill Morey

    Stuart Cleary (as a boy) ...........................Vidal Peterson

    Miss Carmichael ......................................Holly Palance

    Judy.................................................. Stephanie Faracy

    Dane O'Neill ..............................................Philip Anglim

    Frank Cleary............................................ John Friedrich

    Mrs. Smith ........................................Allyn Ann McLerie

    Harry Gough .........................................Richard Venture

    Pete.......................................................... Barry Corbin

    Jack Cleary............................................ Stephen Burns

    Bob Cleary................................................. Brett Cullen

    Annie........................................................... Meg Wylie

    Sister Agatha............................................... Nan Martin

    Barker at the fair....................................... Wally Dalton

    Arne Swenson........................................ Chard Hayward

    Doc Wilson .............................................Rance Howard

    Martha ..................................................Lucinda Dooling

    Phaedre............................................... Aspa Nakopolou


    PRODUCERS

    David Wolper, Edward Lewis, Stan Margulies

    PROGRAMMING HISTORY

    4 Episodes

    ABC

    27 March-30 March 1983

    Thumbnail of Richard Chamberlain

    Richard Chamberlain on the miniseries The Thorn Birds

    21:37
    Thumbnail of Piper Laurie

    Piper Laurie on performing in the mini-series The Thorn Birds

    02:04
    Thumbnail of Lynn Stalmaster

    Lynn Stalmaster on casting and producing Footsteps starring Richard Crenna, and on why he became a producer

    02:03
    Thumbnail of Richard Chamberlain

    Richard Chamberlain on the great love story in The Thorn Birds

    02:01
    Thumbnail of Brandon Stoddard

    Brandon Stoddard on developing The Thorn Birds

    04:28

    Richard Chamberlain

    Richard Chamberlain on the popularity of The Thorn Birds

    03:46

    Richard Chamberlain on the miniseries The Thorn Birds

    21:37

    Richard Chamberlain on casting the role of Meggie and the chemistry with his co-star

    03:44

    Richard Chamberlain on shooting what Newsweek proclaimed "the most erotic love scene ever to impact the home screen"

    01:59

    Richard Chamberlain on the great love story in The Thorn Birds

    02:01

    Piper Laurie

    Piper Laurie on performing in the mini-series The Thorn Birds

    02:04

    Lynn Stalmaster

    Lynn Stalmaster on casting The Thorn Birds

    00:51

    Brandon Stoddard

    Brandon Stoddard on developing The Thorn Birds

    04:28

    David L. Wolper

    David L. Wolper on producing The Thorn Birds and on his association with Warner Bros.

    04:50

    David L. Wolper on casting Richard Chamberlain, Barbara Stanwyck, and others on The Thorn Birds

    02:27

    David L. Wolper on The Thorn Birds director Daryl Duke

    02:06

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