★★★★★ 0/5

McLeod’s Daughters tops list of Great Australian Binge

Fans flock to support their classics in a survey about local titles, during lockdown.

8
Leave a comment

McLeod’s Daughters has been voted Australia’s favourite local show or movie during lockdown in a survey conducted by the MEAA.

More than 11,00 votes were voted for the Nine drama in a survey introduced by star Michala Banas. The show is available on 9Now and Stan.

The survey was a driver to collect signatures for a petition aimed at pushing Communications Minister Paul Fletcher to do more to support the industry and artists during COVID-19.

It doubtless drew a lot of devoted fans (possible even some from overseas) for classic shows, regardless of whether they were genuinely bingeing them through the pandemic or not ….strictly speaking The Castle is not a “binge” per se.

  1. McLeod’s Daughters
  2. Wentworth
  3. Mystery Road
  4. Kath & Kim
  5. Neighbours
  6. Home & Away
  7. The Heights
  8. Puberty Blues
  9. The Castle
  10. Offspring

Bluey was voted top title for Kids. Duh.

Gina Riley, co-creator of Kath and Kim, told Banas the reasons audiences still love the show are as extensive as Kath’s wardrobe. “I think it’s that thing of recognising yourself.. and dealing with things that happen every day”.

Ngaire Pigram, who starred in Mystery Road, told Banas the shift towards more Indigenous stories on screen has been a long-time coming. “We need to start telling stories about our true history and representing that on film and TV and I think that’s starting to happen.”

Neighbours writer Jason Herbison said he was proud to work on a show that not only plays an important role in popular culture, but an important role for the industry “providing ongoing work for so many.”

Banas reminded the audience of what’s at stake without proper Government support for their industry, revealing that Nine Network’s McLeod’s Daughters employed 650 actors and nearly 2,000 crew across its 224 episodes.

The current content “quotas” that require TV networks to produce a certain amount of local shows have been temporarily suspended by the government due to COVID-19. Neighbours veteran Alan Fletcher told Banas it was a “disastrous” move and called on the government to protect Australian content by regulation.

The petition drew over 11,000 signatures.

8 Responses

  1. My Nanna borrowed my McLeod’s Daughters boxset at the start of the year and got through it all really quickly. My Pop was being silly and saying he lost his wife because she was staying up till 1am or 2am watching episodes.

  6. We’ve just finished K&K on Netflix. I’d forgotten how hilarious it was. Although, that final series that from memory aired on seven was very patchy. Still a classic Aussie show

Leave a Reply