Ben Lawson to star in The Waltons special

Aussie Ben Lawson will feature in a new US telemovie of The Waltons, to mark the 50th anniversary the evergreen TV family.

The Waltons: Homecoming comes on the 50th anniversary of The Homecoming: A Christmas Story, the telemovie which first aired in 1971.

It led to the hit series which ran for nine seasons from 1972, featuring Richard Thomas, Ralph Waite, Michael Learned and Will Geer.

Ben Lawson stars as patriarch John Walton Sr., joining previously announced Bellamy Young who stars as his wife Olivia, Logan Shroyer as John Boy and Richard Thomas, who originally starred as John Boy Walton in The Waltons series, as “The Narrator.”

It is set in the 1933 Depression Era and told through the eyes of John Boy (Shroyer), the 17-year-old eldest child of John (Lawson) and Olivia Walton (Young). His mother expects John Boy to help her raise his sisters and brothers, and his father expects him to follow in his footsteps to help support the family, but secretly, John Boy wants to be a writer. Times are hard enough in 1933, but to make matters worse, it looked to be the Waltons’ first Christmas without John Sr. When Olivia receives a letter that John Sr. is planning to make it home for Christmas after all, the family is thrilled and races to prepare for his homecoming. But when a storm threatens his arrival on Christmas Eve, and John Sr. is nowhere to be found, Olivia sends John Boy out into the night to find his daddy – a journey that will change John Boy’s life forever.

Source: Deadline