Mcleod's Daughters: articles


McLeod's to return in December so fans face long wait

McLEOD'S Daughters fans who are desperate to see the return of the show's final season should book a flight to New Zealand - or endure a three-month wait.

Viewers have been left hanging since the show disappeared from Channel 9 after the Olympics, three episodes into the season.

Now, NZ broadcaster TVNZ has confirmed its channel TV2 will screen the shows from September 18.

"It's definitely scheduled to air. It's one of our top-rating shows," a spokeswoman said.

Despite a flood of angry messages on Nine's website recently, the network would not announce a screening date, but it has now relented.

Melbourne head of programming Len Downs said the remaining episodes would screen in the first week out of ratings.

"It will commence the first week of December and screen through January," he said.

McLeod's final season was much hyped by Nine when it finally hit screens in July, eight months after the cliffhanger car crash ending of the seventh season.

The network aired three episodes before pulling the show for the Olympic Games period and then replacing it with repeats of crime show Cold Case.

Viewers expecting the series to return to its usual Wednesday night slot on August 27 were greeted with a message saying McLeod's would not be returning until later in the year, followed by a screening of 2006 Adam Sandler comedy Click.

Since then, the timeslot has been filled with films such as The Wedding Crashers and Fun with Dick and Jane, which screens on Wednesday.

Mr Downs said ratings for the show were not good enough for it to remain in the prime-time schedule.

"We had to say, 'OK we'll hold it back and play it off over summer'," he said.

Petra Starke, Garry Williams
September 07, 2008
Sunday Herald Sun