Brides of Christ

Brides of Christ was an Australian television miniseries produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1991.[1]

This article is about the Australian TV show. For the early 1900s American religious cult, see Edmund Creffield. For religious communities of women, see Nun.

Brides of Christ
Created byJohn Alsop
Sue Smith
StarringBrenda Fricker
Sandy Gore
Josephine Byrnes
Lisa Hensley
Naomi Watts
Kym Wilson
Country of originAustralia
No. of episodes6
Production
Running time0.55
(per episode)
Release
Original networkABC
Original release4 September (1991-09-04) –
9 October 1991 (1991-10-09)

The series takes place behind the walls of a Sydney convent school and deals with the struggles of both the Roman Catholic nuns and the young students to adapt to the many social changes taking place within the church and the outside world during the 1960s.

Plot

Diane Markham (Josephine Byrnes) joins a convent, 'Santu Spiritu School for Girls' after dropping her fiancé and becomes 'Sister Catherine', under the guidance of 'Sister Agnes' (Brenda Fricker). Catherine begins a friendship with another convent newcomer 'Sister Paul' (Lisa Hensley) and she begins to teach English and acts as the school newspaper adviser. Rosemary (Kym Wilson) is a naughty, rebellious student who gets herself into trouble, while another student Frances (Naomi Watts) is upset because her divorced mother is planning a wedding. Catherine and Paul help Frances overcome her depression. Another convent novice falls in love with an ultra-liberal priest (Simon Burke) while another priest struggles with the papal doctrine while the real-life of the Vietnam war, rock 'n' roll, free abortions and free love flood the news.[2]

Cast
The Nuns
Sister AgnesBrenda Fricker
Mother AmbroseSandy Gore
Diane/Sister CatherineJosephine Byrnes
Veronica/Sister PaulLisa Hensley
Sister AttractaMelissa Jaffer
Sister PatrickPenny Stehli
Sister PolycarpJoy Hruby
Sister PhilomenaCaroline Gillmer
Sister ClareBeth Champion
Sister FrancineMichelle Pettigrove
The Girls
Frances HeffernanNaomi Watts
Rosemary FitzgeraldKym Wilson
Bridget MaloneyMelissa Thomas
BernadettePippa Grandison
CarolineKirsty McGregor
JacintaVanessa Collier
Other characters
Jack DelahuntySimon Burke
Ian McGregorPhilip Quast
Mary MaloneyPat Bishop
Dominic MaloneyRussell Crowe
Liz HeffernanAnne Tenney
Martin TierneyMichael Winchester

Production

The series cost A$6.2 million to produce, with half the budget provided by the Film Finance Corporation Australia.[3] Six fifty-minute episodes were made. Each episode focused on a particular story and set of characters. Some characters would appear in multiple episodes with varying levels of prominence from episode to episode. Lead characters in one episode might appear in a support role in another episode. Josephine Byrnes' character was the focus of both the first and last episodes.

In her first major role, Naomi Watts starred as Frances, one of the students. One episode also guest starred the then unknown Russell Crowe as a young man distressed about being called up for the Vietnam War.

The series was filmed on location at St Mary's Concord, Douglas Park, New South Wales, Santa Sabina College, Strathfield, New South Wales, St Scholastica's College, Glebe, New South Wales, Carcoar, New South Wales.

Reception

Brides of Christ earned a rating of 30 in its first run, making it the most viewed drama ever produced by ABC. The series continued to garner high ratings in its subsequent re-runs. When broadcast in the United Kingdom by Channel 4, it attracted an estimated audience of 6 million, a considerable success by the channel's standards. When A&E ran the series in North America, in 1993, it drew in an estimated average of 1.76 million viewers.[3] The entire series has since been released on DVD.

Tony Scott of Variety stated a serious attempt, if not riveting one, to explore a special world.[2]

The series won the following awards:

  • Most Popular Telemovie or Mini-Series
  • Most Popular Actress in a Telemovie or Mini-Series to Josephine Byrnes
  • Most Popular New Talent to Kym Wilson (along with her work on A Country Practice)
  • Most Outstanding Actress to Josephine Byrnes
  • Most Outstanding Telemovie or Mini-Series

Notes
  1. Albert Moran, Moran's Guide to Australian TV Series, AFTRS 1993 p 94
  2. Prouty Variety and Daily Variety Television Reviews, 1993-1994, p. 113, at Google Books
  3. Stuart Cunningham, Australian Television and International Mediascapes. Cambridge University Press, 1996. pp. 91-92, 184-187.
  4. "1989 Human Rights Medal and Awards". Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 11 August 2007.
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