This is approximately my 202nd IMDb review since May, 2002:Dear Rachel Ward,You are loved and appreciated very much. I just saw your interview in "Pioneers of Television: Miniseries". I just loved, loved, loved your performance as "Meggie" in "The Thorn Birds". I feel now, and totally felt then, that you were the absolutely perfect embodiment of Meggie about whom I had read in the novel. Abysmal comments that were made by media reviewers and the author make me totally appalled. All these people were wrong. You were the best Meggie there could have been. You are whom I think of when I think about Meggie from the novel and TV miniseries. You did an excellent, wonderful job. I particularly loved how lovely you looked when you wore the "Ashes of Roses" dress. I also very much liked your scenes with Richard Chamberlain, plus also your scenes with Bryan Brown(e?), who of course became your loving husband in real life.Dear Richard Chamberlain:Happy Birthday!! I loved you very much as Father Ralph de Bricassart (sp.) in "The Thorn Birds". After viewing "Pioneers of Television: Miniseries", I was happy to have heard and seen your interview. I also "loved you very much" in "Shogun". I had previously read both novels before the TV productions. I liked you very, very much as Dr. Kildare. You looked good in those doctor whites. A scene from "Thorn Birds" with Ms. Stanwyck brought back the memory of when you disrobed on the porch after the rain.A current daytime drama is airing a type of "Thorn Birds" story, of a priest questioning his love for the church vs. his love for a woman. I am following this story, and thinking of all of you."The Thorn Birds": wonderful series. Followed generations of a family. Great drama. Happy and sad times. Perfect casting. Beautiful interiors and exteriors.15/10.

Wow! Best describes this brilliant film.No wonder Richard Chamberlain was known as the king of mini-series. He etched one unforgettable character after another.This time, he is Father Ralph Di Bricissart, who is loved by the town's wealthy Mary Carson. Barbara Stanwyck turned in a brilliant performance as Miss Carson. Her love for Father Ralph had no bounds. When he spurned her, she decided to fix him but good, even if it meant hurting her own family. That's exactly what she did by leaving her fortune to Father Ralph, thereby creating an embarrassing situation for him as well as the church.That being resolved, years pass and we are now finding out that a niece of Carson is romantically involved with Father Ralph. Dane is the result.The Australian outback is beautifully realized here. Jean Simmons, as the sister-in-law of Mary Carson is wonderful as well as the gentleman who portrayed her husband.A story of heartbreak and of the human spirit, "The Thorn Birds" is well recommended.

This outstanding film has received many much deserved accolades by most of the reviewers who preceded me here. Some have described it as the best mini-series ever and as an admirer of the many superb British television series, I would agree that it is the best Americans have produced. It seems that many of the Australian reviewers were disturbed by the inaccurate accents which I consider a minor flaw. When you assemble a cast from many countries, all outstanding, it is too much to expect them all to blend into the national origin of the film. there are only so many Meryl Streep's. What amazed me most about the series was that I heard the author hated it. I don't know if it was the lack of red hair, the imperfect accents, the parts of her novel left out but I hope she takes comfort in the fact that most of the world loved this series. I agree that the Emmy's of Barbara Stanwyck, Jean Simmons and Richard Kiley were much deserved but I felt Richard Chamberlin and especially Henry Mancini were equally deserving. The haunting melody of Meggie's theme is enduring. Finally, I cannot offer enough praise for Jean Simmons. It is conceivable to me that this fine actress has never won an Oscar. If anyone is deserving of an Oscar for lifetime achievement or an AFI Lifetime Achievement Award it is Jean Simmons. I urge anyone who has not seen the Thorn Birds yet, to give it a try. It is a shining example of what Hollywood can do when it rises above the endless pap of current films.

The Thorn Birds mini-series is an honest-to-goodness adaptation by Carmen Culver of a classic novel by Colleen McCullough. It is sad to note that people who have read the book tend to compare it with the movie. I myself have read the book, and I can say that Ms Culver couldn't have done it better. The thing is, comparing a classic novel to an adaptation, no matter how brilliant it was done, just doesn't add up - a novelist versus a screenwriter is a no contest. Why not see the movie, judge it according to it's merits, and find out for yourself why it was nominated for 10 Emmy Awards and won 6, including Best mini-series made for TV.The Thorn Birds is one of the best things that happened to television in the 80's. It is a timeless classic that was as heartwarming then as it is now, 23 years later.This is one of the best, if not the best, love story of all time.