In my house, The Thornbirds is a go-to classic. I don't know if it is in yours, but if it isn't, rent it during a long weekend and it soon will be.This sprawling epic takes place in Australia, focusing on one family's generational journey, the Clearys. Headed by Richard Kiley and Jean Simmons, the Clearys struggle with their sons and daughter as they run the family ranch with Barbara Stanwyck. As a little girl, the daughter Meggie develops a crush on Father Ralph, who is kind to her and her family. While the main storyline of the epic miniseries is the relationship between Father Ralph and Meggie when she grows up, there's so much more to this wonderful drama than a forbidden romance. Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward play the starcrossed lovers, and after watching The Thorn Birds, it'll be hard to see either of them in anything else. They are Meggie and Father Ralph.This was an enormously successful miniseries, and for good reason. With a huge cast, including Bryan Brown, Piper Laurie, Christopher Plummer, Ken Howard, Mare Winningham, and Earl Holliman, a memorable theme, and a story full of romance, heartbreaking family relationships, religious conflicts, and the drama of finding and forgiving yourself, it's no wonder it won four Golden Globes (with four additional nominations) and six Emmys (with ten additional nominations). I could praise each actor's individual performance, but this review would turn into an essay. But if you're a Jean Simmons fan, she gives the best performance of her career in this miniseries. And if you loved Barbara Stanwyck in her youth, you'll be very touched to see her still feisty at 76 years old, reaching out to the audience and reminding them that there's still a young woman inside of her. Christopher Plummer makes for a very believable Archbishop, and Bryan Brown was so charming, he married his costar Rachel Ward! The Thorn Birds gets its title from the legend of the particular bird. The birds pursue a beautiful rose, knowing there is a deadly thorn attached. They love the rose so much, they can't stand to be apart from it, and they end up impaled upon the thorn. Every character in this decades-long miniseries has a compelling love, one that isn't healthy and practically kills them just by loving it. The love can be a partner, a child, or even God. I won't spoil the plot, but it's a very emotional, tragic story. You'll fall in love, and you'll shake with sobs. If you don't go through an entire box of Kleenex, you need to take some time to find your heart. Then watch it again.

As an Australian who knows the country and sheep stations well, I found this TV series IMPOSSIBLE to watch.1) The landscape is not Australian. Australia is flat, scrubby, has red soil and certainly does not have North American tree species growing in the wild. The grass is usually spinifex, a really distinctive species which I am sure the director knew nothing about.2) The architecture was in keeping with Southern California, not Australia. Station homesteads in Australia are always of a single story and built with corrugated iron, mud brick (maybe) and bush timber poles. 3) Australians drive on the left hand side of the road.4) The flocks of sheep are anywhere between 2,000 and 10,000 head, comprised entirely of merinos, and are herded with dogs. The dogs are of quite specific breeds - kelpies and border collies - and are quite valuable. You don't shoot them because they fight.5) In the 1920s, fences were of timber poles with 6 - 8 plain wires topped by a single strand of barbed wire. Gates were generally made of the same materials and known as "cocky" gates. 6) Australians speak with Australian accents, not American ones. Sure, Irish immigrants might have Irish accents (but I did not notice too much of that) but their children will certainly speak with Australian or New Zealand accents (as the case may be).7) New Zealanders who have lived on farms will certainly have some idea about the handling and shearing of sheep.

I love this mini-series because it was beautifully true to Colleen McCullough's creation. It is such a rich and complex tale because it spans over such a long time period, but they did it wonderfully in this adaptation. I loved to hate Meggie at times, as I did in the book, and I also wanted her to finally be with Ralph. But what really impressed me was the way in which they took such a poetic book and lost none of that when they put it on the screen. The casting was absolutely amazing, from the sensitive and torn manner in which Richard Chamberlain portrayed Ralph, and although he didn't have the colouring that Ralph had in the book, I couldn't imagine any other actor playing this character. To Rachel Ward, who brings the passionate and obsessive Meggie to life with such poise and lovliness, how I mourned with her and hated her at the same time, for the way in which her selfish and strong nature cripples Ralph. But I admired her ability to love. I will always adore this mini series, that proved that love, even denied, can bloom into the most precious treasure two individuals can own.

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.