Returning seven years on

Press, 18 February 1986, Page 11

Returning seven years on

“Return To Eden,” the mini-series that featured crocodiles and scored high ratings when it screened in New Zealand in August 1984, returns this evening on One as a 22-episode series. It revolves around four main characters.

Rebecca Gilling and James Smillie recreate their roles of Stephanie Harper and Dan Marshall. Seven years on from the mini series, Stephanie is the beautiful, powerful head of Harper Mining and has married Dan, the plastic surgeon who put her back together after she was mauled by a crocodile.

Missing will be the Australian Crawl lead singer, James Reyne, who played her husband, Grey Marsden, and Wendy Hughes, who played her best friend. It was these two who plotted to have Stephanie eaten by the crocodiles. Marsden came to a sticky end in the miniseries and Hughes’ character, Jilly Stewart, is played in the series by the “Prisoner” actress Peta Toppano. She is joined by the British actor Danial Abinerie (best know for resurrecting the transvestite Dr Frank ’n Furter in “The Rocky Horror Show”) who

plays an attractive and ruthless corporate pirate. “Return To Eden” is unashamedly flamboyant, glamorous and nasty. The producer, Hal McElroy, decided to spin the miniseries into a “Dallas” and “Dynasty”-style night-time soap opera after he sold “Return to Eden” for world distribution for nearly $4 million. This new series is probably the most ambitious and expensive piece of television produced in Australia, with a budget of $8 million. More than $2 million of that money was spend on lavish sets, a string of imported cars and designer clothes.