The producers went to great trouble and expense to re-create the sheep station Drogheda as it appeared in the original mini-series. Stevens' script is just an piece of dreck. told the whole story the first time around, and what they're foisting on us as 'The Missing Years' is a pale, distorted reflection of the characters McCullough created. (Meggie is now played by Amanda Donahoe, and Simon West-a-way takes over the role of Luke.) Or even that Jean Simmons no longer adds her considerable presence as Meggie's mother. It's not that Rachel Ward and Bryan Brown aren't around for the sequel. It's not so much that Richard Chamberlain is the only member of the original cast to return to 'The Missing Years.' Or that he's way too old to be playing the part of Father Ralph. What has happened is that Wol-per and script writer David Stevens have taken McCullough's beloved characters and built a mundane - sometimes ridiculous - story around them that not only pales in comparison to the original but often directly contradicts events in both the book and the first miniseries.Īnd 'The Missing Years' revolves in large part around a custody battle - a plot that has been told and retold in countless TV movies and episodic series. Yes, the original miniseries skipped over some of the events in the book - but almost nothing in this new two-part movie bears any resemblance to anything that was in the book. The notion that there are 'Missing Years' in 'The Thorn Birds' is inaccurate.

'As you remember, in the original `Thorn Birds' we skipped over about 15 to 20 years of the story,' Wolper maintained.īut that's not exactly true. First airing in March 1983, 'The Thorn Birds' is still the second-highest rated miniseries of all time, trailing only 'Roots.' And it has done boffo business in two more runs on the network as well as two runs in syndication.Īsked why he made 'The Missing Years,' Wolper told critics about how incredibly successful - and profitable - the original series had been. The miniseries started where the book began and ended where it ended - with the death of Father Ralph - spanning the years 1920-62.Īnd it was stunningly successful.

Wolper's original miniseries was a grand adaptation of McCul-lough's novel, covering decades in the life of Meggie McCleary O'Neill and Father Ralph DeBric-cas-sart - the ill-fated lovers whose lives were interwoven amid heartbreak and tragedy. Let's get one thing straight right off the top - there was nothing missing from 'The Thorn Birds.'Īnd the only reason for 'The Thorn Birds: The Missing Years' is to try and wring a few more dollars from Colleen McCullough's novel.Executive producer David Wol-per and his minions should be ashamed.

The thorn birds paperback