Bill Kerr landed the lead role after the part had been offered to Burt Lancaster whose requested fee was too high for the production
Series director Donald Crombie called this mini-series production: "The Lucky Picture".
Director Donald Crombie said of the production: "Everything just went so well. The script and the design came together to
create an emotional portrayal that evokes so well the tragedy, humour and
colour of the place and time. 'The River Kings' gets the balance right
between comedy and adventure, romance and drama and takes the viewer
along for the ride."
This mini-series' director Donald Crombie had a vested interest in 'The River Kings' succeeding. "I acted as script editor for Rob [George] while he wrote the project and was well
aware of the characters, the situation and the way I wanted to direct the
series," said Crombie. "I have put a lot of my life into 'The River Kings' and
it was really important for me that we got it right. I was delighted with the cast
mix of extreme youth and extreme experience."
Donald Crombie, this mini-series' director, was thrilled at the locations and the River Murray's flood conditions
were a tremendous bonus. "Visually all that water coming down gave us so much more scope because
it opened up vast backwaters and billabongs," he said. "The flood conditions
kept the houseboats off the river which gave us a freer hand when shooting
the river scenes."