Return to Eden

Stephanie Harper is newly married to Greg Mardsen, a washed up tennis pro. Little does she know that her new hubby and her best friend Jilly are having an affair. She also doesn't know that her hubby is after her money, and he tries to get rid of her by means of throwing her to the crocodiles at her estate called Eden. The keyword is "tries" because she survives (Unknown to everyone)and makes her way to a clinic. After a surgeon fixes her face, she returns...as Tara Welles, the newest fashion model on the scene. She also returns to settle the score with her hubby and best friend, who has become a lush. This is a great 80's mini, and one of my all-time favorites. I wish that it would hit DVD so I could add it to my collection.

I only came across this classic about a month ago on some obscure satellite channel in the early hours of the morning. Within two minutes I was hooked.

Return to Eden has it all - attempted murder, suspense, a gold-digging husband, the backstabbing best friend, a miraculous makeover and some of the best 80s fashions ever seen on film. Follow the amazing adventures of Stephanie Harper from the beginning as she goes from frumpy, middle aged heiress to Tara Welles - toast of the Sydney fashion scene but carrying a secret and plans to get revenge on those who wronged her! This mini series was so successful worldwide that it spawned a weekly serial a few years later.

For fans of glossy 80s soaps Return to Eden is essential viewing from start to finish. The costumes are amazing,the scenery beautiful, the acting is lets say, variable, and the script veers from the sublime to the ridiculous but you will be on the edge of your seat waiting for the next instalment!

I have very fond memories of watching this film every year during my childhood. This film has EVERYTHING! A frumpy, 40-something millionairess gets eaten by a crocodile, survives, pays for a very extensive plastic surgery & rehabilitation program with the money she gets from cashing in some opals at a pawn shop, and then become an international model. Choice scenes of edge-of-your-seat intrigue include her lunch date with Wendy Hughes, the woman who helped feed her to a crocodile. Fifteen pounds thinner with a Pat Benatar haircut, she is completely unrecognizable to her former best friend. Although Ms. Hughes does remark, "Hmm, Stephanie was a beer drinker...." Oh no! Two beer-drinking women in Australia! Do you think she knows?? Intrigue ensues.

Norman Rosemont specialises in extremely classy television productions; Aaron Spelling... doesn't. But "Return To Eden," a daft but successful bid to show Australian TV could produce glossy trash just as well as its US counterpart, makes everything he's ever done seem like a gem in comparison (with the exception of "Charmed," which is quite good in its own right).

The three-part miniseries ended with the now transformed Tara triumphant alongside the plastic surgeon who became her lover, and her villainous ex dead and gone; the subsequent and sub-standard series saw most of the cast return, with Peta Toppano replacing Wendy Hughes as the scheming Jilly. Cue riches, boardroom backstabbing, fantastic scenery, beautiful people (well, sort of...), and jaw-droppingly bad writing and acting. And crocodiles in the pool(!).

The miniseries, by the way, was produced by Hanna Barbera Australia. That explains a lot.

A riveting performance from the superb actor, Rebecca Gilling.

This mini-series is a Mile Stone for Australian Television. A heart breaking story about a young woman disfigured in a fight with a crocodile, who falls in love with the plastic surgeon from whom she seeks help.

This is Australian Television at its absolute best.

Oooo, GOEBBS.

A must for all Australians.