NEED TO KNOW
- The McLeod’s Daughters reboot is in production and will stream on Stan in 2027.
- Insiders say it’s unlikely to be set at Drovers Run, which is now a luxury retreat..
- A teaser clip didn’t look like it was shot on location in rural South Australia.
- Fans are speculating the new series could follow Claire McLeod’s daughter Charlotte.
McLeod’s Daughters is galloping back onto our screens, but insiders say die-hard fans might need to rein in their excitement, as it’s looking very likely that the reboot won’t be set at Drovers Run!
After McLeod’s ended its eight-season run in 2009, the rural South Australian property it filmed at, known off-screen as Kingsford The Barossa, underwent a multimillion-dollar transformation to become an ultra-exclusive luxury retreat and high-end rental.
“Drovers looks more like rival cattle station Killarney now! It just won’t work for a reboot, so all signs are pointing to a new location,” says a source.
Indeed, gone are all the rustic qualities that made the 1856-built homestead feel like a warm, lived-in sanctuary – one handed down through the McLeod’s family.
Instead, the 91-hectare estate now boasts 16 lavish suites, a fine-dining restaurant, a plunge pool and a private Kegel bowling alley.
Nightly rates for suites start at around $800 to more than $2000 per night, with full estate bookings fetching into the tens of thousands!
“Without the original interiors, those run-down shearers quarters and the sweeping paddocks, it’s just not the same,” the source says.
“The magic of Drovers has gone. It wouldn’t even work if they made it part of the reboot plot.
“Yes, turning Drovers into a luxury hotel is something Tess would have done when she first arrived, but it wouldn’t make sense now, not after everything she went through in the show.”
Tess was played by Bridie Carter, who has been campaigning for McLeod’s Daughters to be revived for years.
Most recently the actress declared that she had “a million good stories” that could be explored. Once of them included Tess and her husband Nick (Myles Pollard) “coming back from Argentina. You see where the farm’s at and their offspring and just starting over”.
But it seems Channel Nine are going in a different direction.
In September, Nine – who aired McLeod’s as well as the original 1996 TV movie – confirmed a reboot is in production and will air on their streaming partner Stan in 2027.
Nine said the new show will build “on the world” created by showrunner Posie Graeme-Evans, and welcome a new generation of “strong, resilient women navigating life on the land”.
Posie is not leading the reboot, with writer and producer Joanna Werner taking over. Joanna has confirmed they are casting new actors.
Adding to the new location theory, a short clip teasing the reboot didn’t appear to be shot in rural South Australia like the original series.
One fan said parts of the landscape shown “looked too outback” for it to be the rolling farmlands of Freeling, SA, which stood in for McLeod’s fictional town Gungellan.
Meanwhile, there’s growing speculation that the reboot might focus on Claire McLeod’s grown-up daughter Charlotte, as a young woman on horseback was featured in the teaser.
“Charlotte was born in 2003, which makes her 23 now if they stick to the real-life timeline,” says the source. “So theoretically, it would work, even if they aged her up a few years for some artistic licensing.
“Maybe it’ll follow Charlotte and Ruth, Tess and Nick’s daughter. They could be the new Claire and Tess!”
