We’re heading back to Drover’s Run!
Stan has confirmed that the McLeod’s Daughters reboot is underway, 25 years on from its first episode.
At the Nine 2027 Upfronts where the network reveals which shows will be coming to screens next year, the first trailer dropped for the Stan Original McLeod’s Daughters.
In it, a woman rides on horseback through the Aussie outback as a voiceover says, “A place you remember.”
The cast is yet to be announced but we’re certainly hoping that some of the original stars will return to the ranch.
Bridie Carter even teased a possible reboot with Nine back in August, admitting that she still knows “how it would work”.
“You can absolutely see Tess and Nick coming back from Argentina,” she told the network. “You see where the farm’s at and their offspring, and just starting again.”
“Other shows like Yellowstone have done it and who’ve been so clever with their different incarnations, it’s not that hard.”
New Idea reunited two of the show’s cast, Jessica Napier and Rachael Carpani in 2024 to mark 15 years since McLeod’s ended. Both Jess and Rachael said they’d love to take part in the new project if creator Posie Graeme-Evans could work out a clever way to write their characters, Becky Howard and Jodi Fountain-McLeod, into the script.
“Never say never is the way you look at it,” Jess told us with a knowing smile at the time. Rachael added that she was “finding out things along with the public”, but confirmed, “I have spoken to Posie”.
“She is used to nosy actors, wanting to know things, and nosy fans … who are all coming from a good place,” the actress continues. “At this point, I think it’s leaning towards being some sort of a prequel, and by that, I mean truly exploring the origins of the McLeod family.”
By the time McLeod’s ended, both actresses had long left the show, but Rachael did return for the finale alongside Sonia Todd, who played her mum Meg.
“I had completely forgotten I was in the last episode until last night,” admitted Rachael. “It was such a whirlwind thing. I had less than a few days notice. I flew from LA to Sydney to Adelaide and started shooting the next day.
“I have a distinct memory of walking into wardrobe and the girls saying, ‘Welcome back – here’s the pregnant belly you’re going to be wearing.’ And I remember thinking, ‘did I miss that in the script?’ Then I flicked through it and realised Jodi was coming back pregnant!”
Jess didn’t come back for the finale, nor did she ever return to Drover’s Run after departing in the third season. Jess, who’s late father Marshall appeared on the show as Harry Ryan, was the first main cast member to leave. Her exit came a few episodes before Claire (played by Lisa Chappell) was killed off.
“The world was my oyster, I was young and I didn’t want to get pigeon-holed,” Jess says of why she quit. “I thought if I stay too long that will happen. And in a weird way it did, because it’s the role I’m remembered for.”
Jess told us one question fans often ask her is why didn’t Becky come back for Claire’s funeral, given their mentor/mentee relationship.
“I was never asked [to],” Jess confirmed. “I don’t know what the politics behind it were. I know Lisa and I had both decided to leave. I think the production didn’t want that to be the outcome, that two characters were leaving, particularly Claire.
“So I think they just went, ‘She’s wrapped up; she’s done.’ I thought it was sad because everyone knows Becky would have been there, hands down. She and Claire had a very special friendship. There was a lot of respect.”
Never truly able to leave McLeod’s behind them thanks to the die-hard fandom that still surrounds the show all these years, Jess and Rachael had some thoughts about where their characters might be today.
“I think Becky has got a couple of kids, she’s still with Jake and has been very successful,” says Jess. “She finally got her stable life and feels worthy.”
As for Rachael, she said what she “really liked” about Jodi settling down with Matt (Jonny Pasvolsky) was that it “was the last kind of life I expected her to have”.
Jodi and Matt were written out of the show in a plot that saw them faking their deaths and entering witness protection. While the finale explained that they were no longer in hiding, Rachael now admits, “I almost wish that Jodi’s life remained a mystery”.
“In my heart I think her life did not stop by getting married and having a kid,” she says. “I hope she got shuffled around in witness protection and had to give birth on the run. That would just suit Jodi to a tee!”
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