Cloudstreet (miniseries)

Cloudstreet is an Australian television drama miniseries for the Showcase subscription television channel, which first screened from 22 May 2011, in three parts. It is an adaptation of Cloudstreet, an award-winning novel by Australian author Tim Winton. It was filmed in 2010 in Perth, Western Australia, with Matthew Saville as the director, and script written by Tim Winton and Ellen Fontana.

Cloudstreet
Created byTim Winton, adapted with Ellen Fontana
Written byTim Winton
Ellen Fontana
Directed byMatthew Saville
StarringEssie Davis
Stephen Curry
Todd Lasance
Emma Booth
Shannon Lively
Kerry Fox
Geoff Morrell
Callan McAuliffe
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes3
Production
ProducersGreg Haddrick
Brenda Pam
Della Churchill (Assoc)
Running time120 minutes
Production companyScreentime
Release
Original networkShowcase
Foxtel
Original release22 May (2011-05-22) –
5 June 2011 (2011-06-05)

Plot and context

After separate personal tragedies, two families flee their rural lives to share a "great continent of a house", Cloudstreet, in the Perth suburb of West Leederville. The two families are very different; the Lambs find meaning in industry and in God's grace; the Pickles, in luck. Although at first the two families do not warm to each other, their separate paths and search for meaning in life ends with the uniting of the two families.

Cloudstreet is set in the mid-1940s to late 1950s. Although the families are influenced by world events, the story focuses on their domestic and personal lives. A recurring motif in the series involves the stolen generations of Aboriginal children, some of whom had been harshly treated in the house the two families now inhabit.

Cast

The Pickles

The Lambs

Additional cast
  • Narration by Ron Haddrick
  • Greg McNeill as Trainer
  • Milly Haddrick as Trainer's Daughter
  • Ben Mortley as Gerry Clay
  • Bruce Spence as Pig
  • Kelton Pell as Bob Crab
  • Shaquita Nannup as Florrie
  • Billie-Jean Hamlet as Ruby
  • Michelle Stanley as Mrs Johnson
  • Julia Moody as Mrs Tisborn
  • Anna Bauert as Alma
  • Sarah Louella as Darlene
  • Natalie Holmwood as Merle
  • Melanie Munt as Mrs Clay
  • Oliver Ackland as Toby Raven
  • Ethan Thomas as Geoffrey Birch
  • Laura Fairclough as Lucy Wentworth
  • David Bowers as Earl Blunt
  • Helen Doig as May Blunt
  • Richard Adams as Spinner
  • Jodie Mead as Aboriginal Woman
  • Sean Walsh as Bloke
  • Matthew Elverd as Bloke
  • Angelique Malcolm as Housewife
  • John McKenzie as Sam's Hand Double

Production

It is an adaptation of Cloudstreet, an award-winning novel by Australian author Tim Winton. It was filmed in 2010 in Perth, Western Australia, with Matthew Saville as the director, and script written by Tim Winton and Ellen Fontana.

Three generations of the Sydney-based Haddrick family were involved in the production of Cloudstreet: Ron Haddrick as the narrator; Greg Haddrick as producer; and Milly Haddrick as an actress.[1]

Release

The three-part series premiered in Australia on 22 May 2011.[2]

The series was screened in the UK from January 2012, distributed by Sky Atlantic.

Reception

David Knox from Tvtonight.com stated: "There are visuals, concepts and performances that surpass the usual small screen dramas which stick to pedestrian storytelling and talking heads. Cloudstreet is bursting with character, imagination and offers a cornucopia for the eye."[3]

The Sydney Morning Herald's Brad Newsome wrote: "The production and costume designs are wonderful, as is the original music by Bryony Marks (who also provided the haunting score for Tangle). Director Matthew Saville (Noise, The King) and cinematographer Mark Wareham (Clubland, Answered by Fire) bring it all to vivid, entrancing life. Outstanding."[4]

References
  1. Cloudstreet – TV Miniseries Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  2. "Airdate: Cloudstreet". TV Tonight.
  3. "Cloudstreet | TV Tonight".
  4. "Cloudstreet: Series premiere, Sunday, May 22". 18 May 2011.

Further reading
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