User Reviews

Return to Eden is an overblown "bonkbuster" style romantic thriller in which a wronged woman seeks revenge against the husband and best friend that betrayed her. Stretched over three episodes, each one being 90 minutes long, the story does not rush, although having read a synopsis I was surprised about the pacing of the tale (some spoilers below...)

Episode 1 sees our heroine Stephanie married, cheated on, pushed into a river and the jaws of an awaiting crocodile by her husband and best female friend, assumed dead but washed up and nursed slowly back to something like health by a hermit, visit a plastic surgeon and get transformed into the beautiful "Tara", work her way back into life and society with this new identity until she feels ready to plan her revenge. That's a lot for episode 1, and I was wondering how they would keep up this level of plot propulsion for the remaining two.

Well, they don't really. Episode 2 sees Tara revealed to the world as a beautiful woman, seemingly much younger than she looked as Stephanie, she then makes it as a fashion supermodel and finally she begins a game of cat and mouse with her husband and former friend, both of whom have no idea who she really is. After some careful plotting she summons both of them to her remote family country getaway home to prepare the final trap! This middle episode is probably the weakest and slowest of the three.

Episode 3 sees all the main characters ensconced in the remote holiday home, and Tara begins her revenge. I won't say any more about episode 3, but rest assured that by the end of the final 90 minutes, you do get to see some satisfactory come-uppance

To it's credit, the whole thing is fairly straight, There's no (well, very little) ridiculous ham acting or overblown flouncy bitching. The actors do a very good job. Best performance comes from Rebecca Gilling as the heroine. Her suffering as she recovers does seem to take a realistic amount of time and effort, and her dramatic "unveiling" as the foxy Tara did actually make me blink once or twice and wonder if they'd swapped to another actress - they didn't - so the makeover job is pretty good, it has to be said. Wendy Hughes does a very realistic job as the best friend, but if there's a weak point, it's James Reyne as the slimy husband, he seems to have very little charm. I guess all ladies do love a bad boy.

The biggest drawback of the series is that it looks hysterically dated in the sequences where Tara becomes a "top model" and prances about in the most god-awful 80's "high fashion" outfits that you have ever seen. It's a shame really, as I am sure this all looked like hot stuff at the time, but time has not been kind. Other than that, it stands up pretty well. Stephanie's revenge, when it finally comes, seems like a fairly subdued pay off for such a long wait. But as Stephanie (the character) is not a vindictive woman, it's also fairly understandable.

You'll probably enjoy the drama and plot of "Return to Eden" if you generally enjoy soap operas. The acting is nearly all very good, and no characters act in silly or counter-realistic ways. Sometimes Tara's refusal to reveal her true identity to even her most cherished loved ones (her children!) seems hard to take, but at the end of the day it's still a soap opera, so enjoy it.

Return to Eden is an overblown "bonkbuster" style romantic thriller in which a wronged woman seeks revenge against the husband and best friend that betrayed her. Stretched over three episodes, each one being 90 minutes long, the story does not rush, although having read a synopsis I was surprised about the pacing of the tale (some spoilers below...)

Episode 1 sees our heroine Stephanie married, cheated on, pushed into a river and the jaws of an awaiting crocodile by her husband and best female friend, assumed dead but washed up and nursed slowly back to something like health by a hermit, visit a plastic surgeon and get transformed into the beautiful "Tara", work her way back into life and society with this new identity until she feels ready to plan her revenge. That's a lot for episode 1, and I was wondering how they would keep up this level of plot propulsion for the remaining two.

Well, they don't really. Episode 2 sees Tara revealed to the world as a beautiful woman, seemingly much younger than she looked as Stephanie, she then makes it as a fashion supermodel and finally she begins a game of cat and mouse with her husband and former friend, both of whom have no idea who she really is. After some careful plotting she summons both of them to her remote family country getaway home to prepare the final trap! Episode 2 is definitely the slowest of the three.

Episode 3 sees all the main characters ensconced in the remote holiday home, and Tara begins her revenge. I won't say any more about episode 3, but rest assured that by the end of the final 90 minutes, you do get to see some satisfactory come-uppance

To it's credit, the whole thing is fairly straight, There's no (well, very little) ridiculous ham acting or overblown flouncy bitching. The actors do a very good job. Best performance comes from Rebecca Gilling as the heroine. Her suffering as she recovers does seem to take a realistic amount of time and effort, and her dramatic "unveiling" as the foxy Tara did actually make me blink once or twice and wonder if they'd swapped to another actress - they didn't - so the makeover job is pretty good, it has to be said. Wendy Hughes does a very realistic job as the best friend, but if there's a weak point, it's James Reyne as the slimy husband, he seems to have very little charm. I guess all ladies do love a bad boy.

The biggest drawback of the series is that it looks hysterically dated in the sequences where Tara becomes a "top model" and prances about in the most god-awful 80's "high fashion" outfits that you have ever seen. It's a shame really, as I am sure this all looked like hot stuff at the time, but time has not been kind. Other than that, it stands up pretty well. Stephanie's revenge, when it finally comes, seems like a fairly subdued pay off for such a long wait. But as Stephanie (the character) is not a vindictive woman, it's also fairly understandable.

You'll probably enjoy the drama and plot of "Return to Eden" if you generally enjoy soap operas. The acting is nearly all very good, and no characters act in silly or counter-realistic ways. Sometimes Tara's refusal to reveal her true identity to even her most cherished loved ones (her children!) seems hard to take, but at the end of the day it's still a soap opera, so enjoy it.

Michael Laurence's great mini-series, sets the scene for the famous TV series which came later. Story wise the plot would keep even the most hardened soap devotee on the edge of their seat. That's as long as you don't question the fact that a mother would abandon her children by choice. This mini-series gives a slightly plausible explanation, but then again it is meant to be a drama and primarily made to entertain. And entertain it certainly does. Its the classic plot device of good against evil, except in this drama the good person starts out ugly and ends up beautiful! As for James Reyne's Greg Marden, well I'm a bloke I don't fancy him, on the other hand Rebecca Gilling's a different story, post op of course. She's even more sexy in the follow up series.

Wendy Hughes plays a more sympathetic Jilly than Peta Toppano's devious, cold bitch in the sequel. True, she's still sneaky but nowhere near as arrogant as Peta! The resolution to the mini-series is a satisfying one, which I won't reveal. Go buy the DVD if you can find it.

Performance wise this show is pretty well cast, it's almost like an ensemble piece, a quality shared by its sequel. You have to decide though, who gave the best performance in it? I'd say Rebecca Gilling, what her character endured in the duration of this show and how she dealt with it is gripping viewing! Wendy Hughes comes a close second, with James Reynes' slightly hammy acting in third.

Comparing the mini-series with it's follow-up only shows that this show dared to be different, it's sequel is a little more formulaic and without giving too much away more contemporary.

Return to Eden stands though as a solid compelling drama. The TV series spin off is just as compelling, both of them show the rise and fall of Stephanie Harper. If you come across either on DVD, buy it, they-re two of the very best examples of their genre.

This was a great mini series, if I ever saw one. The plot is so solid and well-thought out that it just makes you wish you could read people's minds before you fall in love with and commit to share your life with them.

A well-to-do entrepreneur marries an ordinary man, who soon falls in love and begins to have an affair with her best-friend. In order to acquire her money as well as gets the woman he really wants, the man conspires to kill his wife by pushing her into a crocodile infested lake. He then returns to land and announces her death but little does he know that his wife survives her ordeal and undergoes plastic surgery to reconstruct her face. With her new identity, she is able to become a famous supermodel and begins planning her revenge.

It's a bit dated but well worth a look!

The central character in Return To Eden is Stephanie Harper (played beautifully by Rebecca Gilling), Australia's wealthiest woman whom is a middle aged, rather niaeve and plain-looking mining magnate's daughter and mother of two. The story opens with the wedding of Stephanie Harper and the dashing Greg Marsden (James Reyne) a fading sports star. Greg, a man nearly half Stephanie's age, is blatantly just after getting his greedy hands on Stephanie's fortune.

On the wedding day an obvious attraction between Greg and Stephanie's frosty best friend Jilly Stewart (marvelously played by Wendy Hughes) is made apparent. The newly-weds invite Jilly Stewart along on their honeymoon at Stephanie's family homestead, Eden, located in the Northern terriotry. It is at Eden that the traitorous Jilly embarks upon a twisted affair with Greg, while poor Stephanie remains completely oblivious to her husbands infidelity and scheming ways.

One night, Stephanie and Jilly join Greg on a boat for a crocodile hunt. Once in a deserted spot, Greg throws Stephanie straight into the jaws of a crocodile as Jilly just simply stands by and watches her supposed best friend fight desperately for her life.

Stephanie Harper is presumed dead, but, miraculously she survives the crocodile attack (remember folks this was the 1980's) though is obviously half dead and hideously scarred. The world thinks Stephanie Harper is dead, and she spends the next six months recovering in a private clinic on a deserted island, all the while hatching a cunning plan to exact revenge on Greg and Jilly. She undergoes extensive plastic surgery that drastically changes her whole physical appearance. At the hands of the gentle plastic surgeon Dr Dan Marshall (James Smilie), Stephanie is transformed from an ugly ducking into a beautiful swan. She assumes a new identity, calling herself Tara Welles and quickly becomes one of Australia's most celebrated fashion models. Stephanie, masquerading as Tara Welles, befriends Jilly, winning her trust, and charms Greg into falling in love with her all the while continuing plotting bitter revenge on her betrayors.

Return To Eden is not least redeemed by its ludicrously over-the-top plot line by an engaging performance from its leading star, Rebecca Gilling. Rebecca Gilling is both believable and likable in her role as Stephanie Harper/Tara Welles. The transformation of Stephanie into the stunningly beautiful Tara Wellesis truly amazing thanks to a fantastic and expert make up job.

Another renowned Australian actress, Wendy Hughes, appears as the restless, bitter, Jilly Stewart. She delivers a delightfully over-the-top performance as the neurotic, needy alcoholic. Early 80s Aussie rock star, James Reyne, presumably chosen for his good looks rather than his questionable acting abilities, is quite laughable most of the time in his role as the greedy, scheming Greg Marsden. Intentionally, he literally oozes bucket loads of slime in the role, though his performance is often wooden. He is at his most hilariously over the top at the exciting and dramatic climax where he is seemingly playing the whole thing as though he were the principal villain in a pantomime. Completing the principal cast line up is James Smilie as the smooth (if occasionally too sickly sweet) Dr Dan Marshall whom Stephanie/Tara ends up having a somewhat complex affair with.

The locations used in Return To Eden are notably beautiful throughout and ranged from Sydney, Orpheus Island and Arnham Land in the Northern terriotry, and boasts magnificent cinematography courtesy of Dean Semler who later went on to win an academy award for his work on the classic film Dances With Wolves.

I really don't want to give anything away about the fun climax for those of you that have not yet watched Return To Eden but I can reveal that the conclusion is very drawn out with plenty of action and high, intense drama where Stephanie/Tara cunningly lures both Greg and Jilly back to Eden to serve up her carefully planned revenge.

Return To Eden clocks in at over four hours long and is admittedly hard to stick to in one sitting if viewing it on DVD or video. However, when watched in the three installments as shown on television it is thoroughly enjoyable. Most notably funny in Return To Eden are the hilarious fashions seen during the cat walk sequences which proceeds to make Return To Eden look all the more dated. Undoubtedly though, the fashions, as laughably over the top as they are, was the cutting edge of its time.

Produced by twin brothers Hal and Jim McElroy, they were already renowned for their work on the Australian film classic, Picnic At Hanging Rock. The screenplay was written by Michael Laurence and was directed by Karen Arthur.

That old adage "they don't make them like this anymore" applies accordingly to Return To Eden as its so blatantly a product of its time. Never the less it remains an enthralling and intense melodrama with excellent production values; evidently no expense was spared. Absolutely compulsive, Return To Eden is a worthwhile viewing experience and is recommended. Providing you don't take it too seriously and view it as a piece of very well made entertainment, you'll love it.

Ian Phillips