The show was really well done and the actors brilliantly cast (especially Peta Topano and Rebecca Gilling). Unlike other TV series at the time, "Return to Eden" was actually engaging beyond the banal and cliché that was so prevalent in other productions. While you could miss an episode (or five) of your average soap opera and still be able to follow the story line, no two episodes of "Eden" were alike. The viewer became instantly engaged in the suspense-filled plot portraying the fall and then the phoenix-like rise of Stephanie Harper, love and deceit, family feud and greed. It is really a shame that they had to wrap it up so hurriedly due to funding limitations. I would definitely watch it again if I had a chance and would welcome its release on DVD.
5 Reviews
The further adventures of Stephanie Harper
malpasc-391-9153808 June 2012
Following the wild success of the 1983 miniseries Return To Eden came back a couple of years later in the guise of a glossy weekly serial.
Set seven years after the original Stephanie is back and an old enemy is trying to bring her world crashing down.
This series of Return to Eden is much more like American dramas of the same era, namely Dynasty, Falcon Crest, etc, but with more wit and a cast who seem to play their roles with their tongues slightly in cheek.
The plots are typical of 80s excess - company takeovers, faked deaths, and bedroom scenes galore.
Peta Toppano steals the show as Jilly Stewart, delivering her bitchy lines with camp exuberance whilst wearing ever more amazingly over the top costumes as the series progresses. All of the cast are great but special mentions have to go to the lovely Rebecca Gilling playing Stephanie, and James Smillie as her husband Dan Marshall who delivers all of his lines in a true matinée idol style.
This series came to an abrupt ending after just 22 episodes due to poor ratings in it's native Australia and allegedly because the show was so expensive to produce.
If you love your soaps to be glamorous, your story lines over the top and your shoulder pads huge then Return to Eden is the show for you!
Set seven years after the original Stephanie is back and an old enemy is trying to bring her world crashing down.
This series of Return to Eden is much more like American dramas of the same era, namely Dynasty, Falcon Crest, etc, but with more wit and a cast who seem to play their roles with their tongues slightly in cheek.
The plots are typical of 80s excess - company takeovers, faked deaths, and bedroom scenes galore.
Peta Toppano steals the show as Jilly Stewart, delivering her bitchy lines with camp exuberance whilst wearing ever more amazingly over the top costumes as the series progresses. All of the cast are great but special mentions have to go to the lovely Rebecca Gilling playing Stephanie, and James Smillie as her husband Dan Marshall who delivers all of his lines in a true matinée idol style.
This series came to an abrupt ending after just 22 episodes due to poor ratings in it's native Australia and allegedly because the show was so expensive to produce.
If you love your soaps to be glamorous, your story lines over the top and your shoulder pads huge then Return to Eden is the show for you!
Return to Eden was a spin off series from a mini-series of the same name and featured the same main characters of Stephanie and Jilly.
d-mcclements27 November 2006
Warning: Spoilers
This TV show picks up the events of the original mini-series seven years later when Jilly Stewart is released from prison following the fatal shooting of Greg Marsden. Filled with hate and revenge she appears to be quite friendly with Stephanie, however she is actually plotting her downfall and eventually teams up with Jake Sanders (actually Greg Marsden's brother) in order to eventuate her goal. She terrorises Stephanie in many ways over the duration of the season tormented by the fact that she should have killed her instead of Greg.
The show was scheduled to return for a second season and as a result the final scenes of the last episode ended with a cliffhanger. However the show had gone over its budget in certain areas and was ultimately deemed too expensive to continue in production, also unfortunate was a slump in the shows initial high ratings. A last minute decision by the network resulted in the shows cancellation.
Sources have reported that the falling viewing figures were the primary reason for the show being axed, this is not strictly true, Return To Eden was very popular worldwide, despite lacklustre ratings in Australia. As mentioned earlier it was an expensive show to produce and needed to reach a healthy ratings level to allow it to continue, unfortunately interest in the series waned toward the end of its first season and this eventually sealed its fate.
When it was decided to syndicate the series worldwide a small number of the cast were contacted to return to the series, pun intended, as it was discovered the show would be turned down for syndication because the series ended on a cliffhanger which had no resolution. Series Stars Rebecca Gilling, Peter Cousens and Peta Toppano were recalled and scenes were quickly written to explain most of the major story lines.
In the original final scenes Dennis is hit on the head by an unseen assailant shortly after having an argument with Cassie. Stephanie discovers Jake is Greg's brother and Jilly inadvertently shoots him by accident intending to kill Stephanie. Jilly subsequently frames Stephanie for the murder.
In the re-edit these scenes were retained, the action then continued to show Dennis awake but tied up. A stranger arrives and we learn that his name is Chris and he's Stephanie's long lost son, that he's a photographer and that he witnessed the shooting at Eden when Jilly shot Jake and has the pictures to prove this. Chris releases Dennis who persuades him to go to meet his Mother and they go to see Stephanie at the jail just as Jilly arrives to taunt Stephanie about the Trial. The police seize Jilly and Stephanie is released. This re-edited final episode was never shown in Australia, until several years later when the show was re-run. It had been shown in Europe first in a syndication package before being shown at least twice in Australian re-runs.
Return To Eden is a very enjoyable escapist type of soap opera and much better plotted than its American cousins. Its also more funnier and OTT, and not afraid to poke fun at itself. One of the best eighties Aussie soaps ever, a shame it only lasted the one season.
Unfortunately for buyers of the official DVD release, the final episode is the original run episode and not the re-edited version with the extra final scenes, instead finishing on the original cliffhanger. This is evident on viewing the set from the different scroll Worldvision logo at the end of the credits. There are also no subtitles available. Instead just all of the beautifully filmed, well acted twenty two episodes of the show with no special features. Peta Toppano is magnificent as the scheming Jilly. A role you can tell she relished. Rebecca Gilling brings an air of class and glamour as the main heroine of the series. Daniel Abineri and James Smillie are brilliant counterpoints. One young and handsome, the other older, good looking but wiser. Eden is very well cast. The music too (composed by Brian May, the man is a legend) is a treat and brilliantly complements the visual exotic locations of Sydney. Its great to hear the closing theme music without a network announcer spoiling it by talking over it!
Could it ever come back? I wish it would, it would be great to Return To Eden!!! However viewed now it is very much a product of its time, it is very eighties when shows like Dallas and Dynasty were riding high in the ratings. An awful shame it didn't continue.
A few months back I emailed Hal McElroy at his own website about how much I enjoyed Return To Eden and asked whether if it would ever come back again. Although he thanked me for enjoying it, he said and I quote "There are no plans for any more ....."
The show was scheduled to return for a second season and as a result the final scenes of the last episode ended with a cliffhanger. However the show had gone over its budget in certain areas and was ultimately deemed too expensive to continue in production, also unfortunate was a slump in the shows initial high ratings. A last minute decision by the network resulted in the shows cancellation.
Sources have reported that the falling viewing figures were the primary reason for the show being axed, this is not strictly true, Return To Eden was very popular worldwide, despite lacklustre ratings in Australia. As mentioned earlier it was an expensive show to produce and needed to reach a healthy ratings level to allow it to continue, unfortunately interest in the series waned toward the end of its first season and this eventually sealed its fate.
When it was decided to syndicate the series worldwide a small number of the cast were contacted to return to the series, pun intended, as it was discovered the show would be turned down for syndication because the series ended on a cliffhanger which had no resolution. Series Stars Rebecca Gilling, Peter Cousens and Peta Toppano were recalled and scenes were quickly written to explain most of the major story lines.
In the original final scenes Dennis is hit on the head by an unseen assailant shortly after having an argument with Cassie. Stephanie discovers Jake is Greg's brother and Jilly inadvertently shoots him by accident intending to kill Stephanie. Jilly subsequently frames Stephanie for the murder.
In the re-edit these scenes were retained, the action then continued to show Dennis awake but tied up. A stranger arrives and we learn that his name is Chris and he's Stephanie's long lost son, that he's a photographer and that he witnessed the shooting at Eden when Jilly shot Jake and has the pictures to prove this. Chris releases Dennis who persuades him to go to meet his Mother and they go to see Stephanie at the jail just as Jilly arrives to taunt Stephanie about the Trial. The police seize Jilly and Stephanie is released. This re-edited final episode was never shown in Australia, until several years later when the show was re-run. It had been shown in Europe first in a syndication package before being shown at least twice in Australian re-runs.
Return To Eden is a very enjoyable escapist type of soap opera and much better plotted than its American cousins. Its also more funnier and OTT, and not afraid to poke fun at itself. One of the best eighties Aussie soaps ever, a shame it only lasted the one season.
Unfortunately for buyers of the official DVD release, the final episode is the original run episode and not the re-edited version with the extra final scenes, instead finishing on the original cliffhanger. This is evident on viewing the set from the different scroll Worldvision logo at the end of the credits. There are also no subtitles available. Instead just all of the beautifully filmed, well acted twenty two episodes of the show with no special features. Peta Toppano is magnificent as the scheming Jilly. A role you can tell she relished. Rebecca Gilling brings an air of class and glamour as the main heroine of the series. Daniel Abineri and James Smillie are brilliant counterpoints. One young and handsome, the other older, good looking but wiser. Eden is very well cast. The music too (composed by Brian May, the man is a legend) is a treat and brilliantly complements the visual exotic locations of Sydney. Its great to hear the closing theme music without a network announcer spoiling it by talking over it!
Could it ever come back? I wish it would, it would be great to Return To Eden!!! However viewed now it is very much a product of its time, it is very eighties when shows like Dallas and Dynasty were riding high in the ratings. An awful shame it didn't continue.
A few months back I emailed Hal McElroy at his own website about how much I enjoyed Return To Eden and asked whether if it would ever come back again. Although he thanked me for enjoying it, he said and I quote "There are no plans for any more ....."
Back to Eden, Forward to Regret
pulpficat9 September 2023
In the 1986 weekly series, Jilly is released from prison, only to discover that she's Stephanie's half-sister. And what's Stephanie's brilliant idea? To force them all to live together under the same roof and somehow magically reconcile, even though Jilly just wants to ruin her life. Then we get more convoluted family drama involving sibling rivalry, dubious paternity claims, and characters inexplicably jumping into bed with each other at the drop of a hat.
But perhaps the most infuriating aspect of Return to Eden is its complete disregard for any semblance of realism. People miraculously come back from the dead, characters make decisions that defy logic, and plot twists are more like pretzels than anything resembling a coherent story. It's like a never-ending soap opera where everyone seems to be ruled by their hormones, throwing logic and reason out the window and expecting us to swallow this nonsense with a straight face. For example, Stephanie's daughter Sarah has a thing for a man who was once suspected to be Stephanie's illegitimate son with an Arab prince when she was just 17. I mean, seriously, that plotline is as far-fetched as they come. And Jake, Greg's brother, initially shows up for revenge but can't help falling in love with Stephanie. It's like the entire cast has a collective amnesia about their motivations, constantly giving in to their base desires.
Return to Eden is a baffling and melodramatic mess of a show where the characters make ridiculous decisions, the plotlines are absurd, and logic takes a backseat to lust. It's like watching a soap opera on steroids, but without the charm. Save yourself the agony and watch something else - anything else. This show is a disaster of epic proportions, and not even the most die-hard soap opera fan could salvage it. I can't believe people actually watched this and didn't cringe themselves into oblivion.
But perhaps the most infuriating aspect of Return to Eden is its complete disregard for any semblance of realism. People miraculously come back from the dead, characters make decisions that defy logic, and plot twists are more like pretzels than anything resembling a coherent story. It's like a never-ending soap opera where everyone seems to be ruled by their hormones, throwing logic and reason out the window and expecting us to swallow this nonsense with a straight face. For example, Stephanie's daughter Sarah has a thing for a man who was once suspected to be Stephanie's illegitimate son with an Arab prince when she was just 17. I mean, seriously, that plotline is as far-fetched as they come. And Jake, Greg's brother, initially shows up for revenge but can't help falling in love with Stephanie. It's like the entire cast has a collective amnesia about their motivations, constantly giving in to their base desires.
Return to Eden is a baffling and melodramatic mess of a show where the characters make ridiculous decisions, the plotlines are absurd, and logic takes a backseat to lust. It's like watching a soap opera on steroids, but without the charm. Save yourself the agony and watch something else - anything else. This show is a disaster of epic proportions, and not even the most die-hard soap opera fan could salvage it. I can't believe people actually watched this and didn't cringe themselves into oblivion.
Australia's answer to "Dallas".
wombat_114 March 2005
Like the US show from which I suspect this was blatantly copied, this was one show where the bad guys where much more interesting, believable, and let's face it, much more fun than the good guys. The main protagonists are all fabulously tanned, wealthy and good looking (Rebecca Gilling, Megan Williams and Peta Topanno were absolutely STUNNING in those days), and bore about as much semblance to reality as JR Ewing did, too. Daniel Abineri was a wonderful villain; Peta mad a good counterfoil to him; and Rebecca - well, she was just overwhelmed by sugar and spice.
Still, in its time it was fun to watch, with devilish plots and counter plots, with inscrutable villains and squeaky clean hero's. If it came on again I would certainly move heaven and earth to watch it; but this time i suspect that I would laugh a heck of a lot louder whilst doing so.
Still, in its time it was fun to watch, with devilish plots and counter plots, with inscrutable villains and squeaky clean hero's. If it came on again I would certainly move heaven and earth to watch it; but this time i suspect that I would laugh a heck of a lot louder whilst doing so.
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