Picnic at Hanging Rock is an Australian mystery romantic drama television series that premiered on Foxtel's Showcase on 6 May 2018. The series was adapted from Joan Lindsay's 1967 novel of the same name about a group of schoolgirls who, while on an outing to Hanging Rock, mysteriously disappear. The score won the Screen Music Award for Best Music for a Television Series.

Plot Hester Appleyard purchases an isolated mansion out in the Australian bush to transform into a school for young ladies – a few months later, Appleyard College is a success. On Valentine's Day, 1900, when students and staff go for a picnic to Hanging Rock, three of the school's star students and their governess mysteriously vanish. Their disappearance leaves a devastating impact on students, staff, their enigmatic and formidable headmistress and the township at large. Theories abound, secrets are exposed and hysteria sets in, until eventually, the lives of the characters unravel.

Cast and characters

Main Natalie Dormer as Mrs Hester Appleyard, headmistress Lily Sullivan as Miranda Reid Lola Bessis as Mademoiselle Dianne de Poitiers, mistress of French Conversation Harrison Gilbertson as Michael Fitzhubert Samara Weaving as Irma Leopold Madeleine Madden as Marion Quade Inez Currò as Sara Waybourne Ruby Rees as Edith Horton Yael Stone as Miss Dora Lumley, mistress of Deportment and Bible Studies Philip Quast as Arthur Appleyard, Hester's late husband Marcus Graham as Tomasetti James Hoare as Albert Crundall Mark Coles Smith as Tom Don Hany as Dr. Mackenzie

Supporting

Production Filming commenced in February 2017 at Labassa, Caulfield, Mandeville Hall, Toorak, Rippon Lea, Elsternwick, Werribee Park, as well as Lysterfield Park and on Fraser St in the Victorian goldfields town of Clunes. Larysa Kondracki served as showrunner and directed the first three episodes.

Episodes

Broadcast

The series premiered in Australia on Showcase in 2018. The program was acquired by the BBC in the United Kingdom, Canal+ in France, RTÉ in Ireland and Amazon Prime Video in the United States. The series was also broadcast in Greece by ERT.

Reception

References

External links Picnic at Hanging Rock at Foxtel