Tandarra
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| Tandarra | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Russell Hagg Simon Wincer |
| Starring | Gerard Kennedy Gus Mercurio Penne Hackforth-Jones |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Producers | Russell Hagg Patrick Edgeworth |
| Running time | 50 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Seven Network |
| Release | 1976 |
Tandarra was the follow-up Australian television series to Cash and Company (1975), set during the Victorian gold rush period of the 1850s. It was produced in 1976, consisted of 13 one hour episodes and was shown on the Seven Network in Australia and on ITV (including the London Weekend Television and Anglia regions) in the UK.
The change in format and title was necessitated by the departure of Serge Lazareff who played the title character Sam Cash. Two of the original characters from Cash and Company continued in Tandarra. These were Joe Brady (Gus Mercurio) and Jessica Johnson (Penne Hackforth-Jones). The other main character, introduced in the final episode of Cash and Company, was Ryler (Gerard Kennedy). He had been a bounty hunter who was later convinced of Joe's innocence and decided to join him. The new title, Tandarra, was taken from the name of the homestead, owned by Jessica, and the series primarily dealt with the adventures of running the large farming property. The premise of the first series, namely that Joe and Sam were fugitives from the law and were being assisted by Jessica, was totally removed. No reference to the Sam Cash character was ever made in this series. The previous antagonist, the corrupt police trooper, Lieutenant Keogh (Bruce Kerr) only appeared in the first episode of Tandarra, and the character of Jessica’s servant, Annie (Anne Scott-Pendlebury) only appeared in the second. The series was released in Australia on DVD in May 2015 by Umbrella Entertainment.