The Man from Snowy River is an Australian adventure drama television series based on Banjo Paterson's poem "The Man from Snowy River". Released in Australia as Banjo Paterson's The Man from Snowy River, the series was subsequently released in both the United States and the United Kingdom as Snowy River: The McGregor Saga.

The series follows the adventures of Matt McGregor (Andrew Clarke), a successful Australian rancher, and his family. Matt is the hero immortalised in Banjo Paterson's poem "The Man from Snowy River", and the series is set 25 years after his famous ride.The Australian Film and Television Companion – compiled by Tony Harrison – Simon & Schuster Australia, 1994 Patterson's poem was also the basis for two films The Man from Snowy River, and The Man from Snowy River II (aka Return to Snowy River).

Synopsis During the late 1800s, widower Matt McGregor, his adult sons Collin and Rob, and adolescent daughter Danni, live and work on their cattle ranch named 'Langara'. Widow Kathleen O'Neil and her young son Michael live on a nearby smaller property. To earn needed money, Kathleen teaches school and runs the local newspaper. Matt and Kathleen eventually wed, but only after overcoming Kathleen's initial reluctance.

Wealthy and unscrupulous Oliver Blackwood, along with Matt's bitter nephew Luke, habitually cause trouble for the McGregors.

Cast Stars and guest stars of the series included notable and future notable actors.

Main Andrew Clarke as Matt McGregor Brett Climo as Colin McGregor Wendy Hughes as Kathleen O'Neill/McGregor Guy Pearce as Rob McGregor Sheryl Munks as Emily McGregor Josh Lucas as Luke McGregor Ben Geurens as Michael O'Neil Jon Finlayson as James Gleeson

Regular Gabrielle Fitzpatrick as Montana Hale Rodney Bell as Frank Blackwood

Recurring/guests Actor Role Ep. count Aaron Blabey Jimmy Wilks 1 Alan Hopgood Gil Tyson Amanda Douge Victoria Blackwood Andrew Curry Miner #1 Ben Mendelsohn Dale Banks 1Brett Swain Surveyor 1 1 Brett Tucker Ted 1 Broderick Smith 1 Bud Tingwell Governor 1 Chad Lowe Sam Taylor 2 Colette Mann Mrs Carney 4 Damien Bodie Dennis Andrews 1 Danny Adcock Jarrod Banks 1 David Field Dave Turner 1 Dean Stockwell Professor Julius Waugh 2 Denise Roberts Mary Kelly 1 Dieter Brummer Nathan 1 Esben Storm Frobisher 1 Fiona Corke Lola Hatton Frances O'Connor Rachel McAlister 2 Frank Gallacher Grady Hocking 1 Greg Stone Dr Cameron 1 Hélène Joy Agnes Windsor 1 Henri Szeps Jacob Verkovic 1 Hugh Jackman Duncan Jones 5 Jane Badler Yvonne Waugh 2 John McTernan Connor O'Shea 1 John Stanton Oliver Blackwood Jonathan Hardy John Archer snr 1 Julie Nihill Nora O'Reilly 1 Lee Horsley Seamus O'Neil 3 Libby Tanner Brodie 1 Lewis Fitz-Gerald Henry Faulkner 1 Marshall Napier Charlie Dunn 1 Matt Day Pete Reilly Matthew Newton Private Horsefall 1 Nell Feeney Elsie Morgan 2 Nick Carrafa Alan Grout 2 Nigel Bradshaw Thomas Pascoe Nique Needles PIke 1 Olivia Newton-John Joanna Walker 3 Reg Gorman Mr Fowler 6 Shane Connor Tyler Morgan 2 Simon Palomares Prince Alfredo Perez 1 Steven Vidler Daniel Larson 1 Tim Robertson Trooper John Clarke 1 Tony Bonner Dave Turner 1 Tony Briggs Toby King 1 Tracy Nelson Ruth Whitney 5 Victoria Tennant Anita Hargraves 5 Wynn Roberts Sir Harry Garfield 1 Zbych Trofimiuk 1

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Result Ref 1996 Logie Awards Logie Award for Most Popular Series 1996 Logie Awards Silver Logie for Most Popular Actor (Guy Pearce)

International distribution When the series was distributed to some countries, the title was changed for various reasons.

Country Title Australia Banjo Paterson's The Man from Snowy River United States & Canada Snowy River: The McGregor Saga United Kingdom Ireland Gibraltar Snowy River Iran

The series was aired on The Family Channel in the US, BBC Two in the UK, and WIC-owned and independent stations in Canada.

Episodes Season 1 (1993-1994)

1 – The Race (28 August 1993) 2 – Pascoe's Principles (23 September 1994) 3 – Kathleen's Choice (23 September 1994) 4 – Partnerships (25 September 1994) 5 – Where There's Smoke (2 October 1994) 6 – Tracks of Gold (9 October 1994) 7 – Plans of Poison (16 October 1994)

8 – Stepping Out (23 October 1994) 9 – The Bushranger (30 October 1994) 10 – The Rustlers (6 November 1994) 11 – The Loneliness of Luke McGregor (13 November 1994) 12 – Love Finds a Way (20 November 1994) 13 – The Stampede (27 November 1994)

Season 2 (1995-1996)

1 – The Hostage (13 August 1995) 2 – The Savage Land (20 August 1995) 3 – The Railroad (27 August 1995) 4 – Fathers and Sons (3 September 1995) 5 – The Manly Art (10 September 1995) 6 – The Dry Argument (17 September 1995) 7 – Servant of the People (1 October 1995) 8 – The Search (8 October 1995) 9 – The Lost Child (15 October 1995) 10 – The Foundling (22 October 1995)

11 – The Long Arm of the Law (29 October 1995) 12 – The Recruit (5 November 1995) 13 – The Reilly Gang (12 November 1995) 14 – The Choice (19 November 1995) 15 – Man and Boy (26 November 1995) 16 – Flight of Fancy (11 February 1996) 17 – Code of Ethics (18 February 1996) 18 – The Cutting Edge (25 February 1996) 19 – House of Worship (10 March 1996)

Season 3 (1996)

1 – A Sea of Troubles (24 March 1996) 2 – Rough Passage (31 March 1996) 3 – The Grand Wedding (7 April 1996) 4 – Montana Territory (14 April 1996) 5 – High Country Justice (21 April 1996) 6 – The Question of Danni (28 April 1996) 7 – The Prodigal Father: Part 1 (5 May 1996) 8 – The Prodigal Father: Part 2 (12 May 1996) 9 – Fire Boy (19 May 1996) 10 – Blind Faith (26 May 1996)

11 – Shoshoni Dreaming (2 June 1996) 12 – The Trial of Hetti Lewis (9 June 1996) 13 – Toy Soldiers (16 June 1996) 14 – A Mid-Winter Nights Dream (23 June 1996) 15 – In Duty Bound (30 June 1996) 16 – The Lion and the Lamb (7 July 1996) 17 – Broken Hearts (14 July 1996) 18 – Deliverance (21 July 1996) 19 – A New Life: Part 1 (28 July 1996) 20 – A New Life: Part 2 (4 August 1996)

Season 4 (1998)

1 – Comeback (8 February 1998) 2 – The Grand Opening (15 February 1998) 3 – Black Sheep (22 February 1998) 4 – Prince of Hearts (1 March 1998) 5 – The Grand Duke (22 March 1998) 6 – New Business (29 March 1998) 7 – Foundation Day (5 April 1998)

8 – The Lovers (12 April 1998) 9 – The Claimant (19 April 1998) 10 – The Loaded Deck (26 April 1998) 11 – Difficult Times (10 May 1998) 12 – A Son for a Son: Part 1 (17 May 1998) 13 – A Son for a Son: Part 2 (24 May 1998)

Video releases On 27 June 1995, the pilot was released on VHS

On 5 March 2002, a number of single episode videos were released on VHS. These include episodes "New Business", "Grand Opening", "Black Sheep", "Comeback", "The Grand Duke", and "Prince of Hearts"

In 2003, a region 1 DVD of the series pilot was released.

DVD name Ep# Release date Snowy River: The McGregor Saga – The Race1 18 November 2003

In 2004, season 4 was released as a 3 disk set, this time in region 4. This was followed by season 1 (3 disks) and season 2 (4 disks) in 2005, and season 3 (4 disks) in 2006. The contributor writing this owns this set.

DVD name Ep# Release date Banjo Paterson's The Man From Snowy River – TV Series Season 113 July 2005 Banjo Paterson's The Man From Snowy River – TV Series Season 219 December 2005 Banjo Paterson's The Man From Snowy River – TV Series Season 320 January 2006 Banjo Paterson's The Man From Snowy River – TV Series Season 413 May 2004

On 25 January 2005, three 2-episode DVDs from the series were released in region 1. These episodes were the same as they had previously released on VHS.

DVD name Ep# Release date Episodes Snowy River: The McGregor Saga – Black Sheep/Prince of Hearts2 25 January 2005 Snowy River: The McGregor Saga – Come Back/Grand Opening2 25 January 2005 "Come Back", "Grand Opening" Snowy River: The McGregor Saga – Grand Duke/New Business2 25 January 2005 "Grand Duke", "New Business"

In 2006, a 3-episode DVD was released in region 1, containing episodes previously released on VHS and DVD. In early 2007, a second DVD was released containing the remaining three previously released episodes. Later in 2007, a third DVD was released. Though the DVD case misreports two of the episodes as titles from the previous release, the actual contents are three never-before released episodes.

DVD name Ep# Release date Episodes Snowy River: The McGregor Saga – There was more than one wild west!3 16 November 2006 "Comeback", "The Grand Opening", "Black Sheep" Snowy River: The McGregor Saga – Adventure in the Australian Outback3 3 April 2007 "Prince of Hearts", "The Grand Duke", "New Business" Snowy River: The McGregor Saga – A Different Breed of Cowboy3 21 August 2007 "Foundation Day", "The Lovers", "The Claimant" **

The DVD case erroneously reports the episodes as "Foundation Day", "The Grand Duke", and "New Business".

In 2008, all three of their previous DVDs was released as a set. The package contained one DVD case for "There was more than one wild west!" and a new double DVD case for the other two. The erroneous episode information for the third volume was corrected on the box and the double DVD case.

DVD name Ep# Release date"Episodes" Snowy River: The McGregor Saga Trilogy Volume 1 – 36 2008 "Comeback", "The Grand Opening", "Black Sheep""Prince of Hearts", "The Grand Duke", "New Business""Foundation Day", "The Lovers", "The Claimant"

In 2010, a combined 2-DVD package was released containing the last two DVDs (Adventure in the Australian Outback and A Different Breed of Cowboy).

DVD name Ep# Release date"Episodes" Snowy River: The McGregor Saga – Adventure in the Australian Outback/A Different Breed of Cowboy6 9 March 2010 "Prince of Hearts", "The Grand Duke", "New Business""Foundation Day", "The Lovers", "The Claimant"

In 2010, the entire series was released for region 4, commemorating the 120th anniversary of the poem.

DVD name Ep# Release date Banjo Paterson's The Man From Snowy River – The Complete Series65 2 April 2010 Banjo Paterson's The Man From Snowy River – Season 113 4 April 2011 Banjo Paterson's The Man From Snowy River – Season 219 4 April 2011 Banjo Paterson's The Man From Snowy River – Season 320 4 April 2011 Banjo Paterson's The Man From Snowy River – Season 413 4 April 2011

In 2011, season 1 was released for region 2 with Danish, Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish subtitles.

Notes Geoff Burrowes producer of the Snowy River films sued the producers of the series for using the title. The case settled out of court.Jacqueline Lee Lewis, "Settlement reached in 'Snowy River' title suit", Hollywood Reporter, 28 September 1993 p 4

See also Snowy River Newbury, the town where the show was filmed.

References

Bilbliography The Dictionary of Performing Arts in Australia – Theatre . Film . Radio . Television – Volume 1 – Ann Atkinson, Linsay Knight, Margaret McPhee – Allen & Unwin Pty. Ltd., 1996.

External links Snowy River: The McGregor Saga (The Man from Snowy River) – Australian Television Information Archive

Snowy River: The McGregor Saga – TV.com The Man From Snowy River – at the National Film and Sound Archive (Australian Government website)