Australia – Foxtel and FremantleMedia Australia have released the first official image from the set of the new Australian event drama Picnic at Hanging Rock, in production in Victoria. The first look image reveals Natalie Dormer as English headmistress Mrs Hester Appleyard alongside Samara Weaving as Irma Leopold, Madeleine Madden as Marion Quade and Lily Sullivan as Miranda Reid.
“I am thrilled to be in Australia working with an exceptional creative team on Picnic at Hanging Rock,” Ms Dormer said. “This re-imagining of the iconic story will no doubt grab a contemporary audience with its mystery, emotion and wide range of complex, smart female characters. To play Hester Appleyard is a joy.”
Picnic at Hanging Rock will plunge viewers into the mysterious disappearances of three schoolgirls and one teacher on Valentine’s Day 1900, taking the audience on a new journey into Joan Lindsay’s revered Australian novel through the six part drama which has production investment from Screen Australia and Film Victoria.
The extensive cast includes Lola Bessis as Mademoiselle Dianne de Poitiers, mistress of French Conversation, Music and Dance; Yael Stone as Miss Dora Lumley, mistress of Deportment and Bible Studies; Anna McGahan as Miss Greta McCraw, mistress of Geography and Mathematics, Sibylla Budd as Mrs Valange, mistress of Art and Literature, Ruby Rees as Edith Horton and introduces Inez Curro as Sara Waybourne.
Other characters will be played by Don Hany, Harrison Gilbertson, James Hoare, Marcus Graham, Mark Coles Smith, Jonny Pasvolsky, Philip Quast, Emily Gruhl, Ros Gentle, Julie Nihill, Kaarin Fairfax, Huw Higginson, Ron Jacobson and Kim Gyngell.Picnic at Hanging Rock will premiere on Foxtel’s showcase channel at a date to be confirmed. FremantleMedia International is distributing the drama internationally.
