Tweekums This six-part Australian mini-series is set in a girls' school in a remote area of Victoria during early 1900. It is owned by Mrs Hester Appleyard; a woman who claims to be a wealthy young widow but in a voice-over in the opening scenes tells the viewer that she isn't what she appears to be. On St Valentine's Day most of the girls attend a picnic near the titular Hanging Rock. Four of the girls and their governess explore the rock while others sleep... when their classmates awaken there is no sign of those who went to the rock. An extensive search ensues and one of the girls is found; she has no memory of what happened and offers no clue as to what happened to the others.As time passes without any further signs of the missing girls various theories are suggested but nothing is proven. Rumours abound and parents start withdrawing their daughters from the school. Mrs Appleyard wonders if the disappearances could be connected to her past; a past that may be catching up with her. We also see various flashbacks of life before the fateful picnic and further tensions that will ultimately have fatal consequences.It is surprising that this is based on a story that is just over fifty years old; if I hadn't read otherwise I would have assumed it must at the very least have been inspired by real events! I suspect that sense of realness is largely down to the number of questions deliberately left unanswered. The series is impressively atmospheric; there is a constant sense that something isn't quite right. There are plenty of possible answers to what happened to the girls; they ran away and were lost in the bush; somebody did something to them or even something supernatural could have happened. The cast do a fine job bringing their characters to life; most notably Natalie Dormer who is really impressive as Mrs Appleyard and young Inez Currõ who is great as Sara Waybourne, a girl who missed the picnic but is still key to the story. I can't say how it compares to the 1975 film as I've yet to watch it, nor have I read the book but if you are looking for something atmospheric and mysterious and don't expect everything to be wrapped up by the end I'd certainly recommend giving this a go.

victoriabruton The book is an artful and subtle story of mistery and unexplicable events. The idea of simply vanishing is to some of us quite terrififying and yet the writer skillfufy mixes this with the everyday live that has to carry on. Plus it has some very complex characters that through them we can understand more about that time. So why do they have to change the book and turn it into a mess of gay lesbian love affairs that have nothing to do with the story? Please leave things alone and push your political and social agendas to other things it is quite sad specially for the younger generation that are not going to know better

cjs6547 These episodes lack the subtle charm of the original film, and where the original was more than a bit creepy and haunting at times, the latest production fails to capture the same aura about hanging rock. On the other hand, the runtime is filled up with excessive slow motion which is very unnecessary in many cases, and the backstories of several staff and villagers which accomplish little else than to depress the viewers. It is nice to stick to one subject - the demonic timeless rock in this case - and briefly showcase incidental drama and injustice, rather than devoting full theatrical sequences to the very worst ills of human society in a story that I want to remember as MYSTICALLY chilling.

m005e Next to the movie being the worst movie I've seen, " Belly of an architect, this is the worst tv series I've ever seen!