Sons and Daughters was an Australian soap opera created by Reg Watson and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation. It screened on Channel Seven in an early evening timeslot, running from December 1981 until 1987. The first TIME cover devoted to soap operas: Dated January 12, 1976, Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes of Days of Our Lives are featured with the headline Soap Operas: Sex and suffering in the afternoon. A soap opera is an ongoing, episodic work of fiction, usually broadcast on television... Reg Watson is an Australian television producer, best known for creating soap operas like Prisoner and Neighbours. ... Reg Grundy Organisation is an Australian television production company. ... The Seven Network is an Australian television network available in most Australian capital cities. ... 1981 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1987 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The initial premise introduced handsome working-class John Palmer (Peter Phelps) from Melbourne who on visiting Sydney fell in love with defiant rich girl Angela Hamilton (Alexandra Fowler). It was soon learned that John and Angela were in fact brother and sister, twins who were separated at birth and raised separately. John had been raised by the wise former prostitute Fiona Thompson (Pat McDonald), and Angela raised by her mother who had married into money. Prostitution is the sale of sexual services (typically manual stimulation, oral sex, sexual intercourse, or anal sex) for cash or other kind of return, generally indiscriminately with many persons. ... Pat McDonald (1 August 1922 - 10 March 1990) was an Australian actress best known for two long-running soap opera roles. ...

The parents of the twins had each married other people and raised families which at the time the series started had other adult children. In Melbourne the Palmer family comprised John's father David (Tom Richards), a truck driver; David's wife Beryl (Leila Hayes), a warm and down-to-earth housewife. Their children together were Susan (Ann Henderson-Stiers) and Kevin (Steven Comey), and Kevin was engaged to a local girl Lynn (Antonia Murphy). In Sydney Angela had grown up with her mother Patricia (Rowena Wallace), Patricia's husband Gordon (Brian Blain) who was a successful businessman, and Gordon's son from an earlier marriage, the spiteful Wayne (Ian Rawlings). Also in the original cast was Kim Lewis who played Jill Taylor, young former prostitute who lived with Fiona. Brian Blain (1936—1994) was a lugubrious Australian actor. ... Ian Rawlings (born 9 March 1959 in Whyalla, Australia) is an Australian actor. ...

Subsequent new characters included Barbara Armstrong (Cornelia Frances) who married Gordon after his divorce from Patricia, Barbara's neice Amanda (Alyce Platt), and the long-lost son of Barbara's former husband Roland, Andy Green (Danny Roberts). Patricia's best friend, the dizzy socialite Charlie Bartlette (Sarah Kemp), was introduced as a minor figure during the show's early months but soon emerged as a key character. Cornelia Frances (born 1941, Liverpool, UK as Cornelia Frances Zulver) is a British born actor and game show emcee based in Australia from the early 1970s; familiar from The Young Doctors (Grace Scott) to Sons and Daughters (Barbara Hamilton) to Home and Away (Morag Bellingham) to The Weakest Link. ...

Storylines explored the romantic entanglements of the various characters, various instances of family instability linked to the breakdowns of both David and Paticia's marriages after they renewed their love affair, and the big-business intrigue surrounding Gordon's company.

The series was very successful for several years and many of the cast became major television stars through their roles in the show. The most famous character was the neurotic bitch Patricia, played by Rowena Wallace. Dubbed "Pat the Rat", the character became a major cult figure through her bitchiness and scheming. Wallace decided to leave the series after a little over three years in the part, and in 1985 she won a Gold Logie for the role just as her final episodes were being transmitted. Such was the popularity of the character the producers of the show took the unusual step of recasting Patricia, with former The Box star Belinda Giblin stepping into the role. The writers explained the new facial features as being the result of extensive plastic surgery, and even made it a focal point of Patricia's return: calling herself Alison Carr, Patricia returned to Sydney to exact revenge on all her enemies, who would not know who they were dealing with. The Gold Logie Award is presented to the Most Popular Personality on Australian Television. ... The Box was a popular Australian soap opera than ran on Network Ten from 1974 until 1977. ...

Other new characters introduced at this time included Caroline Morrell (Abigail) and Dr Irene Fischer (Judy Nunn). After a long absence from the series the character of Susan reappeared played by new actor Orianna Panozzo and played a key role in many of the later storylines. As ratings went into decline Rowena Wallace was lured back to the series for a ten week return, and there was much press speculation as to how the writers would pull this off. It transpired that Patricia was in fact an identical twin, and the returning Rowena would play the new character of Patricia's twin sister Pamela Hudson. Unfortunately this return appearance did little to halt the show's dwindling popularity and the series was cancelled while Rowena was taping her scenes. Abigail (full name Abigail Rogan) was an Australian actress in the 70s and 80s. ... Judy Nunn (born 13 April 1945 in Perth, Australia) is an Australian actress and author. ...

When the series finished in 1987 the characters of Fiona, Wayne, Beryl, Gordon, Andy, Charlie, Caroline and Alison remained. David Palmer who had departed after five years in the show returned for the final episode. 1987 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

As of 2005 a repeat run of the series is running in the UK on Channel Five. 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ... five, formerly known as Channel 5, is the United Kingdoms fifth terrestrial TV Channel. ...

External links

• Aussie Soap Archive: Sons and Daughters — Overview and review
• Sons and Daughters at the Internet Movie Database