Return to Eden

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Return to Eden Review

This 6 DVD box set collects all 22 episodes of this enjoyable sequel to the legendary Aussie mini-series about Australia's wealthiest woman, played beautifully by the charismatic Rebecca Gilling. As the mini-series had scored gigantic ratings across Australia, Europe and the USA, a follow up was inevitable. The mini series had been filmed in 1983. This 22 part series sequel, filmed in 1985 and aired in 1986, picks up the story severn years later.

The beautiful Stephanie Harper is now married to Dr Dan Marshall (James Smilie), the man who had performed extensive plastic surgery on Stephanie after she was attacked by a crocodile (and miraculously survived!). For severn years they've lived in married bliss but all that changes when news hits that Jilly Stewart (now played by Peta Topanno) is being released from prison (she had served severn years inside for accessory to attempted murder on Stephanie - she had stood by and watched and did nothing when murderous Greg Marsden threw poor Stephanie straight into the jaws of a crocodile, so that they could both get their hands on her fortune, and had also later shot dead Greg Marsden when he was trying to throttle Stephanie in the Eden swimming pool!). Wait for it though - this is a soap after all! The scriptwriters clearly needed some logic as to why an earth Stephanie would allow her ex-best friend back into her life. So they came up with a plausable (though very laughable) idea that Stephanie and Jilly are infact half sisters, after some hidden documents in the old Eden mansion are discovered revealing that Max, Stephanies father, had had an affair with Jillys two-timing mother (well at least we know where Jilly gets it from!). Max Harper had also requested that Stephanie acknowledge Jilly as her sister. If only he knew....

Once released from prison, Jilly, no longer a needy alcoholic like in the mini series (who had been played by Wendy Hughes), on the surface appears to be a reformed character full of remorse and seemingly desperate for forgiveness from Stephanie. In reality she is hatching a not-so-cunning plan to exact revenge on Stephanie whom she blamed for everything that had gone wrong in her life, not least for spending severn years in prison for a murder she commited to save Stephanies life. Coming to the aid of the bitter and exceedingly twisted Jilly was smarmy, nauseating, ruthless business man Jake Sanders (Daniel Abineri). It seems he is wanting to genuinely help Jilly for his own reasons as he is desperate to take over Stephanies multi-million dollar empire, Harper Mining (left to Stephanie by her father Max). In yet another twist though, it is uncovered at the close of episode 1 that Jake is in actual fact the brother of Greg Marsden so is seeking revenge on the people he blames for his death - Stephanie and Jilly! Yes, OH MY GOD HOW RIDICULOUS you must all be thinking - and you'd be perfectly within your rights! But just as in the excellent mini-series, this remains a fun and thoroughly compelling and gloriously entertaining series throughout. AND very, very camp - you'll have a good chuckle whenever Jilly makes one of her ludicrously-dressed entrances in any scene shes in.

Peta Topanno as fiesty, neurotic Jilly Stewart, camps it up to the hilt, clearly having fun in the role (despite Peta Topanno notoroiously slagging off the show to the press during its original run). Like all good, classic soap bitches, a mellower, more vulnreable side re-surfaces as the series progresses, making the character slightly more endearing and beleavable.

James Smilie as the gentle Dr Dan Marshall plays his role with effiency just like in the mini series while hilariously bad is Daniel Abineri as slimy Jake Sanders, hamming it up right to the very end (Daniel Abineri also criticised the show to the media and claimed he never took the role at all seriously). He seems to be, just like James Reyne in the original, as though he was playing the role as the principal villain in a pantomime. Undoubtedly this was down to the various direction from John Power, Tim Burstall and Kevin Dobson who had allegedly told the cast to play animated - and with some of the banal dialogue , it probably would have been impossible for the cast NOT to have played it that way.

There are a host of other less interesting sub-plots (far too many to mention here as its all mind boggling stuff) though the main focus is welcomingly on Jilly, Jake and the central character in the series - Stephanie. Memroable highlights in this sequel include nasty Jilly orchestrating a bunch of crooks to slip a crocodile into Stephanies swimming pool at the Eden mansion (obviously in a spiteful bid to bring that traumatic memory back of when Stephanie was attacked by a crocodile) which causes Stephanie to suffer a mental breakdown where she subsequently loses her memory and starts thinking shes Tara Welles all over again (the supermodel she had posed as in the mini-series, when the world thought Stephanie had died in the crocodile attack).

There are many nods to the original which gives the series an air of continuity but hilariously, midway through "Return To Eden", Stephanie loses her company to Jake, mistakenly thinks Jilly is having an affair with her husban Dan, so fakes her death (AGAIN), all the while plotting to regain control of her company. She rushes to the aid of her ex-lover Shiek Ahmal, whom she had an illegitimate son with and gave up for adoption (he turns up late in the series). Stephanie then returns to Australia in the guise of Shiek Ahmal's sister Princess Talitha. Stephanie shrewdly re-gains control of her company and then in a legendary, classic scene during a fashion show, strides down the cat walk, throws off her head gear revealing to the world that she is very much alive - much to the horror and dismay of Jilly (by this time Jake had developed an obsession with Stephanie, wanting to marry her now!).

Yes its all silly and plain ridiculous but as noted before, its gloriously campey entertainment ignited by some engaging and some unintentionally amusing performances. Great escapsim value!

The only complaint about this DVD box set is that it oddly doesnt include the alternative ending to the series, which had been specially filmed for its European and USA transmission (as it had been decided during the time the series was airing that there were to be no more episodes made). This leaves a few of the storylines up-in-the-air. On saying that, when "Return To Eden" did end it did seem to reach a natural conclusion as just about everything that could have been done with the series had been done, and its credibilty had been stretched to the limit!

"Return To Eden" is a truly legendary soap that, though hasnt stood the test of time terribly well as so blatantly a product of its time, boasts noticeably good production values as evidently no expense was spared on the lavish sets, glorious locations of sunny, beautiful Australia, the wardrobe (though so kitsch and laughably dated) and the flash cars (well, flash for the 1980's that is), so the essence of "Return To eden" holds up very well as it remains cracking entertainment in a very tongue-in-cheek sort of way. It was fun while it lasted!

Ian Phillips
August 2009

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