# Brides of Christ

Brides of Christ is an Australian television miniseries produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1991.
The series takes place behind the walls of a Sydney convent school and deals with the struggles of both the Roman Catholic nuns and the young students to adapt to the many social changes taking place within the church and the outside world during the 1960s.

## Plot

Diane Markham (Josephine Byrnes) joins a convent, 'Santu Spiritu School for Girls' after dropping her fiancé and becomes 'Sister Catherine', under the guidance of 'Sister Agnes' (Brenda Fricker). Catherine begins a friendship with another convent newcomer 'Sister Paul' (Lisa Hensley) and she begins to teach English and acts as the school newspaper adviser. Rosemary (Kym Wilson) is a naughty, rebellious student who gets herself into trouble, while another student Frances (Naomi Watts) is upset because her divorced mother is planning a wedding (Eventually, Sister Paul attends the civil ceremony, and dances the Twist at the celebration). Catherine and Paul help Frances overcome her depression. Sister Paul falls in love with an ultra-liberal priest (Simon Burke) while another priest struggles with the papal doctrine while the real-life of the Vietnam war, rock 'n' roll, free abortions and free love flood the news.

## Cast

The Nuns :
| Mother Ambrose | Sandy Gore |
| Sister Agnes | Brenda Fricker |
| Sister Catherine/Diane | Josephine Byrnes |
| Sister Paul/Veronica | Lisa Hensley |
| Sister Attracta | Melissa Jaffer |
| Sister Patrick | Penny Stehli |
| Sister Polycarp | Joy Hruby |
| Sister Philomena | Caroline Gillmer |
| Sister Clare | Beth Champion |
| Sister Francine | Michelle Pettigrove |
| The Girls ||
| Frances Heffernan | Naomi Watts |
| Rosemary Fitzgerald | Kym Wilson |
| Bridget Maloney | Melissa Thomas |
| Bernadette | Pippa Grandison |
| Caroline | Kirsty McGregor |
| Jacinta | Vanessa Collier |
| Other characters ||
| Jack Delahunty | Simon Burke |
| Ian McGregor | Philip Quast |
| Mary Maloney | Pat Bishop |
| Dominic Maloney | Russell Crowe |
| Liz Heffernan | Anne Tenney |
| Martin Tierney | Michael Winchester |
| Brendan Maloney | Brian Rooney |
| Irish Dean | Frank Gallacher |
| Sean | Ned Manning |

## Production

The series cost A$6.2 million to produce, with half the budget provided by the Film Finance Corporation Australia. Six fifty-five minute episodes were made. Each episode focused on a particular story and set of characters. Some characters would appear in multiple episodes with varying levels of prominence from episode to episode. Lead characters in one episode might appear in a support role in another episode. Josephine Byrnes' character was the focus of both the first and last episodes.
In her first major role, Naomi Watts starred as Frances, one of the students. One episode also guest starred the then unknown Russell Crowe as a young man distressed about being called up for the Vietnam War.
The series was filmed on location at St Mary's Concord, Douglas Park, New South Wales, Santa Sabina College, Strathfield, New South Wales, St Scholastica's College, Glebe, New South Wales, Carcoar, New South Wales and Australian Catholic University, Mount St Mary Campus, Strathfield, NSW and some interior scenes were filmed on location at Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview, New South Wales.

## Reception

Brides of Christ earned a rating of 30 in its first run, making it the most viewed drama ever produced by ABC. The series continued to garner high ratings in its subsequent re-runs. When broadcast in the United Kingdom by Channel 4, it attracted an estimated audience of 6 million, a considerable success by the channel's standards. When A&E ran the series in North America, in 1993, it drew in an estimated average of 1.76 million viewers. The entire series has since been released on DVD, and as at December 2021, it is available on Australian streaming service STAN.
Tony Scott of Variety stated a serious attempt, if not riveting one, to explore a special world.
The series won the following awards:
* 1991 Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission TV Drama Award was presented to the ABC TV and accepted by Penny Chapman and Sue Masters (Executive Producers)
* 1992 Logie Awards the show and cast won several awards:
      * Most Popular Telemovie or Mini-Series
      * Most Popular Actress in a Telemovie or Mini-Series to Josephine Byrnes
      * Most Popular New Talent to Kym Wilson (along with her work on A Country Practice)
      * Most Outstanding Actress to Josephine Byrnes
      * Most Outstanding Telemovie or Mini-Series