Sons and Daughters (Australian TV series)
Sons and Daughters is an Australian Logie Award-winning soap opera/drama serial, broadcast by the Seven Network between January 1982 and December 1987 and produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation. It was created by executive Reg Watson, and is distributed by Fremantle.
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| Sons and Daughters | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Soap opera |
| Created by | Reg Watson |
| Written by | See links at end of article for comprehensive list |
| Directed by | See links at end of article for comprehensive list |
| Starring | (see main cast list and character family tree below) |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 6 |
| No. of episodes | 972 |
| Production | |
| Production locations | Sydney Melbourne |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Production company | Reg Grundy Organisation |
| Release | |
| Original network | Seven Network |
| Picture format | 4:3 |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | 18 January 1982 – 27 December 1987 |
Sons and Daughters is remembered for its regular use of dramatic cliffhangers and its most famous character; Patricia "Pat the Rat" Hamilton, initially played by Rowena Wallace, who became the first soap star, non-personality to win the Gold Logie award for her spirited performance in the role - when she left the series in 1985, the part was recast, with Belinda Giblin taking over the role, following the character receiving extensive plastic surgery in the storyline, and returning as Alison Carr.
Notable cast members in later years included former Australian pop singer Normie Rowe and former Number 96 star Abigail, whilst future Home and Away star Judy Nunn also played a brief character as doctor Irene Fisher.
The extended pilot episode premiered on Monday, 18 January 1982, during the Christmas/New Year non-ratings period in Sydney and Melbourne, and the following week in Brisbane and Adelaide. For the first two years in Australia, it aired in four half-hour installments, Monday to Thursday, for approximately ten months of the year. After 1984, it was mostly aired as two hourly episodes. The series was cancelled in November 1986, and production ended in March 1987, with the final episode broadcast in Sydney on Sunday, 27 December 1987, and in Melbourne, on Sunday, 10 January 1988 (again in the non-ratings period). Adelaide station ADS7 was one of the first to complete the series, showing the final episodes in a two-hour special on Monday, 16 November 1987.
Sons and Daughters was successful internationally. In February 1983, British television broadcaster ITV began airing the series to audiences across the United Kingdom, and during the late 1980s, it aired throughout western Europe on various TV stations. The UK and most European and foreign territories broadcast the series in daytime, although it did air at 7 pm in the Netherlands and Belgium.