Picnic at Hanging Rock is an Australian mysteryromanticdrama television series that premiered on Foxtel's Showcase on 6 May 2018.[2] The series was adapted from Joan Lindsay's 1967 novel of the same name about a group of schoolgirls who, while on an outing to Hanging Rock, mysteriously disappear. The score won the Screen Music Award for Best Music for a Television Series.[3]
Plot
Hester Appleyard purchases an isolated mansion out in the Australian bush to transform into a school for young ladies - a few months later, Appleyard College is a success. On Valentine's Day, 1900, when students and staff go for a picnic to Hanging Rock, three of the school's star students and their governess mysteriously vanish. Their disappearance leaves a devastating impact on students, staff, their enigmatic and formidable headmistress and the township at large. Theories abound, secrets are exposed and hysteria sets in, until eventually, the lives of the characters unravel.
British actress Natalie Dormer attends the Picnic at Hanging Rock Interview during the 14th Zurich Film Festival on October 5, 2018, in Switzerland.
The series premiered in Australia on Showcase in 2018.[6] The program was acquired by the BBC in the United Kingdom, Canal+ in France, RTÉ in Ireland and Amazon Prime Video in the United States.[7] The series was also broadcast in Greece by ERT.
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 79% of 53 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The website's consensus reads: "Natalie Dormer charms in Picnic at Hanging Rock, a stylish retelling of an Australian classic -- though convoluted sub-plots at times distract from its otherwise tantalizing delights."[8]
