The Last Frontier is a 1986 television miniseries

Miniseries

A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...

 Starring Linda Evans, Jack Thompson and Jason Robards.

Plot

Kate Adamson (Linda Evans) is a struggling single mother from Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

. She meets and falls in love with Australian cattle station

Station (Australian agriculture)

Station is the term for a large Australian landholding used for livestock production. It corresponds to the North American term ranch or South American estancia...

 owner Tom Hannon (Tony Bonner) who is visiting America on business. The couple marry after a whirlwind two week courtship. Tom leaves for Australia and Kate agrees to follow a week later. Her two children Tina and Marty are unenthusiastic about the move but are convinced by their mother to come along.
They arrive in the Northern Territory

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...

 but Tom is not there to meet them. Unaware that Tom has been killed in a plane crash on the way home from California, they make their way to Larapinta, Tom’s cattle station near Alice Springs. Their arrival comes as a shock to Tom’s two young daughters Zoe and Emma who were not told of Tom’s marriage (he wanted it to be a surprise). Kate considers leaving but realizing that she has no money for a return trip she resolves to stay despite a desperate drought

Drought

A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...

.

She is soon visited by Ed Stenning (Jason Robards) and his daughter Meg (Judy Morris). Ed Stennings is a local land baron and the owner of Cutta Cutta, a huge station that borders Larapinta. Stenning wants to incorporate Larapinta into his holdings and tries to force Kate to sell. Her children want to sell and return to California but Tom’s daughters insist that they stay on and keep the station going. Kate also begins a relationship with Nick Stenning, Ed’s estranged son.

Larapinta’s primary water bore

Water well

A water well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, boring or drilling to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The well water is drawn by an electric submersible pump, a trash pump, a vertical turbine pump, a handpump or a mechanical pump...

 runs dry and Kate must drill a new one or the cattle will die. Shortly after the new bore is drilled it is sabotaged. Marty sees Ed at the site of the explosion holding a stick of dynamite

Dynamite

Dynamite is an explosive material based on nitroglycerin, initially using diatomaceous earth , or another absorbent substance such as powdered shells, clay, sawdust, or wood pulp. Dynamites using organic materials such as sawdust are less stable and such use has been generally discontinued...

 and Kate files charges against him. At the trial Ed collapses and it becomes apparent that he is dying. Ed and Nick reconcile and Nick soon realizes that it was Meg who blew up the bore.

Nick’s reconciliation with Ed causes a break with Kate. Kate eventually realizes that Meg was responsible for the bore and Kate confronts Meg. Nick and Kate reconcile.

Filming

The miniseries was filmed on location the outback of the Northern Territory, and South Australia except for the Los Angeles scenes which were filmed in that city. The fictional Larapinta and Cutta Cutta stations were filmed on outback locations. The name of Larapinta is derived from an aboriginal word that means “salty river” while Cutta Cutta means “many stars”. The cast included a mix of American and Australian actors.

Cast

Linda Evans

Linda Evans

Linda Evans is an American actress. She is known primarily for her roles on television, and rose to fame playing Audra Barkley in the 1960s Western TV series, The Big Valley...

 - Kate Hannon

Jack Thompson

Jack Thompson (actor)

Jack Thompson, AM is an Australian actor and one of the major figures of Australian cinema. He was educated at University of Queensland, before embarking on his acting career. In 2002, he was made an honorary member of the Australian Cinematographers Society...

 - Nick Stenning

Peter Billingsley

Peter Billingsley

Peter Billingsley , also known as Peter Michaelsen and Peter Billingsley-Michaelsen, is an American actor, director, and producer best known for his role as Ralphie in the 1983 movie A Christmas Story. He began his career as an infant, in television commercials.-Early life, family and...

 – Marty Adamson

Meredith Salenger

Meredith Salenger

Meredith Dawn Salenger is an American actress identified by her performances while a teenager. Her best known role was the title role in the 1985 Disney film The Journey of Natty Gann.-Early life and career:...

 - Tina Adamson

Jason Robards

Jason Robards

Jason Nelson Robards, Jr. was an American actor on stage, and in film and television, and a winner of the Tony Award , two Academy Awards and the Emmy Award...

 – Ed Stenning

Judy Morris

Judy Morris

Judy Morris is an Australian actress, film director and screenwriter, well known for the variety of roles she played in 54 different television shows and films, but most recently for co-writing a musical epic about the life of penguins in Antarctica which became Happy Feet, Australia's largest...

 - Meg Stenning

Beth Buchanan

Beth Buchanan

Beth Buchanan is an Australian actress. She is best known for the television roles of Gemma Ramsay in Neighbours, in the early '90s, and Susan Croydon in Blue Heelers from 1994. She is also a long-standing member of the Ranters Theatre company.-Early life:Buchanan is the daughter of musician Tony...

 - Zoe Hannon

Asher Keddie

Asher Keddie

Asher Keddie is an Australian actress who is perhaps best known for her role in the Australian television series Offspring. She is also known for her theatre work and leading roles in the television series Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo, Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities and Love My...

 - Emma Hannon

Tony Bonner

Tony Bonner

Tony Bonner is an Australian television, film and stage actor and singer. Bonner became famous in the 1960s children's television series Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, later moving on to lead roles in the dramas Cop Shop and Skyways.-Early life:Bonner was born in Manly, a northern beach suburb of Sydney...

 – Tom Hannon

John Ewart

John Ewart

John Ewart was an Australian Film Institute award winning actor.-Career:Ewart was born in Melbourne. He began his acting career when he was cast at the age of four in a radio production of Snow White...

- Henry Dingwell