Taurus Rising is an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 soap opera

Soap opera

A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

 produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation

Reg Grundy Organisation

The Reg Grundy Organisation was an Australian television production company founded in 1959 by businessman Reg Grundy . It has since branched out into Europe and the USA. The company first produced game shows, before branching into soap operas in 1973...

 and Dixie Normus for the Nine Network

Nine Network

The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...

 in 1982. Originally intended by the network to be a replacement for The Sullivans

The Sullivans

The Sullivans is an Australian drama television series produced by Crawford Productions which ran from 1976 until 1983. The series told the story of an average middle-classMelbourne family and the effect World War II had on their lives...

, the series was one of a number of attempts to provide an Australian alternative to the glossy American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 supersoaps Dallas

Dallas (TV series)

Dallas is an American serial drama/prime time soap opera that revolves around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. Throughout the series, Larry Hagman stars as greedy, scheming oil baron J. R. Ewing...

and Dynasty

Dynasty (TV series)

Dynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989. It was created by Richard & Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, and revolved around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado...

and featured two wealthy Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

-based feuding families, the Brents and the Drysdales. To this end, it represented something of a stylistic departure for Grundy's. Unlike most other Australian soap operas which were recorded on videotape

Videotape

A videotape is a recording of images and sounds on to magnetic tape as opposed to film stock or random access digital media. Videotapes are also used for storing scientific or medical data, such as the data produced by an electrocardiogram...

, Taurus Rising was shot entirely on film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

.

Taurus Rising proved to be an expensive failure after it failed to win an audience and was cancelled after a mere 21 episodes. The series did later prove popular in international markets and was subsequently sold to American cable television, marketed as a 21-part "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...

".

Cast

The Brents
Jennifer Brent	Annette Andre Annette Andre Annette Andre is an Australian actress best known for her work on British television throughout the 1960s and 1970s. She was educated at Brigidine College, Sydney. Her father was an upholsterer....
Mike Brent	Andrew Clarke Andrew Clarke (actor) Andrew Clarke in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, is an Australian actor most known for his television work. Andrew Clarke was one of the most popular Australian actors in the 1980s and 1990s. He is also a two-time Logie winner.-Career:...
Harry Brent	Gordon Glenwright
The Drysdales
Ben Drysdale	Alan Cassell Alan Cassell Alan Cassell is an Australian actor, born in the UK and best known for his roles in film and television.Cassell was one of the actors who worked in Bruce Beresford's early Australian films....
Faith Drysdale	Betty Lucas Betty Lucas Betty Lucas is an Australian actress, best known for her roles on television. She played prominent roles in Prisoner as Clara Goddard in 1979, Taurus Rising as Faith Drysdale in 1982, and Richmond Hill as Mavis Roberts in 1988....
Keith Drysdale	Andrew Sharp Andrew Sharp Andrew Sharp is a Philippines-born ice hockey player. He is currently playing for the Guildford Flames in the English Premier Ice Hockey League ....
Phil Drysdale	Damon Herriman Damon Herriman Damon Herriman is an Australian actor who is best known for his role in drama series Love My Way.Damon Herriman was born in Adelaide, South Australia. He began acting in local television commercials at the age of eight, but it was not until he was cast as Frank Errol in The Sullivans two years...
Elizabeth Drysdale	Marina Finlay Marina Finlay Marina Finlay is an Australian actress who played notable roles in television soap operas – Lucy Dunlop in The Young Doctors, Elizabeth Drysdale in Taurus Rising, Lainie Dobson in Prisoner and Laura Banning in Sons and Daughters....
Isabella Drysdale	Georgie Sterling Georgie Sterling Georgie Sterling is an Australian actress, noted for her work in television.She played Isabella Drysdale in the ill-fated series Taurus Rising but is possibly best known for her role as May Walters in Sons and Daughters....
Other characters
Alice Blake	Linda Newton
Sam Farrer	Michael Long Michael Long (actor) Michael Long was an Australian actor, best known for his television work.His credits include: Prisoner , Taurus Rising , Sons and Daughters and Richmond Hill ....
Libby Hilton	Diane Craig Diane Craig Diane Mary Craig is an actress born in County Down, Northern Ireland but who is best known for her performances on Australian television....
Malcolm Adams	Vic Hawkins
Marie	Jessica Noad