Sons and Daughters (Australian TV series)

Sons and Daughters was a Logie Award

Logie Award

The TV Week Logie Awards are the Australian television industry awards, which have been presented annually since 1959. Renamed by Graham Kennedy in 1960 after he won the first 'Star Of The Year' award, the name 'Logie' awards honours John Logie Baird, a Scotsman who invented the television as a...

winning 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 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,...

created by Reg Watson

Reg Watson

Reginald James "Reg" Watson AM is an Australian television producer, best known for creating soap operas like Prisoner and Neighbours.-Career:...

and 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...

between 1981 and 1987. The first episode aired in December 1981, during the Christmas/New Year non-ratings period, and the official broadcast date of the final episode was 19 August 1987. There are 972 half-hour episodes but during the series' original run in Australia, later episodes were shown in an hour-long format and the first episode as shown in Australia (and some UK ITV regions) was actually a 90-minute special; subsequent screenings have seen that episode split into three half-hours.

Season 1

The initial premise for the show was a Romeo and Juliet style storyline which revolved around working-class John Palmer from Melbourne and spoilt rich girl Angela Hamilton from Sydney. They met by chance when John was on the run from the police for a murder he did not commit and they fell in love not realising that they were actually long lost twins, separated at birth 20 years earlier. Early episodes saw the pair discover the truth about their relationship and showed the problems and strains this put on their own relationships and those of their immediate families, the Hamiltons and the Palmers. Whilst on the run John was protected in Sydney by Fiona Thompson, an ex prostitute and now boarding house owner who had raised John when he was a young boy. With a new identity and now going by the name of Scott Edwards, John attempted to rebuild a new life along with Fiona's help and that of neighbour Jill Taylor.

For the Palmers life was going from bad to worse, newly wed Susan received the shock revelation that husband Bill was responsible for the murder her brother had been arrested for and young lovers Kevin and Lynn found their life turned upside down when she became pregnant despite their families best efforts to keep them apart. David and John's relationship continued to deteriorate and when David and Patricia met up again after 20 years old passions were reignited leaving Beryl fighting for her marriage.

For the Hamiltons financial issues were the least of their worries, Wayne Hamilton was involved in a near fatal car crash after his father, Gordon, kicked him out of the Dural home upon discovering he planned to buy and demolish the family's country residence at Woombai and Patricia announced to Gordon that their marriage was over and they would leave separate lives. Patricia developed into the main focus of the show with many storylines revolving around her, hence the introduction of her best friend and confident Charlie Bartlett and Patricia's mighty rise to power as a major shareholder in Ramburg Industries following the death of her ex lover James Shephard. Gordon finds he has a fight on his hands to save Woombai even going up against old friend Fiona and Jill ends her relationship with Wayne as he becomes more and more aggressive and evil following his accident.

The Hamiltons and Palmers lives become further tangled as Angela became romantically linked to Beryl's brother Rob Keegan. Patricia becomes a wealthy women following the death or ex lover James Shepherd and uses her power as a major shareholder in Ramburg Industries to toy with the lives of those around her.

End of season cliffhanger (Episode 174): At John & Angela's 21st Birthday party at the Palmer house David tries to stop Patricia from gate crashing only to be met with an unexpected admission, she has been lying all the time and David isn't the twins' father after all.

Season 2

As season 2 kicks off Patricia is sinking further into depression after she overdoses on sleeping pills and Susan steps in to help take care of her as a live in nurse whilst scheming Wayne tricks Patricia into signing her power of attorney over to him to give him power over his father, Gordon. Shortly after Susan becomes the first of the main cast to depart the series as she leaves to be nearer to the prison her husband Bill is in. John tracks down his real father Martin Healy and also manages to find Patricia's sister Margaret. Martin has relationship issues with his children and following the accidental death of a neighbours child in his swimming pool he blames his son Peter and violently attacks him. Kevin and Lynn hit a rocky patch as Lynn gets involved in a new modelling career and as arguments spiral out of control Lynn packs her bags and leaves with baby Davey. Barbara and Gordon's relationship suffers a set back after she suffers a brain clot following a fall from her horse and life saving brain surgery follows. Angela starts having an affair with Paul and then falls pregnant, unsure if Rob or Paul is the father but later reconciles with Rob and the pair depart the series together.Jill becomes involved with Brian O'Donnel after a chance meeting at Woombai and soon agrees to marry him so that he can get a visa to stay in the country but when Brian is believed to be dead Jill agrees to marry Wayne. Jill is raped by Terry Hansen and ends up pregnant with his child and in a twist it is later revealed that Terry is Fiona's long lost son who was presumed dead. Fiona is shattered when her boarding house at Manley terrace burns down almost killing Jill in the inferno. Patricia marries Stephen Morrell and has to deal with his spoilt daughter Amanda and finds a new enemy in his scheming mother Dee.

Andy Green makes his first appearance in the series believing that Stephen Morrell is his father.

End of season cliffhanger (Episode 352): David and Beryl are held at gunpoint at Woombai by escaped criminal Joe Parker. The episode ends with 3 shots ringing out and a scream with no indication of who has been shot. Patricia and Margaret come face to face for the first time since Margaret was released from prison and Patricia tells Barbara that her best Friend Helen Green is Andy's mother. Fiona rushes to a clinic to stop Jill having an abortion.

Season 3

As season 3 starts Patricia's marriage to Stephen comes to an end and she seeks comfort in the arms of Matt Kennedy whilst continuing her bitter feud with sister Margaret which climaxes in the siblings being trapped in a bush fire at Woombai and when Patricia is injured after falling from her horse she finds her life in Margaret's hands.

Whilst John, Tony, Stephen, Doug and Rosie depart the series early on the O'Brien family, Roger Carlyle, Luke Carlyle, Irene Fisher, Todd Fisher and Karen Fox arrive and Charlie Bartlett becomes more of a series regular and both Angela Keegan and Paul Shepherd make cameo appearances during this series.

Jill gives birth to her daughter, Fee and finally makes peace with Terry before getting involved with Luke Carlyle. Andy becomes entangled in a religious cult and Barbara resorts to kidnapping him to save him. Brian O'Donnel's father Sean turns up following his son's death at the hands of the IRA. Having learnt that Jill was pregnant, he assumes that Brian is the child's father and he asks Jill to go and live in Ireland and raise her baby there. Tragedy strikes at the Hamilton house as Andy Green's mother drowns in the swimming pool as the revelation around Andy's parentage is about to be exposed.

Robin Elliot is hired by Stephen to control PR for Woombai and Margaret discovers that his wife, Kathleen, is in prison, having taken the blame for a crime he committed. When Kathleen is released, Patricia tells her where Robin is, and she tracks him down. Robin has become involved with Jill but Kathleen wants him back and becomes obsessive. When Kathleen tries to run Jill over she ends up hitting Robin who ends up in a coma with his life hanging in the balance. The Palmer family have further problems as David becomes involved with Margaret Dunne as she nurses him following the shooting and this finally ends his marriage to Beryl once and for all but David's happiness with Margaret is short lived when a plane crash leaves Margaret fighting for her life. Lynne becomes involved with Andy Green when Kevin is working away and the two fall in love leaving Lynne confused and contemplating suicide on the edge of a cliff and ends up torn between the two men. But later Lynne stays with Kevin and moves overseas with Kevin and their son Davey.

When Patricia offers Luke a job in her new company he uses ruthless business methods and starts embezzling the company's entire funds. At the same time, he tries to help Jeff recover from alcoholism, but his efforts backfire when Jeff turns up at Luke's apartment one night, he and Luke fight and Jeff ends up accidentally killing Luke. A distraught Roger believes Patricia is the killer and vows to get revenge. Jeff accidentally sets fire to the family home and perishes in the inferno leaving nobody to tell the truth about Luke's death.

After Wayne splits from Amanda, he hires Liz Smith from an escort agency to pretend to be his girlfriend so that Gordon will think he's happy and won't worry about him. Liz finds herself falling in love with Gordon who later tells her that he loves her. However, he also tells her that he still loves Barbara, and that they therefore have to make a clean break but Barbara has already moved out of the house and becomes involved with Ross Newman.

As the series draws to a close Fiona is romantically involved with Barney Adams, a desperate Mitch kidnaps Amanda and Roger Carlyle ups his efforts in seeking revenge on Patricia.

End of season cliffhanger(Episode 528): A sedated, helpless Patricia lies on a hospital operating table, about to be operated on by murderous surgeon Dr. Ross Newman. Fiona decides what to do about Barney Adam's marriage proposal and Mitch lies on the floor apparently dead following a confrontation with both Karen and Wayne.

Season 4

Rosie Palmer and Liz Smith makes cameo appearances during this series and Stephen Morrell returns. Newcomers include Leigh Palmer, Tim Palmer, Chris Bainbridge, Brett Keegan, Adam Tate, Jenny Turner, Julie Webb, Spider Webb, Samantha Morrell and Caroline Morrell. Departing characters include Alan Brandon, Karen Fox, Jill O'Donnell, Heather O'Brien, Mike O'Brien and Amanda Morrell. Although Heather O'Brien makes a brief return to the series later on.

As season 4 kicks off Irene foils Ross Newman's plan to kill Patricia during her operation leading Roger Carlyle to take more drastic action. When a party is arranged at David's country property the party goers are left devastated as a bomb planted by Roger's men explodes claiming Barney Adams as a fatality and leaves Alan Brandon with life changing injuries. Patricia makes her exit from the show just a few episodes in to the series as she gives the polie the slip and flees Roger Carlyle and Australia on a fake passport destined to start a new life in Rio, leaving new husband David behind to slip into a life of alcohol and depression whilst Ross Newman turns his attentions to both Barbara Hamilton and Katy O'Brien

Beryl goes in to premature labour after falling down an old mine shaft and shortly after she gives birth to Robert he is kidnapped by Ross Newman and Gloria Dutton. When Robert is eventually returned and left on the porch of the Palmer house it's Leigh Palmer who discovers him and promptly decides it would be beneficial for her if Robert stayed missing and she takes him to the children's home and leaves him there.

Fiona becomes involved in a bitter battle to have deceased fiance Barny's secret wartime diaries published and runs into opposition from Colonel Bainbridge and his son Chris.

Devious Karen Fox tricks Wayne into marriage after convincing him that he has killed Mitch. Wayne goes missing shortly after worried that he will face jail for murder and whilst he is away a look a like imposter arrives and fools everyone in to believing he is Wayne (In actual fact Ian Rawlings was playing Dual roles as Wayne Hamilton and Gary Evans).

One of the bigger storylines for the season see's a planned redevelopment threaten to destroy Woombai under the direction of the scheming Bill Ashley who will stop at nothing to ensure he gets what he wants and when Amanda Morrell overhears a conversation that could jeopardise the entire scheme he ensures she promptly goes missing leaving the Morrell family distraught and Caroline desperate to find her. Caroline begins to get closer to ex-husband Stephen and warns his new love interest Jenny Turner to stay away from him and the two become rivals.

Richard Crampton arrives as the father of Leigh Palmer's baby deciding he wants custody and hires Neil Duffy to try and buy his son from Leigh. When this fails, Crampton starts terrorising her and hires a hitman, Nick Stafford, to go after Leigh. Crampton ends up dying at Stafford's hands after David has already fired a shot at him.

David and Fiona go to Rio in search of Patricia when David receives a mysterious amount of money which he believes to have come from Patricia. Following plastic surgery to hide injuries sustained at the hands of a thug who beat her up in Rio de Janeiro, Patricia Palmer returns to Australia under a new identity: Alison Carr and she begins to start trying to clear Patricia's name of the murder of Luke Carlyle.

Mary Reynolds turns up at Woombai, lost and confused and claiming that Patricia is her mother. Once she's calmed down, she explains that her grandmother told her that her mother is Patricia Hamilton - only her grandmother and grandfather are now both dead, having been murdered. Mary claims that she witnessed the murders while hiding underneath her bed. The murderer turns up at Woombai and starts gunning for Mary.

An old will belonging to Gordon's father is discovered declaring his brother James the rightful owner of woombai and it's not long before James arrives to claim what is his.

End of season cliffhanger (Episode 696): David and Beryl look on in horror when the emotionally unbalanced Doris Hudson locks Beryl out of the Palmer house and advances menacingly towards her baby son Robert with a pillow to smother him. Alison and James are involved in a plane crash as they rush to stop Wayne from getting (incestuously) married to Mary. Caroline is locked in the cupboard by Duncan Phipps after a bungled robbery at Dural and Irene tells Fiona that she has cancer.

Season 5

For many fans this was seen as the start of a sad demise for the series as the focus changed and popular characters such as Barbara Hamilton and Irene Fisher where hastily written out of the series. (In Cornelia Frances 2003 autobiography she states that it was not her decision to leave the series but she had got on the wrong side of a producer and was suddenly axed). Other characters that failed to make it to the end of the season included Leigh Palmer, Tim Palmer, Donna Palmer, Spider Webb, Brett Keegan, Adam Tate, Samantha Morrell, James Hamilton and Mary Reynolds. Whilst there was an influx of replacement characters such as Janice Reid, May Walters, Craig Maxwell, Doug Fletcher, Glenn Young, Debbie Halliday, Ginny Doyle and the return of Susan Palmer.

Samantha Morrell is shocked after running in to Bill Ashley and discovering new information regarding her missing sister Amanda but the search that follows ends with devastating news as they discover Amanda died a few months earlier after being forced in to prostitution by Bill.

Leigh Palmer departs the series early on after committing suicide outside of the courts where she is facing sentencing for kidnapping baby Robert.

Fiona is reunited with her bossy niece Janice who arrives just as Fiona is undergoing an operation to remove her kidney and together they launch a campaign to save an old mansion house that Fiona once lived in with her old friend May Walters.

When Caroline and Alison start arguing as Alison is driving a car crash with Barbara and Gordon follows leaving Barbara with serious facial scars and Gordon with amnesia and believing he is still married to Patricia. Alison uses the situation to her advantage to get Barbara out of Gordon's life for good and Caroline finds herself serving time in prison.

Craig Maxwell turns up in Sydney, looking for his mother, Ruby Hawkins, who gave him up when he was a baby - and who is the exact double of Beryl Palmer. Initial misunderstandings are resolved and Craig accepts that Beryl isn't Ruby. Beryl subsequently helps Craig track Ruby down (At this point Leila Hayes is playing dual roles as Beryl and Ruby).

Ned Parker and Micky Pratt holds Janice, May, Gordon and Neville hostage at the mansion, following Ned's escape from jail. Micky is killed when she walks out into the road and doesn't spot a car heading towards her. As the siege comes to an end Patricia Palmer's fingerprints are discovered on a gun that was used and Alison's secret identity is finally revealed.

Alison finds a little boy named Tick McCarthy at Fiona's boarding house, and is passing him off as Wayne's son. Wayne was told that he was his son from a fling with Moya Brinkley, a girl that he had known as a teenager. Wayne takes to Tick and Tick takes to Wayne, and is angered when Alison tries to stop him from enjoying his son, due to the fact that she had said that he had driven Caroline insane because of Doug Fletcher. A birth certificate showed that Wayne was indeed the father. Susan gets upset about Tick being around, but Wayne made certain that his son was included.

End of season cliffhanger(Episode 868): Alison is locked in the study at Dural with a venomous snake when she breaks into the safe. A sailing trip on a yacht ends in danger when both Glen and Tick are wounded, and Wayne, swimming for help, is pursued by a shark. Craig is knocked out by a horse and Caroline finds out that Doug is already married.

Season 6

Departing characters included David Palmer, Ginny Doyle, Tick McCarthy and Glen Young. New additions to the cast included Nick Benson, Pamela Hudson, Greg Hudson and Sarah Hudson.

Caroline is shocked to discover that Susan is alive and well despite being presumed dead and she is in hiding from Wayne. When an upset Wayne gets drunk and then jumps in his car and drives off, Glen and Ginny go after him and a high-speed chase follows which leads to both Glen's and Ginny's tragic deaths. Wayne manages to turn everyone against him and when he is mysteriously shot there are no shortage of suspects but it is Beryl who finds herself behind bars for the shooting. Whilst in Prison Beryl meets Pamela, a lady who is the spitting image of Patricia. It is soon discovered that Pamela and Patricia were twins, separated at birth; while Patricia lived the good life Pamela had a tougher upbringing.

Andy learns that he has a baby daughter, Madonna, the result of a fling with teenager Jodie Frazer a few months earlier, he begins to get to know his daughter and when Jodie decides that she can't cope with bringing up a baby on her own and dumps Madonna on Janice, Andy steps in and decides to be a proper father to the girl.

Gordon goes into business with Bill Sanders, Doug and Alison at Sanders' Air Charter. Just when everything seems to be going well, a plane is sabotaged. The company appears to be falling apart until a mystery company puts up some money to keep it going. Gordon discovers to his surprise that it was Wayne who was behind the rescue. Although the father and son have been on opposing sides for some time, Gordon remarks that it appears that Wayne might have changed for the better. As he settles into his new home with Beryl and her son, Robert, in what was the Palmer house in Melbourne, Gordon finds himself content with life.

Nick Benson is a psychiatrist who arrives to help Wayne remember who shot him. Nick has a fraught relationship with his brother, Michael.Very much a ladies' man, Nick is attracted to Alison but he finds himself attracted equally to her twin sister, Pamela Hudson and he becomes involved in a furious struggle between Alison and Pamela as they fight for supremacy - including using powerful mindgames to try and kill each other. Nick eventually chooses Pamela over Alison and drives off with her to begin a new life.

Doug and Caroline marry him and Caroline is revealed as the author of a book entitled My Sister My Love, which is based very obviously on the lives of the Hamiltons and the Palmers, despite the changes of character names. Doug tries to stop Caroline promoting the book, warning her that they're going to lose all their friends - but Caroline ignores him. She even makes plans for a sequel. Caroline discovers that she's pregnant; but she also learns that the baby could be born with Down's Syndrome and she opts to have an abortion - but then decides that she can't go through with it. She doesn't tell Doug that she's pregnant, but instead decides to leave him and start life afresh elsewhere. Doug learns about the pregnancy, though, and he chases after Caroline and tells her that he loves her, and that he wants her to have the baby and that he doesn't care if it's handicapped: he wants them all to be together as a family. Caroline agrees to give the marriage another go and Doug buys a fish shop in Melbourne!

Charlie meets Todd Buckley, a fitness instructor who works at her gym and there is an instant attraction. The couple quickly announce their engagement, despite attempts by Alison to break them up. Charlie becomes appalled at Alison's behaviour and schemes that she throws her out leaving Alison staying in a cheap, run-down motel while Charlie enjoys a fairytale wedding to Todd and prepares to live happily ever after.

Sarah Hudson grabs Wayne's interest, and they begin to spend time together. Sarah tries to throw herself at Wayne, but he's wary after all his bad experiences with women. Meanwhile, he puts his plan into action to take everything and everyone away from Alison, leaving her with no money and no friends. With Wayne believing his wife Susan is dead Alison decides to use Susan to get at Wayne but the plan backfires when Susan is left lying dead on the lounge room floor at Dural, having apparently been strangled by Wayne. Realising that he's finally gone too far, he turns to the 'phone and makes a call. He asks for the police...

Theme Tune

The theme tune was written by Peter Pinne & Don Battye and performed by Mick Leyton and Kerri Biddell.

Two main versions of the theme were used in the closing credits, one in three-four time and one in four-four time: the first version was used as the main closing theme for most episodes shown in 1982 and 1983, while the second version was used from 1984 to 1987. In addition. The full theme tune was released on a 7" single in the UK in 1984 and reached number 68 in the charts and stayed in the charts for three weeks. It was released on the A1 record label with catalogue number 'A1 286'.

Opening titles sequence

The opening and end credits sequences of the series were distinctive and remained constant throughout the run of the series. The credits at start of each episode featured sepia-toned portraits of the main characters

Version 1 (Episodes 1 - 174) consisted of: John, Angela, Patricia, David, Fiona, Gordon, Beryl, Jill, Wayne, Susan and Kevin
Version 2 (Episodes 175 - 292) As above with Wayne and Jill switching places and Rob Keegan replacing the shot of Susan
Version 3 (Episodes 293 - 352) consisted of John, Jill (new shot), Patricia, David, Fiona, Gordon, Beryl, Wayne, Barbara, Lynn and Kevin
Version 4 (Episodes 353 - 424) As above but Andy Green replaces the shot of Kevin
Version 5 (Episodes 425 - 500) consisted of Patricia, David, Fiona, Jill, Beryl, Wayne, Amanda, Gordon, Barbara, Lynn, Andy (new shot)
Version 6 (Episodes 501 - 545) consisted of Fiona (new shot), David, Beryl, Wayne, Barbara, Gordon, Charlie, Andy, Amanda, Katie, Jill
Version 7 (Episodes 585 - 596) As above with Caroline replacing the shot of Jill
Version 8 (Episodes 597 - 600) As above with Leigh replacing the shot of Amanda and Katie being removed but not replaced meaning this was the only block of episodes to only feature 10 characters instead of the usual 11 in the opening
Version 9 (Episodes 601 - 612) Although only one character was added the shots were reordered. Consisted of Fiona, David, Beryl, Gordon, Barbara, Wayne, Charlie, Stephen, Caroline, Andy and Leigh.
Version 10 (Episodes 612 - 652) As above with the only exception being Caroline's shot is flipped so she is now facing right instead of left
Version 11 (Episodes 653 -696) For the first time since the show began the titles were completely revamped so all characters got new shots. Consisted of David, Fiona, Beryl, Gordon, Barbara, Wayne, Charlie, Irene, Caroline, Andy and Leigh.
Version 12 (Episodes 697 - 736) As above but Alison now replaces the end shot of Leigh
Version 13 (Episodes 737 - 860) Consisted of Fiona, Gordon, Beryl, David, Caroline, Wayne, Alison, Andy, Charlie, Glen and Craig
Version 14 (Episodes 861 - 892) Once again it was a complete revamp with all characters (Randomly Except for Glen) getting new updated shots. Consisted of Fiona, Gordon, Beryl, Doug, Caroline, Wayne, Alison, Andy, Charlie, Glen and Craig
Version 15 (Episodes 893 - 972) The final set of opening titles were as above with a shot of Susan replacing Glen.

Closing credits sequence

Episodes 1-3 were initially screened as one feature length episode, more commonly referred to as the pilot, however for subsequent broadcasts it has been broken down into standard 30 minute episodes, this means that episodes 1 and 2 seem to end abruptly and do not feature the standard sepia end credits. Episode 3 was the first episode to have credits rolling over a static sepia image of the final shot of the episode which would then become the standard. Due to episodes 1-3 originally being joined as one episode when episode 4 starts it has an extended recap sequence covering what has happened in episodes 1-3.

Generally for the end credits the main cast were listed by family groups (I.e The Palmers, The Hamiltons, The Morrells, The O'Briens) and the guest artists were listed after the main cast.

There were some strange goings on in the end credit sequences from time to time as Doug and Rosie Palmer, Jeff O'Brien and Tony Parker all remained listed as main characters long after they had departed whilst Irene Fisher spent the duration of her stay in the soap appearing as a guest artist and Jill's name sometimes appeared as Jill O'Donnell and sometimes Jill Taylor. Randomly Patricia was listed as being part of the Hamilton family long after her divorce from Gordon and It took the producers over 100 episodes to finally change Angela's name from Hamilton to Keegan.

Examples of end credit errors:

Episodes 501 - 503 - John Palmer is listed in the credits 77 episodes after he left

Episodes 554 - 555 Andrew Green gets his usual place in the credits and again appears as a guest artist as Andy Green.

Episode 569 - Patricia suddenly gets listed again in the closing credits although she has been out of the series for months.

Episodes 577 & 578 and 580 mistakenly list a Carolyn rather than Caroline Morrell.

Episodes 590 & 591 Jill O'Donell is listed despite having left the series whilst Andy Green isn't credited at all.

Episode 596 despite having now left the series Amanda Morrell is credited twice in the credits and Jill O'Donell is also listed despite having left the series.

Episode 615 sees the entire Morrell family get double credited during the titles.

Episode 690 - Leigh Palmer is double credited.

Episode 940 - Both Caroline and Beryl revert to their previous surnames of Morrell and Palmer rather than Fletcher and Hamlton for this one episode.

Episodes 945 - 947 - Caroline is again listed as Morrell instead of Fletcher

Episodes 948 - 952, 957 - 960 & 965 - 968 - Craig Maxwell is credited as Graig Maxwell

Episode 950 - Todd Buckley is double credited

From episode 737 onwards the end credits changed and the cast were no longer grouped by family name, instead the main cast were now listed in alphabetical order in groups of 3 or 4 followed by listings for guest actors.

From episode 805 onwwards the credits change once more and the cast credits scroll from bottom to top rather than flashing up in groups. This format remains through to the end of the series.

Main Cast

The Hamiltons

Gordon Hamilton (Brian Blain) First appeared episode 3 1982-1987
Patricia Hamilton / Morrell / Palmer (Rowena Wallace) First appeared episode 2 1982-1985
Angela Hamilton / Keegan (Ally Fowler) First appeared episode 2 1984-1983 1984
Wayne Hamilton (Ian Rawlings) First appeared episode 3 1982-1987
James Hamilton (Nick Tate) First appeared episode 671 1985-1986
Karen Fox / Hamilton (Lyndel Rowe) First appeared episode 461 1984-1985

The Palmers

Beryl Palmer Hamilton (Leila Hayes) First appeared episode 1 1982-1987
David Palmer (Tom Richards) First appeared episode 1 1982-1986 1987
Susan Palmer / Todd / Hamilton (Ann Henderson Stires / Oriana Panozzo) First appeared episode 1 1982-1983
Kevin Palmer (Stephen Comey) First appeared episode 1 1982-1984
John Palmer (Peter Phelps) First appeared episode 1 1982-1984
Lynn Hardy / Palmer (Antonia Murphy) First appeared episode 5 1982 -1984
Doug Palmer (Sid Conabere) First appeared episode 10 1982 1983-1984
Rosie Andrews / Palmer (Anne Haddy) First appeared episode 30 1982 1983-1984 1985
Margaret Dunne / Palmer (Ilona Rodgers) First appeared episode 181 1983 1983
Leigh Palmer (Lisa Crittenden) First appeared episode 534 1984-1985
Tim Palmer (Robert Mammone) First appeared episode 563
Shane Palmer (Andrew Downie) First appeared episode 563
Donna Jackson / Palmer (Simone Buchanan) First appeared episode 646

The Morrells

Caroline Morrell / Fletcher (Abigail) First appeared episode 554
Amanda Morrell (Alyce Platt) First appeared episode 286
Samantha Morrell (Sally Taylor) First appeared episode 587
Stephen Morrell (Michael Long) First appeared episode 267 1983-1984 1985
Dee Morrell (Mary Ward) First appeared episode 305
Jenny Turner / Morrell (Joanna Lockwood) First appeared episode 572

The Armstrongs

Barbara Armstrong / Hamilton (Cornelia Frances) First appeared episode 13 1982 1983-1986
Prue Armstrong (Gaynor Martin) First appeared episode 62
Roland Armstrong (Tony Ward) First appeared episode 588
Wendy Armstrong (Kathleen Brinson) First appeared episode 183
Mrs Armstrong Snr. (Jeanne Smith) First appeared episode 271
Simon Armstrong (Paul Goddard) First appeared episode 627

The O'Brienss

Mike O'Brien (Ken James) First appeared episode 385 1984-1985
Heather O'Brien (Rona Coleman) First appeared episode 385 1985
Katie O'Brien (Jane Seaborn) First appeared episode 385 1984-1985
Jeff O'Brien (Craig Morrison) First appeared episode 385 1984
Jim O'Brien (Sean Scully) First appeared episode 401 1984

The Keegans

Bob Keegan (Carl Bleazby) First appeared episode 25
Aileen Keegan (Moya O'Sullivan) First appeared episode 25
Rob Keegan (Noel Hodda) First appeared episode 76
Brett Keegan (Brett Partridge) First appeared episode 619

The Healys

Martin Healy (Paul Sonkkila) First appeared episode 186
Peter Healy (Brett Climo) First appeared episode 201
Jennifer Healy (Jodie Yemm) First appeared episode 219

Other characters

Fiona Thompson (Pat McDonald) First appeared episode 1
Scott Thompson (David Nettheim) First appeared episode 34
Charlie Bartlett (Sarah Kemp) First appeared episode 43
Jill Taylor / O'Donnel (Kim Lewis) First appeared episode 3
Bill Todd (Andrew McKaige) First appeared episode 1
Noel Devlin (Richard Gillespie) First appeared episode 85
James Sheppard (Ken Fraser) First appeared episode 89
Paul Sheppard (Mark Ferguson) First appeared episode 112
Hal Mason (John Bonney) First appeared episode 95
Di Miller (Luz Yeomans) First appeared episode 109
Gayle Andrews (Maureen O'Shaunessy) First appeared episode 141
Kerri Mitchell (Saskia Post) First appeared episode 163
Brian O'Donnel (Lee James) First appeared episode 218
Sean O'Donnel (James Condon) First appeared episode 415
Beth Newman (Julie Hamilton) First appeared episode 247
Tony Parker (Grant Piro) First appeared episode 255
Alice Parker (Katy Wild) First appeared episode 260
Joe Parker (Danny Adcock) First appeared episode 330
Matt Kennedy (Vince Martin) First appeared episode 263
Terry Hansen (Andrew Clarke) First appeared episode 281
Phillipe Souchon (Steve Du-Casse) First appeared episode 283
Christine Matthews (Monette Lee) First appeared episode 299
Lisa Cook (Debra Lawrence) First appeared episode 323
Andy Green (Danny Roberts) First appeared episode 342
Helen Green (Eileen Colocott) First appeared episode 350
Robin Elliott (Scott McGregor
Scott McGregor (television presenter)
Scott McGregor is an Australian actor, television presenter and railway enthusiast.- Early life :Scott McGregor was born in Orange, New South Wales where his parents had a farm and his father managed the The Central Western Daily newspaper...

) First appeared episode 365
Kathleen Elliott (Kate Sheil
Kate Sheil
Kate Sheil is an Australian stage and television actress. She is probably best known for her role as prison officer Janet Conway in the cult television series Prisoner, a role lasting six months in 1981 and 1982...

) First appeared episode 403
Irene Fisher (Judy Nunn
Judy Nunn
Judy Nunn is an Australian actress and author.-Acting career:Her breakout role was as the scheming bisexual reporter Vicky Stafford in the risque soap opera The Box. Her character became a popular cult figure in the series. Nunn continued in the role for the show's entire 1974–1977 run...

) First appeared episode 422
Todd Fisher (Michael Winchester
Michael Winchester
Michael Winchester is an Australian actor, best known for playing Marty Jackson in the television series Prisoner. He had previously appeared in Sons and Daughters as Todd Fisher.-External links:...

) First appeared episode 448
Nat Fisher (Tim Eliot) First appeared episode 481
Roger Carlyle (Les Dayman) First appeared episode 424
Luke Carlyle (Peter Cousens
Peter Cousens
Peter Cousens is an Australian actor, born in Tamworth NSW.He attended The Armidale School in Armidale and then Gordonstoun School, Scotland. He then spent a year reading Arts at St Paul's College, Sydney University before studying at the National Institute of Dramatic Art , graduating in...

) First appeared episode 425
Shirley Ryan (Sonja Tallis
Sonja Tallis
Sonja Tallis is an Australian actress, singer, and drama teacher.Sonja Tallis began her showbiz career as a folk singer, touring as part of a duo called "Sean & Sonja", before moving onto acting. After acting in serial The Young Doctors, she had a small role in Sons and Daughters, before going onto...

) First appeared episode 432
Liz Smith (Julia Moody) First appeared episode 447
Leanne Watson (Melissa Bikerton) First appeared episode 470
Bob Mitchell (Philip Quast
Philip Quast
Philip Quast is an Australian actor perhaps best known for his role as Inspector Javert in the stage musical version of Les Misérables, or for appearances in numerous Australian soap operas including Sons and Daughters, The Young Doctors and Police Rescue.-Personal life:Quast was born in 1957 in...

) First appeared episode 482
Alan Brandon (Richard Morgan
Richard Morgan (actor)
Richard Morgan was an Australian actor. He was most famous for playing the long-running role of Terry Sullivan in the Australian television series The Sullivans.- Early career :...

) First appeared episode 506
Ross Newman (Robin Stewart) First appeared episode 506
Barney Adams (Leslie Wright) First appeared episode 511
Colonel Bainbridge (Barry Donnelly / Richard Meikle) First appeared episode 544
Chris Bainbridge (Tim Bacon) First appeared episode 552
Mrs Bainbridge (Anne Brisk) First appeared episode 550
Gloria Dutton (Julie McGregor) First appeared episode 545
Cheri Nolan (Regina Galgalas) First appeared episode 546
Dan Weller (Paul Gittins) First appeared episode 565
Helena Matsoukis (Elli Hart) First appeared episode 572
Julie Webb (Julie Nihill) First appeared episode 582
Spider Webb (Willy Fennel) First appeared episode 588
Bill Ashley (Peter Dahlson) First appeared episode 589
Desmond Bourke (David Slingsbury) First appeared episode 598
Richard Crampton (Sean De Ruyter) First appeared episode 601
Neil Duffy (Geoffrey Rhoe) First appeared episode 601
Colin Turner(Nicholas Ryan) First appeared episode 608
Denise Turner (Tushka Hose) First appeared episode 619
Adam Tate (Adam Briscombe) First appeared episode 612
Sally Tate (Ruth Hessey) First appeared episode 617
Eric Tate (Paul Mason) First appeared episode 621
Alison Carr (Belinda Giblin
Belinda Giblin
Belinda Giblin is an Australian actress.She played Kay Webster in the risqué, satirical 1970s soap opera The Box, and the scheming Alison Carr in the 1980s melodrama Sons and Daughters...

) First appeared episode 630
Diane Ball (Pegggy Thompson) First appeared episode 634
Mary Reynolds (Tessa Humphries) First appeared episode 637
Leo Walsh (Bob Baines) First appeared episode 655
Rod Campbell (David Bradshaw) First appeared episode 659
Jess Campbell (Annie Jones) First appeared episode 670
Doris Hudson (Carole Skinner
Carole Skinner
Carole Skinner is an Australian actress who works mainly in the theatre and is well known to armchair viewers for her roles in many long running soap operas.Skinner played top dog Nola McKenzie in Prisoner...

) First appeared episode 670
Tom Chaplin (Terence Donovan
Terence Donovan (actor)
Terence Donovan , also known as Terry Donovan, is an English-born Australian actor and the father of fellow actor and entertainer Jason Donovan...

) First appeared episode 680
Kelly Burns (Cassandra Webb) First appeared episode 687
Sarah Hunt (Christine Jones) First appeared episode 691
Janice Reid (Rima Te Wiata) First appeared episode 714
George Reid (Frank Macnamara) First appeared episode 714
Trent Harris (Jay Hackett) First appeared episode 717
May Walters (Georgie Sterling) First appeared episode 719
Craig Maxwell (Jared Robinson) First appeared episode 731
Doug Fletcher (Normie Rowe) First appeared episode 734
Glenn Young (Mark Conroy) First appeared episode 735
Jean Hopkins(Colleen Fitzpatrick) First appeared episode 741
Colin Hopkins(Rob Steel) First appeared episode 839
Neville Curtis (Keith Robinson) First appeared episode 742
Debbie Halliday (Shannon Kenny) First appeared episode 750
Micky Pratt (Jennifer Ludlam) First appeared episode 750
Bjorn Nilsson (Marian Dworakowski) First appeared episode 764
Maggie Hunt(Antoinette Blaxland) First appeared episode 781
Ginny Doyle (Angela Kennedy) First appeared episode 789
Laura Banning (Marina Finlay)First appeared episode 794
Michael Benson (Phillip Spencer-Harris)First appeared episode 857
Nick Benson (John Hannon)First appeared episode 903
Tick McCarthy (Haydon Samuals)First appeared episode 863
Moya Brinkley (Sandra Toovey)First appeared episode 864
Billie Fletcher (Deni Gordon )First appeared episode 868
Pamela Hudson (Rowena Wallace)First appeared episode 905
Phyllis Hudson (Ann Brisk)First appeared episode 942
Sarah Hudson (Melissa Docker)First appeared episode 942
Greg Hudson (Tom Jennings)First appeared episode 942
Barry Hudson (John Paramor)First appeared episode 942
Todd Buckley (Paul Dawber)First appeared episode 945

Screenings

The first episode aired was a 90-minute special in December 1981, during the Christmas/New Year non-ratings period, and the official broadcast date of the final episode was 19 August 1987. There are 972 half-hour episodes however, during the series' original run later episodes were shown in an hour-long format, although no figures are available for how many of these longer episodes made up the show's run. The series was broadcast on the 7 Network, initially four days a week for half an hour at 7pm, but in later years, in two one-hour shows per week, and finally in one one-hour show per week (although this may have varied in different parts of Australia). Sons and Daughters became the highest rated programme in its slot and was the most-watched Australian soap of the '80s. The series eventually began to suffer from declining ratings and was ultimately cancelled. Through the 1990s, the programme was also repeated in various regions of Australia, usually in early morning and daytime slots. The series was repeated by pay-TV operator Foxtel

Foxtel

Foxtel is an Australian pay television company, operating cable, direct broadcast satellite television and IPTV services. It was formed in 1995 through a joint venture established between Telstra and News Corporation....

on UKTV

UKTV

UKTV is a digital cable and satellite television network, formed through a joint venture between BBC Worldwide, a commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation, and Scripps Networks Interactive, spun off from The E.W Scripps Company in 2008...

between 1997 and 2000 but was stopped with 2 years of episodes left to go. In October 2006, the series started another re-run on the Seven Network

Seven Network

The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...

in Australia

Australia

, weekdays at 10:00. This was discontinued in early 2007, then resumed on Thursday, 10 July 2008 for a few months in a midnight slot. On Sunday, 2 November 2008, the Seven Network

Seven Network

resumed screening episodes, currently from the start of season two, at the regular time of 12:30 Thursday nights. Sons and Daughters currently airs on Seven's

Seven Network

free-to-air

Free-to-air

Free-to-air describes television and radio services broadcast in clear form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscription or one-off fee...

digital channel 7TWO

7Two

7TWO is an Australian free-to-air standard definition digital television channel which was launched by the Seven Network on Sunday 1 November 2009 at 12pm....

weekdays at 08:30 and they are up to season 4 in 1985 season and only two years left of episodes.
hown by TROS television, but only at the rate of one-or-two episodes per week. The series returned to Dutch TV in the mid-nineties, where it was shown on RTL4, but the rerun was short-lived. Sons and Daughters was shown from 19:00 to 19:30 on BRTN1, in the afternoon on TROS and in the morning on RTL4.
Belgian station BRTN1 aired Sons and Daughters five days per week, with the run ending in 1990.
Spanish television aired approximately 150 episodes of the series in 1987 from Monday to Friday at 7pm.
the series has aired more than once in Ireland, on RTE1, where it went out in a mid-afternoon slot.
broadcast here in the early- to mid-1990s.
ran from January 1986 to December 1989. It began life on TV2, but was moved to TV1 when Neighbours came along.
ITV

ITV

ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

began un-networked broadcasts Sons and Daughters in 1983, meaning different ITV regions were free to show the series as and when they wished resulting in different areas of the UK seeing different eras of the series at any one time.

Central region screened the first episode on Sunday 6 February 1983 (the pilot was shown as a 90-minute special and then Continued Wednesday - Friday at 3.30pm and ran five times a week from 1987 then reduced to four episodes per week; series ended in December 1988.
Yorkshire
Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...

region screened episode one on Monday 11 July 1983 (2.45pm - 4.00pm) and continued Monday and Friday 3.30pm, and then shown five times a week from September. From 1984, shown Wednesday - Friday only until 5 episodes a week reinstated in 1988. Final episode shown Friday 10 March 1989.
Granada region began on Monday 5 September 1983 at 6:00pm; shown Monday and Friday at 6:00pm, but Friday episode dropped from January 1984. At some point around 1985, changed to Monday and Tuesday at 3.30pm; Wednesday episode introduced in April 1993; ended in early-1994.
TVS
Television South
Television South was the ITV franchise holder in the south and south east of England between 1 January 1982 and 31 December 1992. The company operated under various names, initially as Television South plc and then following reorganisation in 1989 as TVS Entertainment plc, with its UK...

region began Wednesday 19 October 1983 at 3.20pm and shown initially Wednesday - Friday. In September 1984, moved to Monday and Tuesday at 5.15pm; From 1988 changed back to 3:20pm slot and ended in 1992.
TSW
Television South West
Television South West was the ITV franchise holder for the South West England region from 1 January 1982 until 31 December 1992, broadcasting from the former Westward Television studios in Plymouth, Devon.-Origins and Launch:...

: Began Monday 14 November 1983 and shown Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 3.30pm. Changed to Wednesday - Friday in January 1984 and Tuesday - Thursday in September 1984. Started running Monday to Friday from 17 October 1988 and ended on Tuesday 19 September 1989.
Thames/Anglia/Tyne Tees all began the series on Tuesday 15 November 1983, showing Tuesday - Friday at 3.30pm. Friday episode dropped for a while in 1984 but then reinstated. From September 1984 shown Wednesday - Friday; ran three-times weekly until September 1989, then twice-weekly; finished in July 1990).
Scottish Television
Scottish Television
Scottish Television is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the ITV franchise for Central Scotland since 31 August 1957. It is the second oldest ITV franchisee still active...

began the series on Tuesday 3 April 1984 at 2:00pm, Original broadcast 3 times a week but settled at 3.30pm twice a week from September 1984 until 1992. From January - 30 December 1993 it went to weekly at 2:50pm,ending up around episode 915. From January 1994 moved to an early Sunday morning slot, Finally finished on 26 July 1995 in a double bill during the night at 2:30am.
Grampian Television
Grampian Television
Grampian Television is the ITV franchisee for the North and North East of Scotland. Its coverage area includes the Scottish Highlands , Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee and parts of north Fife...

debuted Tuesday 22 May 1984 at 3.30pm; shown once a week until September, when regular time slot of Wednesday - Friday 3.30pm was adopted; was later screened twice a week; ended in May 1991.
HTV
HTV
HTV, now legally known as ITV Wales & West, is the ITV contractor for Wales and the West of England, which operated from studios in Cardiff and Bristol. The company provided commercial television for the dual-region 'Wales and West' franchise, which it won from TWW in 1968...

region began on Wednesday 11 July 1984 at 3.30pm, shown Wednesday - Friday on a regular basis; ended in May 1991.
Border
Border Television
Border Television is the ITV franchise holder for the Border region, spanning the England/Scotland border and covering Dumfries & Galloway region, a small part of the south-west area of Ayrshire, the Scottish Borders, parts of north and west Northumberland and the majority of Cumbria...

Began July 1985; screened twice a week until 1993, then ran three times a week; ended in early-1994.
UTV was the last ITV region to pick up the series: began in late-1985/early-1986; aired twice-weekly but then increased to five times a week; ended in November 1992 or April 1994.

In the UK, the series was shown twice daily in the 1980s on 'Superchannel' (now NBC); the channel could also be seen across Europe, but the re-runs ended in 1989.
Channel 5 also aired it from March 1998 til 6 November 2005.

Sons and Daughters : Cast album

In the early 1980s when Australia's Seven Network was broadcasting both Sons and Daughters and A Country Practice
A Country Practice
A Country Practice is an Australian television drama series. One of the longest-running of its kind, produced by James Davern of JNP Productions, it ran on the Seven Network for 1,058 episodes from 18 November 1981 to 22 November 1993. It was produced in ATN-7's production facility at Epping,...

, it decided to cash in on the shows' success - and provide the shows with some publicity - by producing and releasing a cast album.

The album was called All My Friends, and featured the cast of Sons and Daughters on the A-side and the cast of A Country Practice on the B-side.

A-Side:

"Sons and Daughters Theme"
"Some Kind of Friend" (Ian Rawlings)
"Bosom Buddies" (Pat McDonald and Rowena Wallace)
"The More I See You" (Peter Phelps and Kim Lewis)
"Behind Closed Doors" (Tom Richards and Leila Hayes)
"Sometimes When We Touch" (Stephen Comey)
"Help Me Make It Through the Night" (Leila Hayes)
"Friends" (Rowena Wallace)

Remakes

The series has inspired five remake

Remake

A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...

s produced under license from the original producers and based, initially, on original story and character outlines. These are Verbotene Liebe
Verbotene Liebe
Verbotene Liebe , often abbreviated to VL, is a Rose d'Or Award-winning German television soap opera. The show was created by Reg Watson and first broadcast on Das Erste on 2 January 1995...

(Germany, 1995-); Skilda världar
Skilda världar
Skilda världar was a Swedish soap opera from 1996-2002 about two families in Stockholm and their friends. One rich family and one poor and about Daniel and Sandra who are from the two families and fall in love. Later in the series it is discovered that Daniel and Sandra are twins...

(Sweden, 1996–2002); Apagorevmeni agapi (Greece, 1998); Cuori Rubati (Italy, 2002–2003) Zabranjena ljubav
Zabranjena ljubav
Zabranjena ljubav is a Croatian daytime soap opera about the lives and loves of both young and older characters, focused on the major Croatian city of Zagreb...

(Croatia, 2004–2008), Zabranena lubov (Bulgaria, 2008-)

DVD

Sons and Daughters - The Best of Pat The Rat - 2 Disc Set - Released 9 October 2006.

Episode 1: 20 years ago, Patricia gives birth to twins John and Angela
Episode 2: Now the twins are celebrating their 20th birthday, but they don't know each other
Episode 3: John and Angela meet for the first time
Episode 18: Patricia finds out that John is her son
Episode 27: Patricia tells Angela that John is her twin brother
Episode 55: Patricia and David make love
Episode 124: At Angela's wedding, Patricia doesn't tell David that Beryl is in hospital
Episode 501: Patricia attacks Luke Carlyle - and afterwards he's found dead
Episode 536: Patricia escapes to Rio de Janeiro
Episode 545: Patricia undergoes plastic surgery
Episode 631: Patricia returns to Sydney with a new identity - Alison Carr
Episode 663: Alison attacks Roger Carlyle - and afterwards he's found dead
Episode 693: David figures out that Alison is Patricia
Episode 905: In jail, Beryl meets Pamela - who is the spitting image of Alison
Episode 912: Pamela and Alison discover they are sisters
Episode 944: Pamela tries to kill Alison

Sons and Daughters - The Classic Cliffhangers Collection - 2 Disc Set - Released 4 February 2008.

Episode 174: Patricia makes a revelation
Episode 352: Gunshots are fired at Woombai with the Palmers held hostage
Episode 353: Who has been shot at Woombai?
Episode 528: Patricia's operation with the dodgy doctor
Episode 529: Will Pat the Rat survive the operation?
Episode 540: Beryl falls down a mine shaft
Episode 696: The plane crash
Episode 697: Has Alison survived the plane crash?
Episode 868: Wayne chased by shark, Tic injured
Episode 869: Can Wayne escape the shark?
Episode 971: The penultimate episode
Episode 972: The final episode - Happy endings?

Long standing cast member Tom Richards, who played David Palmer, also released a DVD with interviews of fellow cast members in August 2007.

Success & Awards

Sons and Daughters won the 1983 Logie Award for Most Popular Australian Drama.
Rowena Wallace was the most nominated actress of the soap and was nominated for a Gold Logie Award for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television at the 26th Annual TV Week Logie Awards in 1984 and went on to win the award the following year in 1985. She was the first woman to win the award since it was opened up to Most Popular Australian Personality.

Wallace also received Silver Logies for:

Most Popular Lead Actress (1983)
Most Popular Actress (1984)
Best Actress in a Series (1984)
Best Lead Actress in a Series (1985)

Other awards won by Sons and Daughters cast members include:
Most Popular New Talent - Stephen Comey (1982)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.