Deadline is reporting that Game of Thrones star Natalie Dormer has signed on for a TV adaptation of Joan Lindsay’s classic novel Picnic at Hanging Rock, which is slated to go into production this month ahead of an Australian premiere later in the year. As with the novel, the six-part series will explore the mysterious disappearances of three schoolgirls and a teacher from Appleyard College on Valentine’s Day in 1990.
Dormer joins a cast that includes Lola Bessis (Cassandra) as Mademoiselle Dianne de Poitiers, mistress of French Conversation, Music and Dance; Yael Stone (Orange Is the New Black) as Miss Dora Lumley, mistress of Deportment and Bible Studies; Anna McGahan (The Doctor Blake Mysteries) as Miss Greta McCraw, mistress of Geography and Mathematics and Sibylla Budd (Tomorrow When The War Began) as Mrs Valange, mistress of Art and Literature.
The students of Appleyard College will be portrayed by Lily Sullivan (Camp) as Miranda Reid, Madeleine Madden (Tomorrow When The War Began) as Marion Quade, Samara Weaving (Monster Trucks) as Irma Leopold, Ruby Rees (Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries) as Edith Horton and Inez Curro as Sara Waybourne.
Picnic at Hanging Rock was previously adapted for the big screen in 1975 by Australian filmmaker Peter Weir. The new TV version is being produced by FremantleMedia Australia.
Originally published February 19, 2017. Updated April 15, 2018.
