Bed of Roses
(PG) ABC DVD

If you enjoyed SeaChange (and who didn’t) you will enjoy this series starring Kerry Armstrong.

When Louisa Atherton’s (Armstrong) wealthy husband Jack drops dead in the arms of another woman, she thinks things can’t get any worse — until she discovers that he has left her bankrupt and homeless.

Forced to go back to her tiny home town, she must re-negotiate her relationship with her prickly mother and in turn recognise the relationships she has with her own children. In doing so, she learns to understand herself for the first time in her life.

Strong female roles are the benchmark for this six-part series with Armstrong and other well-cast and well-known Australian actors.

The themes and threads in the series are universal, such as ageing and what it means to women in particular. The series is set against the backdrop of the struggle faced by small communities and the important role individuals play within them.

It is about a small town (Rainbow’s End); about what’s happening to the land, and to us as a society in a world that is changing so very quickly.

Adrian Drayton