Bed of Roses is an Australian comedy drama television series which was first shown on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) from 10 May 2008. It stars Kerry Armstrong (SeaChange and Lantana) and was created by Jutta Goetze and Elizabeth Coleman. It was produced by Mark Ruse (Kath & Kim, The Games) and Stephen Luby (Crackerjack).

Plot

Bed of Roses is about Louisa Atherton (Armstrong) handling her life after she discovers that her husband has died in the arms of another woman, leaving her broke. She returns to her home town of Rainbow's End to live with her feisty mother, Minna (Julia Blake). Rainbow's End is in a "growth corridor" with the neighbouring town of Indigo. Besides problems with Minna, Louisa encounters trouble with her teenage daughter Holly (Hanna Mangan-Lawrence) and local residents. Louisa has few financial assets except "Mary Kelly's Shack" which she inherited from her father. She decides to demolish the shack and build a new house to sell. Holly has taken the death of her father very hard and insists on carrying around his ashes. Louisa's irresponsible driving results in numerous traffic offences, which she can ill afford.

Production

The first season contained six 50-minute episodes, with the $5 million production being shot over nine weeks, mostly in the South Gippsland towns of Foster and Meeniyan, it took six years from its initial conception to final screening. It has distinct overtones of Armstrong's previous ABC-TV series SeaChange. Bed of Roses was commissioned for a six-episode season and aired on Saturday night on ABC at 7:30 pm, leading into The Bill at 8:30 pm. The ABC ordered 8 episodes for season two. Bud Tingwell and Philip Quast joined the cast for the second season. Season two of Bed of Roses was filmed over five months in regional Victoria (South Gippsland), Melbourne and in the ABC TV studios, Ripponlea. "'We knew whilst making series one that we had something special on our hands and so went straight into developing a second series. The audience response was terrific both on ABC1 and Podcast.'" The head of ABC TV drama, Miranda Dear, on announcing season two of the hit drama, said, "Season Two of Bed of Roses is the story of a woman's search – and a community's search – for a workable identity in the 21st Century. It is also a love story. Because whether you're 80, 50 or 17, none of us is immune to that totally infuriating, confusing, heating, frighteningly vulnerable sensation that renders us smiling, crying, despairing, and hopeful, all in the same breath. Particularly when you're not sure which man you're in love with." Season three, the final season, began filming in May 2010, and was filmed over five months in regional Victoria (South Gippsland), Melbourne and in the ABC TV studios, Southbank. For the second time the number of episodes increased, with season 3 having 12 episodes. It began airing on 4 December 2010.

Cast

Main cast

Season 2

Additional cast

Season 2

Season 3

Episodes

International broadcasts

Bed of Roses was screened in South Africa on pay television operator DStv on the Series Channel. The second season premiered in South Africa more than two months before the Australian premiere, on 24 November 2009. The show also aired in Ireland on RTÉ One and is available in the US via the Acorn.com subscription service. The series premiered in the UK for the first time as part of Amazon Prime Video on 17 April 2019.

Reception

Critical reception

Ratings

Awards and nominations

Bed of Roses has been nominated for two AFI Awards in 2008 – Best Telefeature, Mini Series or Short Run Series for the first season, and Best Guest or Supporting Actress in a Television Drama for Hanna Mangan-Lawrence's performance in the first season. Season one also received three nominations at the Logie Awards in 2009 – for Most Outstanding Drama Series, Miniseries or Movie, Most Outstanding Actress (Julia Blake), and Most Outstanding New Talent (Hanna Mangan-Lawrence).

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