Thorn Birds. The: The Complete Collection

This hugely popular TV miniseries, based on Colleen McCullough's book, this is the Emmy-winning story of forbidden love. Set in Australia, the story covers 42 years in the friendship between a boy and a girl, as it turns sultry and stormy as they mature into adults. The boy becomes a priest and the girl becomes a wife. While Father Ralph (Richard Chamberlain)is a model of piety, Meggie Cleary (Rachel Ward) is a mother with a family. Though they have separate devotions - God for Father Ralph, a husband for Meggie - their unspoken allegiance is to each other. Will the twosome's longings overpower their better judgment? Also in the cast are Jean Simmons and Richard Kiley as the Clearys, Sydney Penny as the young Meggie, Bryan Brown as Luke O'Neill, Mare Winningham as Justine (Meggie's daughter) and Christopher Plummer as the Archbishop. This 4-part, 10-hour presentation earned an Emmy award for Barbara Stanwyck, and Golden Globes for Stanwyck and Richard Chamberlain.