In the arid 1920s Australian Outback, a Catholic priest and the beautiful niece of a vast sheep station owner stand powerless before God's will, tormented by desire. How far are they willing to go in the name of love?

This mini series covers 60 years in the lives of the Cleary family, brought from New Zealand to Australia to run their aunt Mary Carson's ranch. The story centers on their daughter, Meggie, and her love for the family's priest, Father Ralph de Bricassart. Meggie tries to forget Ralph by marrying dashing stockman Luke O'Neill, but she and Ralph are soon reunited, with tragic consequences for them both.—Eric Sorensen <[email protected]>

Spanning more than five decades and three generations, Colleen McCullough's best-selling novel, "The Thorn Birds", pivots around the lifelong love between the ambitious Catholic priest, Father Ralph de Bricassart, and Meggie Cleary, the beautiful niece of a vast sheep station owner in the arid 1920s Australian Outback. Against the backdrop of unrequited loves, bitter passions, desperate inner conflicts, and family tragedies, the mortal and flawed priest yields under the burden of choice, tormented by desire. From the corridors of the Vatican to the sun-kissed islands of Greece to the ancestral farm, Drogheda, two ardent lovers stand powerless before God's will, bound by an unattainable and eternally forbidden love. How far are they willing to go in the name of love?—Nick Riganas