A BLOOD FEUD BETWEEN TWO FAMILIES:
SOME LIKE TO THINK THIS COUNTRY
WAS BUILT ON LOVE AND TRUST, BUT THAT’S A FAIRYTALE.
THIS COUNTRY WAS BORN OUT OF SWELTERING LUST AND
SCORCHING HATE AGAINST A LANDSCAPE OF GREED,
POWER AND REVENGE.
THIS IS the
WHERE WAR HAS NO BOUNDARIES.
SYNOPSIS
TWO FAMILIES, TWO CULTURES, TWO WORLDS - In 1862 Queen Victoria controlled one of the largest
Empires in history while Abraham Lincoln pushed for a new understanding on humanity. A world away two families are
on a collision course that will also set the tone for generations to come. As the Frontier of this ancient land is exploited
for all its riches the new settlers pay a higher price than what they bargained for.
In this new land the religion of man is power, and greed is the first commandment. It is here that the 60 year-old
patriarch Donald Macintosh, after settling in his newly acquired ranch, massacres the land’s traditional owners leaving
their sacred ground soaked in blood.
During the skirmish Macintosh’s son and heir apparent is speared to death while sadistically raping a 14 year-old native
girl. To avenge the killing the Macintosh lynch mob corner tribal warrior Wallerie. Passing by Patrick Duffy witnesses
the stand off and when defending Wallerie’s actions is set upon by the mob, tortured and killed. Like the wheels of an
eternal clock, the blood curse is put in motion.
In a seedy harbour city a thousand miles south of Duffy’s cold remains his dark-tempered son Michael woos Macintosh’s
daughter Fiona. They are readily seduced by the fervour of their passionate relationship but this is where their fairy tale
ends . . . A child is born.
Now, two families: one of incredible wealth and devious power, the other street-fighters with nothing to lose, are forever
linked in a twisted destiny of lust, intrigue and revenge, spanning generations and continents.
The Macintosh family, a dynasty in the making, is now rotting at its core. As the families weave in and out of each other’s
lives like so many poisonous vines, nothing is left to the imagination. This is the Frontier.
In the spirit of other successful television series like ‘The Tudors’ and ‘Deadwood’, ‘Frontier’ is aimed at lovers of romance and
adventure. It is set against a rich historical background with a storyline driven by a lifelong family rivalry similar to the infamous
bitter feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys. This epic saga will unfold in the illustrious worlds of Jack the Ripper and Jesse
James. - Executive Producer, Rod Hardy.
DUFFY
PATRICK DUFFY
TOM
KATE
Macintosh
ELIZABETH FITZGERALD
DANIEL
DONALD MACINTOSH
MICHAEL
FIONA
PATRICK JR.
ENID WHITE
ANGUS
DAVID
THE MACINTOSH FAMILY
Donald MACINTOSH
Sixty-year-old patriarch and head prick of the Macintosh family.
A ruthless, brutal and arrogant bastard with the firm belief God wants
him to dominate and discipline those less fortunate. When he receives
a knighthood this becomes a foregone conclusion.
Enid MacINTOSH
Fifty-year-old matriarch of the Macintosh family. Whilst her
husband is a blunt weapon, Enid is the cunning, conniving poison
that drop-by-drop strangles the life from those who oppose her.
A model for Lady Macbeth, she keeps a wary eye on anything
that might taint the dynasty, and will eagerly put the knife in a
murderer’s hand.
ANGUS MACINTOSH
Heir apparent and keen to appeal to his father’s appetite to conquer.
Angus represents all that is evil in the Macintosh family. His sick sexual
desires for the native women of the Frontier lead him to be dealt the
ultimate blow when speared to death by tribal warrior Wallerie.
Fiona MAcIntosh
Beautiful and intelligent daughter of Donald and Enid, Fiona swans
through society functions with dignity and grace, choosing not to
see the blood beneath her parent’s nails. Cushioned from the harsh
realities of life, Fiona turns savage when she finally sees behind the
curtain of cruelty and deception.
DAVID MACIntosh
Fiona’s bookish younger brother and future heir to the Macintosh fortune.
David is well educated and girlish and has never dirtied his hands.
Considered by many to be somewhat of a bore he accumulates
useless information on topics he’ll never understand.
THE DUFFY FAMILY
PATRICK Duffy
The leader of the Duffy clan, Patrick’s practical approach to life makes
him the rightful head of the struggling Irish family. Patrick is brutally
murdered by the Macintosh mob during the massacre that triggers a
blood curse. A curse that will run through the generations.
Michael Duffy
A rough diamond, artist and bare-knuckle fighter, Michael won’t back
down from anyone. Irish to his toes, he hates authority and loves to
drink. A ladies’ man in the best of times, but with a quarter turn, can
kill. A loyal friend but a most evil enemy.
DAnIEL DuffY
Michael’s youngest brother Daniel is a lawyer who is more practical
than passionate. Making his home in the Duffy pub at the rough end
of town, he’s the man everyone counts on to make the right decision.
At some stage Daniel hopes to free himself from his family’s
dependence, but realizes he needs them as much as they need him.
Kate Duffy
Michael’s younger sister. Pretty with a backbone of steel, Kate leaps
before she thinks. Stubborn and determined she remains ever
optimistic in the face of overwhelming hardship. She’s likely to be
the last one standing.
TOM Duffy
A year younger than Michael, Tom has a religious sense of right and
wrong. Not as brash or as courageous as his older brother although
he will risk life and limb for family or friends. An adventurer at heart,
he looks beyond the horizon.
Patrick Duffy Jr.
Born to Michael Duffy and Fiona Macintosh, unwittingly the
catalyst fuelling the rage between the two clans.
THE others
PENELOPE WHITE
Twenty-year-old sexual parasite. Bored and decadent, Penelope desperately
wants to believe everyone is as depraved as she is. Using her body as a
delicious trap, she connives to manipulate men and women alike.
Her only true constant is a sincere hatred of her brother, Granville.
GRANVILLE WHITE
In his twenties, he’s felt cheated since the day he was born. A firm
believer that people get what they deserve, he determines that
he deserves everything. Power, sex and drugs are only the start.
Murder is a happy coincidence.
KEVIN O’KEEFE
Kevin is a charmer, heavy drinker and gambler with morals tailored to his
needs. This peacock struts his stuff and lives off his wits. He has a talent
for saying what other people want to hear. Embraced and repulsed, Kevin
is self-destructive.
LUKE TRACY
A 28-year-old American prospector. Tall, weathered and shy, with
a practical nature and dry sense of humour, Luke knows he will find
gold - he feels it in his soul. He also understands that this country is
unforgiving and is addicted to the rough adventure - pitting himself
against the elements.
Wallerie
A forty-year-old native warrior, Wallerie carries the torch for the last
of a dying breed. Proud and determined, he understands his special
relationship to the universe and the travesty of the white man’s
occupation. Undaunted by the overwhelming forces that oppose
him, he will fight to the last breath.
MONDO
Wallerie’s younger sister, a gentle spirit. Mondo is an innocent
bystander who prefers to see the world as generous. She respects
and admires her brother’s cultural identity and cultural rage, but is
seduced by the excitement of the white man’s exotic nature.
LiEUtenant Mort
This sado-masochistic law enforcer by day, serial killer by night is
willing to do just about anything to satisfy his hunger for the decadent
pleasures of life. Living in Donald Macintosh’s pocket, this callous and
bloodthirsty monster doesn’t differentiate between pleasure and pain.
Sergeant Henry
Henry confronts Mort about an horrific crime, but he will be ruined
if he arrests an officer, even a murderous one. He becomes enraged
by Mort’s disregard for the agony he has inflicted upon his victims.
He almost executes Mort, but relents when the villain begs for his life
and promises to resign from the Mounted Police.
duffy macintosh timeline
LINCOLN ELECTED
US PRESIDENT.
QUEEN VICTORIA
REIGNS ACROSS
BRITISH EMPIRE.
PATRICK DUFFY
MURDERED.
THE CURSE IS
UNLEASHED ON THE
MACINTOSH FAMILY.
MICHAEL DUFFY AND FIONA
MACINTOSH FALL IN LOVE
IN THE BOOMING HARBOUR
TOWN.
PENELOPE WHITE SEDUCES
HER FIRST FEMALE
COMPANION.
LIEUTENANT MORT HIDES
HIS BADGE TO SADISTICALLY
RAPE AN UNSUSPECTING
YOUNG MAID IN THE
DARK STREETS.
PREGNANT TEENAGER KATE
DUFFY PACKS UP AND HEADS
OUT TO THE FRONTIER TO
FOLLOW IN HER FATHER’S
FOOTSTEPS.
The truth about the
murder of Patrick Duffy is
revealed. The battle for
the Frontier begins.
Michael Duffy and Fiona
Macintosh are split apart
as the family feud grows in
intensity.
Fiona gives birth to patrick
jr. Her calculating mother
Enid orders the baby be
sent to death as it’s not
of pure blood.
Henry Ford is born in USA.
Sergeant Henry is suspicious
of Lieutenant Mort’s behaviour
and uncovers a secret about
his sadistic Ripper-like
killings.
Smallpox
breakout in
California.
David Macintosh
reluctantly takes
the reins of the
family business.
Abraham Lincoln
abolishes slavery.
Granville White
announces his plan
to marry his cousin,
Fiona Macintosh.
Michael Duffy is
framed for a murder
and is forced to live
in exile.
In Harbour Town the
Duffy clan receive
an unknown orphan.
London Underground
rail opens.
Under pressure Fiona Macintosh
marries Granville White.
Outlaw Tom Duffy falls in
love on the Frontier with
the native girl Mondo.
Gold fever strikes
the Frontier.
Kate Duffy meets Luke Tracy.
Fiona Macintosh
learns of her mother’s
disposal of Patrick jr.
Michael Duffy is reported
killed in action in a
foreign war.
President Lincoln
shot and killed.
Captained by Lieutenant Mort, the
Macintosh flagship ‘The Osprey’
begins transporting slaves
captured from the nearby islands.
Kate Duffy strikes gold and
begins her takeover plan
for the Macintosh Ranch.
Patrick JR. is used as a pawn
to retake control of the
Macintosh empire.
Penelope White heads
to Europe to explore
erotic pleasures.
The USA purchase
Alaska from Russia.
Tom Duffy is mortally
wounded in a battle
with the Macintosh mob.
The Macintosh sponsored lynch
mob hones in on outlaw Tom Duffy. David Macintosh is murdered
in an accident arranged by
Granville White. The Grand View
Ranch is taken over
by Kate Duffy.
Michael Duffy appears
raised from the dead and is
uncovered as a mercenary in
the Union army.
Donald Macintosh
receives a knighthood.
Lady Enid Macintosh
learns of David’s
murderer. Dynamite invented by
Alfred Nobel.
Last convict ship sent
to Australia.
Mahatma Gandhi
born in India.
About the TELEVISION series
‘Frontier’ is based on the books of bestselling Author, Peter Watt.
“ a rousing and revealing yarn”
WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN
“Australia’s answer to Wilbur Smith”
HERALD SUN
“… a captivating book”
COURIER MAIL
“the historical detail brings the
19th century to rip-roaring life”
THE AUSTRALIAN
the duffy-macintosh saga
“The Duffy-Macintosh series explores the personal relationships of the feuding families and its romantic and
ruthless characters in a deep and engaging manner. Stories of stolen love, lust and deception will please the female
viewer as they do in my books. And a collection of landmark battle scenes, showdowns and adventure spread
throughout the season have a direct appeal to male audiences of all ages.” – Peter Watt
season ONE
season FOUR
season TwO
season FIVE
frontier: “cry of the curlew”
- 12 X 1 Hour episodes
frontier: “shadow of the osprey”
- 12 X 1 Hour episodes
season THREE
frontier: “flight of the eagle”
- 12 X 1 Hour episodes
frontier: “to chase the storm”
- 12 X 1 Hour episodes
frontier: “to touch the clouds”
- 12 X 1 Hour episodes
Season one: cry of the curlew
Episode 1 “The Dispersal”
Donald Macintosh, the 60 year-old patriarch, orders the native inhabitants from his newly
acquired land, and their sacred ancestral home. In the heartless slaughter that follows, his son
is speared to death by the warrior, Wallerie who in turn is saved by two bushrangers Patrick
Duffy and his son Tom. Patrick is caught by Macintosh and murdered while Tom escapes with
Wallerie and his sister, Mondo.
Episode 2 “Bare-Knuckle Romance”
A thousand miles away from his father’s cold remains, brawler-artist Michael Duffy falls in love
with a woman far above his station, Donald Macintosh’s daughter Fiona. An ill-fated affair fanned
by Fiona’s manipulative cousin Penelope White becomes a raging inferno.
Episode 3 “Dead End Trail”
With the Duffy’s rough pub as the hub of family life, Michael’s sister, Kate, is seduced
and becomes pregnant to Kevin O’Keefe, a philandering gambler. Kate determines
that they stand a better chance of success if they join her father, Patrick, on the Frontier.
On the long trip, Kate meets Luke Tracy, an American prospector who looks after Kate
when Kevin abandons her. After arriving at their destination Kate loses her baby and
discovers her beloved father has been murdered by Donald Macintosh.
Episode 4 “A Tangled Web”
Penelope’s ruthless brother Granville White has determined that his path to inheriting the Macintosh
empire lies first in marrying Fiona, and secondly in getting rid of her younger brother, David. Michael
Duffy is an unacceptable complication. It is only after Granville attempts to have Michael assassinated,
that Fiona becomes aware she’s carrying Duffy’s child. Michael is forced to leave the country under an
alias, after killing Granville’s assassin. Granville has him charged with murder.
Episode 5 “The Smell Of Blood”
Tom Duffy, Wallerie and Mondo play a ‘cat and mouse’ game with Donald Macintosh’s
sado-masochistic agent Lieutenant Mort. While Wallerie is an excellent bushman, the
size of the pursuit makes up for the difference in knowledge. The noose is tightening
as Duffy and Mondo become lovers. Wallerie is guided by his spiritual visions in the
Dreamtime.
Episode 6 “Abandoned”
After the loss of her baby Kate Duffy becomes critically ill. While Luke Tracy nurses
Kate back to health, the baby’s father Kevin O’Keefe abandons her for drink, women
and gambling. Once recovered, Luke begins to teach Kate the bush life, and their mutual
attraction begins to sizzle. Kevin has lost Kate’s entire stake, but she resolves to make
a go of her new life and avenge the murder of her father, Patrick. Luke, unable to fully
commit to a married Kate, decides instead to abruptly leave her, hoping to make his
fortune on the goldfields.
Episode 7 “The Baby Farm”
Fiona’s mother Enid, the matriarch of the clan decides that after learning she is pregnant with
Michael’s baby must accept Granville’s offer of marriage. Granville and Enid come to an agreement
that once the baby is born it will be taken to the ‘Baby Farm’, where unwanted children are
terminated. Fiona’s maid is given the duty of disposing of the baby, but instead she takes it to the
Duffy pub where Daniel Duffy agrees to care for the child. Penelope White, who has watched her
brother’s scheming, seduces the vulnerable Fiona, becoming her lover
Episode 8 “Tempered In Fire”
Michael Duffy has become a violent and feared warrior, a mercenary for
the British in a foreign war. Duffy’s lost eye and fearless courage even
gains the respect of the enemy. There is no road back, and he soon
starts an affair with another officer’s wife.
Episode 9 “The Blackbird”
Now married to Fiona, Granville is only one step away from becoming the sole male
heir to the Macintosh Empire. The family are participants in a thriving slave trade,
called ‘blackbirding’. Granville hires Lieutenant Mort to take David Macintosh, the
youngest son, on a blackbirding expedition, with the intention of leaving him there.
It is here that David and the island’s local priest are killed, and Enid has reason to
believe Granville is behind her son’s murder.
Episode 10 “Aunt Kate”
During the years of pursuit, Tom and Mondo have had two children. Boxed in by Macintosh’s army,
Tom makes Wallerie promise to deliver their boys to his sister Kate. Tom and Mondo are killed and
Wallerie escapes with the children. Kate, having befriended a local prospector, becomes the heir to
his modest fortune. When Wallerie arrives with Tom’s children, she accepts them as her own. She
and Wallerie bond over their need to destroy the Macintosh family.
Episode 11 “Prodigal Son”
Fiona’s maid confesses to Enid that Fiona and Michael’s young son Patrick is alive and
living with the Duffys. Enid strikes a deal with Daniel Duffy where Patrick becomes
a Macintosh, and educated at the finest schools in England, and he will eventually
become heir to the Macintosh empire. Daniel sees that this is the brightest future for
his nephew, and accepts. Enid then has the pleasure of telling Granville that a male
heir exists, and he will never inherit. To add insult to injury, Penelope connives to
have Granville see her making love to Fiona.
Episode 12 “The Long Road Home”
Kevin O’Keefe dies in a knife fight. Luke Tracy strikes gold and then returns to the
widowed Kate. He meets Kate’s new children and decides it’s time to settle down,
but Kate cannot be dissuaded from her goal of ruining Macintosh. Michael Duffy, at
the tail end of another war, this time in Mexico, is approached by an agent of the U.S.
Government. If he agrees to join the intelligence game, they will see to it that he can
return home and have his name cleared.
SEASON TWO
“SHADOW OF THE OSPREY”
Michael Duffy, having left Australia several years earlier to escape being jailed for murder, finally returns home, a spy for
the British government. Much changed, war-weary, with a patch covering a missing eye, his orders are to stop a German
shipment of arms headed north. The Germans are intent on annexing the sparsely inhabited frontier. It is at a lavish and
sophisticated reception for the German ambassador, that Michael once more finds himself victim to the ‘blood curse’ binding
the Duffys and Macintosh families.
Lady Von Fellman, the ambassador’s wife, is also Penelope Granville, cousin to Fiona Macintosh, Michael’s first love and
mother to his son. Like a black widow spider, Penelope uses her knowledge of who Michael really is, to seduce him. Before
his journey north, Michael passes by the Duffy pub, meeting a boy, his son, Patrick. Michael thinks it is best not to reveal his
identity before leaving, but by the time he returns, Enid Macintosh makes good on her promise, taking Patrick half a world
away, to England.
The black-hearted Lieutenant Mort, the killer of Michael’s father, pilots The Osprey the ship taking Michael north.
Also amongst the crew is Luke Tracy, Kate Duffy’s lover. Michael scuttles The Osprey before it can reach its destination
and pursues Mort and his crew of cutthroats through the rough, brutal terrain. The bloodthirsty Mort thinks he has escaped
Michael’s pursuit, when he comes face to face with his final destiny, Wallerie, a witness to his savage slaughter of his tribe.
Michael, sick and near death, is taken to join Luke’s lover, Kate Duffy.
Brother and sister are gratefully re-united.
SEASON THREE
“FLIGHT OF THE EAGLE”
The ‘blood curse’ linking the Macintosh’s and Duffy’s, two families from polar opposites of society, continues as Patrick
Duffy-Macintosh, now a young man becomes an officer in the British Army. His grandmother, Enid Macintosh, tells Patrick
that his father Michael Duffy is dead and his mother, Fiona Macintosh, tried to have him killed at birth. Whilst in Ireland,
researching his family’s history, Patrick falls in love with Catherine Fitzgerald. He swears he will return to her after his
deployment to the Sudan.
The British campaign in the Sudan is dire, and Patrick becomes missing in action.
Enid asks his estranged father Michael to find him and he agrees.
Peter Duffy, Tom and Mondo’s son, raised by Kate Duffy, has also joined the service – the Native Mounted Police.
In an attempt to track down the natives’ resistance to white occupation, Peter’s patrol is ambushed and is saved by Wallerie,
his uncle. Wallerie soon convinces Peter that he is on the wrong side.
Kate Duffy, Peter’s aunt, now a wealthy rancher is due to deliver her baby, while her husband, Luke Tracy, has not returned
from the goldfields. Tracy, in an attempt to prospect less accessible terrain, has been speared to death by the natives
protecting their sacred sites. While his aunt gives birth, Patrick healing from wounds sustained in battle, returns to Ireland.
He searches out his one true love, the memory that has kept him alive, only to find she has taken another lover Michael Duffy, his ‘dead’ father.
SEASON FOUR
“TO CHASE THE STORM”
Patrick Duffy Macintosh now thirty, has three children from his marriage to Catherine Fitzgerald, but the ‘blood curse’
continues to infect his fate. Catherine has taken a lover and follows him back to Ireland. Patrick, emotionally destitute,
volunteers to fight the Boers in South Africa. It is here he learns that his father, Michael Duffy, is still alive and wounded.
Father and son re-unite, Michael finally learning of Enid’s poisonous teachings, and of Patrick’s children by Catherine - his
grandchildren.
In Sydney, Enid Macintosh finds the growing attraction between Patrick’s daughter Finella Duffy Macintosh and Kate
Duffy’s son Matthew Tracy intolerable. In a heated argument with her granddaughter Enid dies of a stroke leaving Patrick
Duffy Macintosh sole heir to the Macintosh empire.
While in South Africa, Patrick meets the young Saul Rosenblum, Kate’s former ‘hand’. He has fallen in love with a
diamond smuggler, using the funds to create a Jewish state – Palestine. Saul’s lover is slain, but he resolves to continue her
work, using his military skills to defend a new nation. Michael returns to Australia, and with Patrick’s permission meets
his grandchildren for the first time. However soon after he dies in a hunting accident.
In a dream Kate Duffy is visited by Wallerie and is taken ‘walkabout’. On waking Kate knows what has to be done to
finally end the curse that has plagued her family. She must convince Patrick Duffy Macintosh to give back the sacred
ancestral lands taken from Wallerie’s tribe and undo the curse that has reigned for more than fifty years.
THE AUTHOR
Peter Watt
Peter Watt is a writer of note on the international scene and is fast becoming known for his writing style in the vein of
Wilbur Smith. His books have been translated and sold in many countries around the world and he continues to publish a
new book every year.
Watt’s varied and colourful life experiences have seen him spend time in the military, the legal fraternity, at sea as a prawn
trawler deckhand, private investigator, pounding the beat as a police sergeant and adviser to the Royal Papua New Guinea
Constabulary. He has lived and worked with the indigenous peoples of the Pacific region and spent time in Vietnam and in
the mountains of Papua New Guinea.
The renowned author-astronomer Carl Sagan best summarised the impact of the ‘human face of history,’ when he wrote, “We have
not met our forgotten ancestors, but one begins to sense their presence in the dark. We recognise their shadows here and there... the key
to who we are is waiting in those shadows.”
I go searching those shadows for the people who will tell us what it was like to live in the times before ours. So that is why I love writing
historically based action adventure novels. And I also know that like me - there are a lot of people out there - who have an abiding
interest in the ‘human face of history’ - Author, Peter Watt.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Rod Hardy
Rod Hardy is an accomplished and talented director who has forged his trademark visual sense of story through
extensive experience in the USA, Australia and the UK. He is well regarded by his peers and contemporaries in
the industry and has received Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for his Movies of the Week and mini-series
productions.
Hardy’s directorial experience runs the gamut of contemporary drama and science fiction to portraits of important
historic moments, to the re-telling of such adventure classics as Robinson Crusoe (Pierce Brosnan) and Jules Verne’s
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Michael Caine, Patrick Dempsey) and Buffalo Girls (Anjelica Huston, Melanie Griffith,
Jack Palance).
Rod also directed the successful TNT adventure-drama Two For Texas (Kris Kristofferson, Tom Skerritt) and later
teamed up for a second time with Skerritt on the critically acclaimed remake of High Noon.
More recently Hardy directed the feature film December Boys starring Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter fame, before
focusing again on an impressive line-up of US television series including Battlestar Galactica, Burn Notice, Joss
Whedon’s Dollhouse, Saving Grace (Holly Hunter), Leverage produced by Dean Devlin and the award-winning hit
TV series The Mentalist (Simon Baker).
Directing is a personal passion for me. I’ve been blessed to work with so many wonderful actors and have had such great stories
to tell. As Executive Producer of the ‘Frontier’ series I am committed to developing the project and deliver a cutting edge style in
storytelling, cinematography and production design to make ‘Frontier’ an outstanding success. - Executive Producer, Rod Hardy.
Le Gana Arch Entertainment LLC
ROD HARDY
+1 323 533 1640 +61 412 101 677
[email protected]