No, not the 1993 Micky Rourke tele-western; this is the 1980 Ned Kelly TV miniseries starring John Jarratt (Wolf Creek) as Ned, and featuring a who's who of contemporary Aussie acting talent. I've somehow never gotten around to watching it previously, so I borrowed the double DVD set from the local library.
This is by far the most detailed, accurate retelling of the Kelly saga. It gives you almost six hours of period drama in four episodes, starting with 15 year old Ned's drift into criminality as protege of the bushranger Harry Power, and ending with his appointment with the hangman.
The makers lavished attention (and no doubt, money) on accurately recreating colonial Australia, so for anyone contemplating, or already getting into gaming the subject, it's essential viewing. Clothing, architecture, weapons, and artifacts are all faithfully reproduced. If you want to see what Australian police of the period 1869 1880 actually looked like this production will show you. There's even a scene in Episode Two of a police parade, which allows you to compare the uniforms of foot and mounted constables. The parade is in part prompted by a change to the Victorian police uniform: the replacement of the shako with the custodian helmet.
The first episode is like 1970s party catering: some of the acting is a little on the hammy side, and the attempt at a light, semi-humorous tone goes a bit cheesy but stick with it; in subsequent episodes the tone darkens and the hams make way for more competent actors.
The look is very much of its era, so don't expect the sort of cinematic quality photography and direction you get with current historical TV series. It also hasn't been remastered, and there's inevitably been some deterioration in the picture quality over the years.
The biggest let-down is the soundtrack: Bryan May's score is clumsy and heavy-handed (it's very reminiscent of Aussie cop shows of the 1970s, e.g. Division Four and Matlock Police; I assume May also wrote the music for them). This is one element of the production they should definitely have rethought.
The credits for Episode One held a couple of amusing surprises: the coach driver was played by an actor called Ben Hall(!) and the warder by Rob Constable.
Interesting footnotes: apparently the actress who played Ned's Mum later became a Catholic nun. Also, Odin's Eye Productions, the company that made 'Wolf Creek', is currently involved in producing the big screen epic 'The Legend of Ben Hall' (the bushranger not the actor).
reveals a long-lost Martian tripod.