'Prepare Yourself For A Dark, Powerful, Twisted Adaptation With These Incredibly Forceful Women'

"It doesn't like us," a character in the new pay-TV adaptation of Joan Lindsay's novel Picnic At Hanging Rock says in hushed tones of the eponymous stone formation. The teenage girl is climbing to the peak of Hanging Rock in rural Victoria with two of her friends on Valentine's Day, 1900. They will soon vanish, never to be seen again.

It speaks volumes about the lingering impression Lindsay's book, and Peter Weir's 1975 film version of it, have had on Australian culture that there's a common misconception that it was based on - or at the very least inspired by - an actual event. That's not actually the case - its origins lie in its author's dreams.

But Picnic At Hanging Rock has become part of Australian folklore, partially because Weir's film helped signal the beginning of the nation's cinematic new wave, its gauzy visuals, ethereal soundtrack and unsettling ambience combining to cast a lasting spell over audiences.

And then, of course, there's the piercing cry from a schoolgirl as her enigmatic, beloved fellow student boldly ventures towards... well, who knows what. You know the cry: "Mirandaaaaaa!"

It has been over half a century since the publication of Lindsay's novel and more than four decades since the release of Weir's film - high time for a reimagining of a story that meant so much to so many Australians, one might think.

And this six-episode Picnic At Hanging Rock miniseries is certainly a reimagining.

"Don't have any illusions because of the time and the horses and the petticoats - this is very much a modern thriller," smiles young actor Lily Sullivan, who plays the pivotal role of Miranda in the new version. "Prepare yourself for a dark, powerful, twisted adaptation with these incredibly forceful women - it's almost rock'n'roll."

She's not kidding. Based on a viewing of the first episode, Picnic At Hanging Rock has a lush, vivid visual palette and an attitude that balances turn-of-the-20th-century mores and 21st-century enlightenment.

The core of the story - the Valentine's Day disappearance of Miranda and two of her schoolmates at Hanging Rock, and the consequences that ensued for the staff and students of the boarding school she attended as well as other people drawn into the mystery - remains relatively unchanged, but the characters are explored in greater depth and detail.

"The film's screenplay was perfect for a 100-minute piece of cinema; it was like a poem," says screenwriter Beatrix Christian. "Now with long-form television - character-based, not so plot-driven - we're able to really delve into these people, which is such a gift."

Nevertheless, Christian is aware that there was an attitude in some corners that Picnic At Hanging Rock didn't need a new adaptation. She admits that during an initial meeting of writers to discuss the miniseries, "all of us in the writers' room had this sense of, 'Why do we need to make this again when the original is so fantastic?'"

"But when you looked at the book, and the differences between the film and the book, it became apparent that the book was a much bigger story," adds Christian.

"The girls didn't have much of a voice in the film; they were more figures in the landscape. I guess what we wanted to do was unpack the book a little bit more. It's an amazing book, one that I'm sure will be adapted time and time again. The mission statement was to have a conversation with the book today, and somehow be true to the spirit of the book at the same time."

As a result, Picnic At Hanging Rock feels both compelling as a narrative - especially when it comes to the mysterious background and nature of headmistress Hester Appleyard, played by Game Of Thrones and The Hunger Games star Natalie Dormer - and relevant as a social document.

That is particularly apparent in Sullivan's charismatic portrayal of Miranda, a headstrong young woman whose self-possession proves beguiling to anyone who comes into contact with her. "There was a playful, experimental, magnificent kind of reality we got to play in," says Sullivan, who was recently seen in another small-screen reinterpretation of an Australian big-screen classic, the Romper Stomper TV series.

"The writers really extended the journey of the characters but left us so much room to play. And with Miranda, it was intense having this character who already existed but the more work we did the more relevant she felt to me.

"Here's this young woman feeling born in the wrong time - she grew up on a cattle station and had this sense of equality in that she was capable of doing the same things as the men. With Miranda, I fell in love with her respect for her own intuition. Being stuck in the middle of nowhere, there's not much else other than women telling you what's right and wrong, what your destiny is... and that's something that usually revolves around a man."

For Sullivan, conveying that somewhat archaic way of thinking in a time when attitudes would appear to be rapidly changing thanks to #MeToo and Time's Up was both eye-opening and frustrating.

"Romper Stomper is 25 years on [from the movie], and Picnic... is a reinterpretation of the book," she says.

"But Romper... is looking at the vicious cycle of hate and the projection of fear, which is still relevant, if not even more relevant. And Picnic... is looking at this male-dominated past and you think it's all gone by, but then you look at the issues the girls are facing and you're like, 'Wait a minute...' It's kind of bizarre, but it's empowering. We've come a long way in just six months.

"I feel very liberated and excited since working on Picnic... - I feel like anything is possible. It's exciting to be part of a generation that's pushing things forward."

Picnic At Hanging Rock premieres 8.30pm, 6 May on Showcase (through Foxtel).