in the downpour, the two find refuge in a small cabin, where a night of romance ensues. Meggie's mother, Fee, in a last-ditch attempt to reclaim Dane, confronts Luke with the truth—Dane is not his son but the son of Father Ralph. Luke swears never to reveal this fact for fear of losing Meggie and his children to Ralph forever. Luke confronts Ralph and starts a fight, declaring if Ralph can beat him he can have Dane. Ralph defeats Luke, and torn and bleeding, Luke returns Dane to Meggie. Production Producer David L. Wolper explained why this story was not included in the original 1983 The Thorn Birds miniseries: "there were so many hours that we could do for the original. We decided in the original that after he made love to Meggie that we would just cut ahead to the children." After reruns during the summer of 1993 proved popular Wolper decided there was an audience for more Thorn Birds. The miniseries was filmed entirely on location in Australia, unlike the original, which was filmed in California. Reception The Deseret News called it a travesty, and said that the story "not only pales in comparison to the original but often directly contradicts events in both the book and the first miniseries". Variety wrote that while it would take a miracle to top the original, "the love story is still involving". They are critical of the script, for failing to highlight Meggie's motivations, saying the details "left unexpressed, leads to viewer frustration". Inconsistencies In the original The Thorn Birds Dane, at age 17, shocks Meggie and Father Ralph with his desire to become a priest. In The Thorn Birds: The Missing Years, Dane talks about little else at age 10. In the original, Meggie's mother, Fee (played by Jean Simmons), is a deliberate, slow-talking, aristocratic woman who "lost faith in her church", while in The Missing Years, Fee (played by Julia Blake) is a religious, rapid-talking gossip-bearer. Luke turns from a drunken womaniser who hangs around his mates all day to a loner who lives by himself on a farm. Father Ralph offers to leave the church and marry Meggie, something that he never implied in the original. She finally gets the love she was hungering for, and Father Ralph breaks his vow of chastity. Meggie has two surviving brothers in the original: Jack and Bob, while in The Missing