Thirty-plus years after Wandin Valley turned off its lights, one of Australia’s most iconic TV dramas is quietly plotting a massive comeback.
An industry insider has told Woman’s Day that Channel Seven is exploring a reboot of A Country Practice, eyeing the creative team behind its Logie-winning hit RFDS to bring the legendary show back to life.
The reboot would see the show return in its next chapter, with the new storyline following a grown-up Chloe Jones – daughter of beloved couple Molly and Brendan – returning to Wandin Valley to take over the local medical practice.
A Country Practice reboot: what we know so far
“It would be a continuation rather than simply remaking the original,” revealed a well-placed television insider.
“Chloe provides the perfect bridge between the A Country Practice that millions of Australians remember and a completely new generation of characters.
“The idea is that she has followed in her father Brendan’s footsteps and dedicated her life to helping people. Now she is responsible for keeping the practice and perhaps the entire town together.”
Chloe was still a young child on the show, when she left Wandin Valley with her father Brendan (Shane Withington), but the name and family still tugs on the heartstrings of many Aussie fans due to one scene that has lived in our hearts for years.
Chloe was the centre of the show’s most heartbreaking moment when her mother, Molly (Anne Tenney) died from leukaemia in 1985.
In the unforgettable scene, Molly watched from the garden as Brendan helped their daughter fly a kite, before quietly slipping away – and more than 40 years later, Aussie fans have never truly moved on from the emotional moment.
“Having Chloe return to Wandin Valley would immediately mean something to longtime fans,” says the insider.
“She would be carrying Molly and Brendan’s legacy with her, but she would also have her own complicated history with the town. There is so much to explore. Why has she come back? What has happened in her life? And how does it feel to return to the place where her mother died?”
What was A Country Practice about?
The original A Country Practice aired on Seven from 1981 until 1993, before a short-lived Network Ten relaunch in 1994.
The series followed the doctors, nurses, police officers, farmers and families who lived in Wandin Valley and who formed the heart of the close-knit rural community.
At its peak, an extraordinary eight to 10 million viewers reportedly tuned in each week. It collected 29 Logie Awards during its original run and was inducted into the TV Week Logies Hall of Fame in August 2026.
“The reaction proved that the affection for A Country Practice is still enormous,” says the source. “People don’t just remember the title! They remember Wandin Valley as though it were a real place they once lived.”
However, insiders insist the proposed series would not rely on nostalgia alone.
Like Wentworth, which successfully reinvented the classic prison drama Prisoner for a modern and international audience, the new A Country Practice would retain the DNA of the original while adopting a more sophisticated and occasionally edgier tone.
“It would still have warmth, humour, romance and that wonderful sense of community, but the storytelling would reflect life in regional Australia today,” the insider says, adding that potential storyline could touch on the shortage of rural doctors, mental health and addiction issues, family violence, environmental battles and the growing divide between city and country communities.
“The original show tackled incredibly difficult subjects, but there were limits to what could be shown in a family drama during the ’80s,” the insider continued.
“A new version could go further and feel more contemporary without losing the optimism and humanity that made audiences love it.”
Who will star in the A Country Practice reboot?
While it’s not yet known what characters from the original series will return, our source says that producers would be expected to assemble a new ensemble around Chloe, including doctors, nurses, police officers, farming families and young residents torn between staying in Wandin Valley and pursuing lives elsewhere.
Hopefully some familiar faces will return, but the show’s concept will naturally leave room for nostalgic characters to visit the town in guest appearances if they don’t sign on long-term.
“There would be enormous excitement around seeing some former residents return, but those appearances would have to serve the story,” says the insider.
“A Country Practice was about ordinary Australians looking after one another,” says the source. “That idea is every bit as relevant today as it was in 1981.
“Fans have waited more than 30 years to return to Wandin Valley. Now Seven may finally be ready to take them there.”
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Share this post