TV pick: Love Child

Jessica Marais stars in the TV show Love Child.

As soon as former Packed to Rafters star Jessica Marais heard the soundtrack for the new drama series Love Child, she knew it would be a hit. Marais is one of more than half a dozen female leads in the Australian series that screened across the Tasman earlier this year to high ratings.

Set in 1969, the series is about a spirited housewife, Joan Miller (Marais), who gets swept up in the plight of five young women in an unwed mothers' home attached to a hospital.

Marais says even though the set design and costumes are all based on the 60s, nothing places the viewer in the times better than the music. "If you use music and the correct clothing, suddenly you put viewers in the right era."

When Marais heard a cover of The Supremes' hit Love Child during the opening credits, she knew there had been a strong investment and commitment in the series. "They've definitely put money into production values where Australian TV hasn't really done it the past.".

Also among the cast is fellow former Packed to the Rafters star Ryan Corr, who says Love Child is "a real game-changer".

"It's breaks the mould a little bit and takes a few more risks, just like the American cable networks are doing and are having so much success as a result."

When: Thursday 8.30pm
Where: One
What: Sydney single mums of the 60s

Also:
• Craig Parker guest stars in Reign (Prime, Tuesday 9.30pm) as a powerful nobleman who discovers that Mary was responsible for the death of his son and demands vengeance. Forsooth!
• Rose McIver stars opposite Heather Graham in V.C. Andrews' gothic melodrama Petals On The Wind (Vibe Tuesday, 8.30pm) "salacious sequel" to Flowers In The Attic (Vibe Monday, 8.30pm).

- AAP