I have finished watching Australia based show McLeod's Daughters and enjoyed it all the way through. They kept it interesting through the 8 seasons by killing off the main characters. Most shows keep the main characters so when they get into dangerous situations you know they will come out okay. Not so with this show. Some didn't die but they moved away which had the same result of not being in future episodes. I like watching this show for a peek into living life in the Australia countryside and to hear their accent and manner of speaking.
Now I'm going to switch continents and watch a show based in Africa called Wild at Heart. It is also 8 seasons long on A-river.