Mara and Clara were switched at birth, and the details of this event were recorded by Kardo, a hospital staff, in his diary. Mara lived as the poor daughter of the couple Susan and Gary Davis while Clara, their real daughter, was brought up the rich Amanthe and Almira Del Valle. The good-natured Del Valle couple takes in Mara as a servant and decides to spend for her education, not knowing that she is their real daughter. Gary, who is actually a gang and syndicate leader, approves of the idea that Mara lives with the Del Valles to extort money. Clara makes life for Mara difficult. But, as time progresses they find out their true identity in the spotlights, damages are paid, and they all know where to stand.
The series originally aired at 2:30 p.m. from August 17, 1992 until January 27, 1995 after Eat Bulaga! and before Valiente. It went to a 2:00 p.m. timeslot on January 30, 1995 since Eat Bulaga! moved from the said network to GMA Network to make way for the new daily noontime variety show 'Sang Linggo nAPO Sila, premiering February 6. The show once again moved to a primetime slot on July 8, 1996 after TV Patrol to challenge GMA's Villa Quintana and RPN's Tagalog-dub of Mexican telenovela, Marimar until it ended on February 14, 1997 to make way for Esperanza as the replacement on February 17.
Reruns
The series re-aired in 2007 by affiliates Studio 23 and Kapamilya Channel through 2008. It aired internationally in 1994 til its series finale on The Filipino Channel when it first aired as same day airings. It then re-aired in 2007-2008 for the first time on the Kapamilya Channel.
Adaptations
Film adaptation
In 1996, a movie was produced based on the television series. The Mara Clara movie adaptation was the first television series created by ABS-CBN to be adapted by Star Cinema. On the adaptation, the only cast changed was the character of Gary Davis who was portrayed by Eruel Tongco in the television, and was played by William Martinez in the movie due to Tongco's death from a car accident in 1996.
Remake
During the ABS-CBN trade event held on August 24, 2010 at the World Trade Center Manila, it was announced that a remake of the series will start its production in 2010. Kathryn Bernardo is slated for the role of Mara, with Julia Montes as Clara. The 2010 remake, starring Kathryn Bernardo as Mara and Julia Montes as Clara, aired on ABS-CBN from October 25, 2010 to June 3, 2011.
