Underbelly success leads to terrorism thriller

Bouyed by the success of Underbelly, the Nine Network is developing a second true crime series based on a high-profile legal case.

Nine's head of drama, Jo Horsburgh, confirmed it was talking to Screentime, the production company that created the critically claimed series on the Melbourne underworld, about the new series. While it will be made by members of the Underbelly production and writing team, including Des Monaghan, Peter Andrikidis and Greg Haddrick, the project is not related to the string of gangland murders.

"We are in discussion with Screentime to develop another true crime series but it's not Underbelly and it's not a prequel or a sequel," Horsburgh said.

The Sun-Herald understands the two-part series, False Witness, will focus on international terrorism. The Film Finance Corporation has approved funding for the series, which has already been sold to Britain. Its makers describe it as a "high-octane thriller based on the West's worst nightmare: a threat they do not see coming". The series will be set against "the heavily researched feature backdrop of bickering intelligence agencies, fallible police forces and international tensions".

Underbelly is a ratings hit with 1.2million viewers tuning in to Wednesday's episode that finished with the shooting of Jason Moran, played by Les Hill. Nine was prohibited from broadcasting the 13-part series in Victoria due to concerns it might prejudice the trial over the killing of gangland patriarch Lewis Moran, played by Kevin Harrington.

A number of people depicted in the series are involved in police investigations or matters before the courts, making it difficult for any network to make a sequel. Convicted drug trafficker Tony Mokbel, played by Robert Mammone in the series, is in Greece fighting extradition.

Meanwhile, after an impressive turnaround in ratings in the wake of flailing viewer numbers in 2007, Nine is hoping its new mystery-drama series Canal Road will live up to the unenviable task of following in Underbelly’s hugely successful footsteps when it premieres next week. If the credentials of Canal Road’s creators and cast are anything to go by, theory dictates the broadcaster will be in luck.

The show’s architects, those behind McLeod’s Daughters, were not shy in their bid to break through what have until now been deemed socially acceptable limits for a mainstream television offering. The series, which revolves around a central Melbourne medical-legal centre, tantalises viewers with the promise of regular appearances by a high-class escort and a generous helping of steamy sex scenes. “It’s really exciting — when we had a cast screening (it) was just awesome, I don’t think any of us had any idea that the show was so different,” says Peta Sergeant, who plays parole officer Holly Chong in the series. “It’s not like anything that’s on TV at the moment.”

Although pre-screening critical responce has been luke warm, loyal followers of McLeod’s Daughters and Blue Heelers-style productions will at least find it inoffensive and watchable enough. And there are the odd head-turning moments, including a confronting rape scene involving Sergeant’s character in episode two. “That sort of stuff is so challenging, I’ve lost so much sleep over it,” Sergeant says of that and other “challenging” scenes. “But you do it, you get there and nail it and that’s so exciting, to work on something that really stretches you. It’s really exciting as an actor to get a script and go ‘whoa, OK, I have to match this and make it work’.”

Sergeant labels Canal Road “groundbreaking” and says audiences will relate to it. “If you look at the success of (Australian) shows like Secret Life of Us and Love My Way . . . they’re driven by the staple, core characters and people grow to become very attached to those characters,” says Sergeant, who is arguably one of the stand-outs of the series despite its impressive cast of established Australian actors. “I think that’s something Canal Road has managed to do — we’ve got something like nine or 10 people and the stories really revolve around the drama of those core characters.”

This core cast includes Brooke Satchwell (Neighbours, White Collar Blue), Alyssa McClelland (All Saints, Small Claims), Diana Glenn (Satisfaction), Grant Bowler (Wildside, Always Greener, All Saints) and Sibylla Budd (Secret Life of Us).

As with Underbelly, which was banned in Melbourne by a Victorian Supreme Court judge for fear of prejudicing gangland patriarch Lewis Moran’s murder trial, Canal Road did not come without its challenges — there were reports the series caused headaches for its production team last year after executives demanded late script rewrites to remove a lesbian tryst — and Nine will be hoping this investment pays dividends come ratings reporting time.

Despite the delay in its release (filming began in March last year), the debut episode is likely to draw as many viewers as its underworld sibling, if only thanks to cleverly packaged promos which have successfully piqued curiosity.

Time will tell whether this “groundbreaker” will do just that.



Canal Road premieres on Wednesday at 9.30pm on Nine and WIN.

Further reading: Canal Roads dark side