Articles about ABC
Community action
Australian series In Our Blood dramatises how the country’s government and LGBT community uniquely came together to tackle the emergence of HIV and AIDs in the 1980s. Star Tim Draxl and producer Nathan Mayfield discuss telling this story against a backdrop of politics, music and a Greek chorus.
Starting Fires
Marta Dusseldorp’s relocation to Tasmania provided the inspiration for her starring role in Bay of Fires, a series she also co-created. She discusses her move into production and collaborating behind the scenes on the eight-part drama.
Read all about it
Michael Lucas, creator and writer of Australian drama The Newsreader, talks blending fact and fiction in this 1980s-set series, building the relationship between its star female news anchor and an ambitious young reporter, and what’s to come in season two.
Fed up
Four years after the launch of ABC police procedural The Rookie, showrunner Alexi Hawley is preparing for the launch of spin-off series The Rookie: Feds. He discusses how the show was born, its theme of second chances and partnering with star Niecy Nash.
Mystery unravelled
Mystery Road: Origin will take viewers deep into the Australian outback to tell the origin story of Detective Jay Swan. Producer Greer Simpkin tells DQ about filming in some of the most remote locations on Earth.
Fisk and reward
Stand-up comic Kitty Flanagan tells DQ how her dream to make a TV series came true with the award-winning Fisk, which follows a solicitor as she deals with grieving relatives and warring siblings in a wills and probate office.
Spreading Fires
Australian anthology Fires dramatises stories of courage and survival during the real-life bushfires that devastated parts of the country. Co-creators Tony Ayres and Belinda Chayko joined actors Eliza Scanlen and Hunter Page-Lochard to preview the series.
Taste test
Aftertaste creators Julie De Fina and Matt Bate reveal how the #MeToo movement shaped this story of a bad-tempered celebrity chef looking to rebuild his reputation with the help of his young niece.
Music therapy
Creator Kristen Dunphy and executive producer Jason Burrows discuss overcoming the challenges of making Australian drama Wakefield, which explore the fine line between sanity and madness with a complex story set in a psychiatric hospital.
Testing times
Operation Buffalo writer and director Peter Duncan tells DQ how he mixed authentic detail with satirical humour to dramatise the true story of British nuclear testing in South Australia.
Rules of the Road
Mystery Road producer Greer Simpkin and season two director Warwick Thornton discuss the show’s expansion from the movies that inspired it and how it blends traditional western tropes with the Australian outback.
Uptown girl
Stumptown showrunner Jason Richman takes DQ inside the making of the ABC series, recalling how the original graphic novel was adapted for television and revealing how Marvel star Cobie Smulders was cast as lead character Dex Parios.
United Stateless
Hollywood star Cate Blanchett discusses the six-year journey to bring Australian drama Stateless to the screen and explains why more broadcasters need to open up to this type of ‘elephant in the room’ storytelling.
Making the law
Exec producers Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson and Doug Robinson introduce ABC legal drama For Life, based on the true story of a prisoner who becomes a lawyer for other inmates while fighting to overturn his own life sentence.
Higher ground
British actor Freddie Highmore made his name in feature films and as a young Norman Bates in Psycho prequel series Bates Motel. He explains why his starring role in ABC medical drama The Good Doctor is his biggest challenge yet.
Conversation starter
Ahead of the world premiere of Total Control, star and executive producer Rachel Griffiths takes DQ inside the themes and issues behind the Australian political drama.
Doing more with Les
Australian literary hero Les Norton comes to television in an adaptation of the cult books by Robert G Barrett. DQ hears how the source material has been updated for modern audiences while recreating the style and character of 1980s Sydney.
Scaling new Heights
Warren Clarke, showrunner of Australian ensemble drama The Heights, discusses the making of this series set in a housing tower and the challenges of launching a serial drama.
Mind the Gap
The creators of Screentime miniseries Pine Gap reveal how they recreated the eponymous Australian/US defence base and explain why it makes the perfect backdrop for drama.
Starting over
Castle star Nathan Fillion and showrunner Alexi Hawley reunite in ABC drama The Rookie. They tell DQ about creating a series that aims to break the formula of network cop series.