News

CBS’s NCIS: Sydney season one episode four finds the team working on a cold murder case. Directed by Kriv Stenders from a script by Tamara Asmar, episode four – “Ghosted” – will air on Tuesday, December 5, 2023 at 8pm Et/Pt.

Season one stars Olivia Swann (DC’s Legends of Tomorrow) as NCIS Special Agent Michelle Mackey, Sean Sagar (The Covenant) as NCIS Special Agent DeShawn Jackson, and Todd Lasance (Spartacus: War of the Damned) as her 2Ic Afp counterpart, Sergeant Jim “Jd” Dempsey. The cast also includes Tuuli Narkle (Mystery Road: Origin) as Afp liaison officer Constable Evie Cooper, Mavournee Hazel (Shantaram) as Afp forensic scientist Bluebird “Blue” Gleeson, and William McInnes (The Newsreader) as Afp forensic pathologist Dr Roy Penrose.

“Ghosted” Plot: When a U.S. petty officer’s body is found in Sydney’s historic and haunted Rocks area, a decades-old Navy Cross medal holds the clue to solving the murder,...

Newen Connect is building up its English-language scripted slate with timely, high-concept titles, including “Wagatha,” a dramatic reconstruction of the viral court case involving Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy, the wives of high-profile British footballers. Newen Connect has also acquired the Australian supernatural bromance “Limbo,” and the inclusive British mystery thriller “Blindspot.”

Written by Chris Atkins, “Wagatha” (working title) charts the High Court case which stemmed from alleged leaked Instagram stories in 2019 and opposes Rooney and Vardy. Produced by Chalkboard and commissioned by Channel 4, “Wagatha” stars Chanel Cresswell, the BAFTA-winning actor of “This is England” and Natalia Tena (“Game of Thrones”). Filming just wrapped in September.

The case which has been coined #WagathaChristie in reference to the English detective novelist Agatha Christie, has already been thoroughly covered on social media and in the press, especially in the U.S., but this “TV event will go further, immersing audiences inside...

Rodger Corser and Tina Bursill in ‘Doctor Doctor.’

The Nine Network has ordered a fifth season of Easy Tiger’s medical drama Doctor Doctor, a rare commission with much of the country in virtual lockdown.

Co-head of drama Andy Ryan says the broadcaster is developing a number of drama series for 2021 and 2022.

The renewal follows yesterday’s announcement by Nine Entertainment that it aims to cut costs by $266 million this calendar year as the pandemic flattens advertising revenues.

Nine said it expects to save $28 million in spending on broadcast content this year, primarily local drama and children’s programs, assuming a prolonged production shutdown.

Co-created by Easy Tiger’s Ian Collie and Tony McNamara, Doctor Doctor stars Rodger Corser as errant rural doctor Hugh Knight. Season four, which features regulars including Nicole da Silva, Ryan Johnson, Tina Bursill, Matt Castley and Miranda Tapsell, is on hiatus while Nine News screens...

Niki Aken at Charlie’s in La

Like the rest of the crew and cast, Niki Aken was gutted when the production of the ABC comedy Why Are You Like This was shut down with two weeks filming to go.

Aken is the script producer on the six-part show created and written by Naomi Higgins, Humyara Mahbub and Aunty Donna’s Mark Samual Bonanno, produced by Sarah Freeman for the directors Jessie Oldfield and Adam Murfet’s production company Ckol.

A spin-off of the pilot funded by the Screen Australia/ABC Fresh Blood initiative, the series follows best friends Mia (Olivia Junkeer) and Penny (Higgins) and Penny’s aloof housemate Austin (Wil King).

“Obviously it was the the right call, but gutting for the cast and crew,” Niki says. “It was a normal, human response to an unprecedented situation.

“I am one of the lucky ones as an in-demand writer...

Tamara Asmar.

Screenwriting is often such a lonely pursuit that Tamara Asmar really relishes her time brainstorming in writers’ rooms, likening the experience to being in a confessional.

“These are places where people divulge the most personal, hilarious, moving and heartbreaking things about their lives,” says the prolific writer whose credits include Doctor Doctor, On the Ropes, Love Child and Beat Bugs.

“That feeds into stories, sparks ideas and takes you down different narrative pathways that you otherwise would not have. I have definitely contributed some stories, cleverly masked.”

Currently Asmar is juggling multiple projects in development including Aleph, an eight-part series created by Miranda Nation for Porchlight Films, a fantasy drama for Jungle Entertainment and a movie for Easy Tiger which she now thinks is better suited to TV.

Screen Australia is funding the story development of Aleph, which follows a woman who is faced with the choice between...

The writers of All Is True, Hotel Mumbai, Relic, Ride Like a Girl and The Favourite have been nominated for best original feature film in the 52nd annual Awgie Awards.

Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears (Deb Cox) and True History of the Kelly Gang (Shaun Grant) are the contenders for the feature film adaptation category.

Andrew Knight scored two nominations, for Ride Like a Girl (shared with Elise McCredie) and for TV series or miniseries for an episode of ABC’s Jack Irish, competing with Bloom (Glen Dolman), Secret City: Under the Eagle (Matt Cameron) and The End (Samantha Strauss).

Ben Elton wrote All is True, John Collee and Anthony Maras wrote Hotel Mumbai, Christian White and Natalie Erika James scripted Relic and Tony McNamara and Deborah Davis collaborated on The Favourite.

In the running for telemovie or miniseries up to four hours are The Cry (Jacquelin Perske...

Short film ‘Oddlands’, which is being developed into a six-part series. (Photo: Georgina Savage)

Screen Australia has announced $300,000 of story development funding for six features, four TV dramas and two online series.

The slate includes feature film Memoir of a Snail from Oscar-winner Adam Elliot; Aleph, a science-fiction series from Porchlight Films about a mother who faces the unthinkable decision of saving her daughter or humanity; and online dark comedy Plushed, which explores mental illness through the eyes of a toy.

This is the the second round of funding announced since Screen Australia’s changes to development funding guidelines last July. Recently the agency has made further clarifications to the guidelines to improve the application process, which include increasing the pitch video length to up to four minutes, adding budget level limits to more clearly differentiate the Generate and Premium funds adding an opportunity to provide a paragraph synopsis to a proof of concept.