| Spirited | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Drama |
| Created by | Jacquelin Perske Claudia Karvan |
| Starring | Claudia Karvan Matt King Rodger Corser Belinda Bromilow Angus Sampson Louis Fowler Charlie Hancock |
| Theme music composer | Jed Kurzel |
| Opening theme | Stranded by The Saints |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 18 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Claudia Karvan Jacquelin Perske |
| Producer(s) | John Edwards |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | W (2010-2011) Showcase |
| Picture format | 576i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original run | 25 August 2010 – present |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Spirited is an Australian television drama series made for subscription television channel W that aired two seasons, from 2010-2011.
The series stars Claudia Karvan, as dentist Suzy Darling, who walks away from a loveless marriage and into an old apartment block that is inhabited by the ghost of a 1980s English rock star Henry Mallet, played by Matt King.[1] Suzy had been married to husband Steve Darling, played by Rodger Corser, for 15 years and they have two children son Elvis, 13, (Louis Fowler) and daughter Verity, 8, (Charlie Hancock). Belinda Bromilow plays Suzy’s sister Jonquil.[2]
Spirited was cancelled by W on 15 October 2011. It was however revealed on 16 December that a development deal has been reached with Australian premium cable channel, Showcase, for a third series.
Contents |
Claudia Karvan stars as dentist Suzy Darling, who walks away from her husband Steve Darling (Rodger Corser) of 15 years and their loveless marriage and into an old apartment block that is inhabited by the ghost of Henry Mallet (Matt King), a 1980s English rock star. Suzy also has two children, thirteen year old son Elvis (Louis Fowler) and eight year old daughter Verity (Charlie Hancock), along with a sister Jonquil (Belinda Bromilow).
It is revealed that although Suzy is the only human able to see Henry, animals such as the resident cat are able to sense his presence, however Henry has been able to frighten the caretaker into a heart attack by blowing into his ear.
Spirited is produced by John Edwards, Claudia Karvan and Jacquelin Perske who also created drama series Love My Way.
On 15 October 2011, W announced they had decided to cancel Spirited and that the series would not return for a third series.[3] Immediately following this announcement, members of the fan community responded by launching a campaign to have the show renewed called "SOS: Save Our Spirited.[4][5]
However, on 16 December 2011, it was announced that a development deal had been reached with another Australian premium cable channel, Showcase, for a third series of Spirited.[6]
UK reviewer Dan Owen gave the pilot episode 1.5 of 4 stars, writing, "There’s a beautifully simple and engaging premise to Australian supernatural drama Spirited, but it’s one that unfortunately proves to be the only saving grace of a soporific and plodding pilot." Owen continued, "There are enough questions here to lure you back for awhile".[7] Jo Curtis at UnrealityTV.com found the pilot "funny; it’s very funny, but probably only if you have a sense of humour that tends towards black", and described the comedy and Karvan's character transformation to be "a breath of fresh air."[8]
The first season was "Foxtel's most successful Australian drama."[9] Although the target audience was "women in their 40s", it also gained the interest of male teenagers, for the "punk character" of Henry Mallet, according to Karvan.[9]
In a video review, Doug Anderson (The Age/The Guide) and Lenny Ann Low (SMH) described the series as "very engaging", and "quality drama" with no problems in its style, substance or ideas.[10]
The Age reviewer Brad Newsome described the second season premiere as "just as imaginative and funny as any that has gone before."[11] In the week following, Newsome described the show as "one of the most imaginative things on TV, blending romance, drama and comedy into a wonderfully satisfying whole."[12]
The seventh episode in the first series, "Riders on the Storm", written by Jacquelin Perske (writer of the film Little Fish), was one of three nominees for the 2011 Australian Writers Guild AWGIE Award for best scriptwriting in a television series.[13]
| DVD Season | # Episodes |
# Disc(s) |
Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | Special Features | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 8 | 2 | N/A | N/A | April 19, 2011[14] | None | |
| Season 2 | 10 | 3 | N/A | N/A | February 8, 2012[15] | N/A | |
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