| Underbelly | |
|---|---|
Underbelly logo |
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| Genre | Crime drama |
| Starring | Series 1: Rodger Corser Caroline Craig Gyton Grantley Kat Stewart Series 2: Roy Billing Anna Hutchinson Matthew Newton Asher Keddie Peter Phelps Series 3: Emma Booth Firass Dirani Wil Traval Cheree Cassidy Dieter Brummer Paul Tassone Daniel Roberts Damien Garvey Series 4: Danielle Cormack Chelsie Preston Crayford Anna McGahan Jack Campbell John Batchelor Khan Chittenden Richard Brancatisano Craig Hall Lucy Wigmore Steve Le Marquand |
| Narrated by | Caroline Craig |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 52 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Des Monaghan Jo Horsburgh |
| Producer(s) | Greg Haddrick Brenda Pam |
| Running time | 60 minutes (including commercials) |
| Production company(s) | Art Company |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Nine Network |
| Picture format | 576i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
| Audio format | Dolby Digital 5.1 |
| Original run | 13 February 2008 – present |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Underbelly is an Australian television true crime-drama which originally broadcast on the Nine Network. Each series contains 13 episodes and is based on real-life events including the Melbourne gangland killings between 1995-2004, the Griffith drug trade between 1976-1987, and the Kings Cross scene between 1988-1999. The first series is based on the book Leadbelly: Inside Australia's Underworld, by The Age journalists John Silvester and Andrew Rule.[1]
A fourth series Underbelly: Razor,which is based on Sydney's infamous razor-gang wars between 1927 and 1936, has completed airing. Three telemovies called The Underbelly Files have also been made: Tell Them Lucifer was Here, on the hunt for the killers of two police officers in 1998, Infiltration, on an Australian police detective's infiltration of the Calabrian Mafia, and The Man Who Got Away, about the only man who escaped from Bangkok's Klong Prem prison. All three aired on the Nine Network in February 2011. [2]
In September 2011, a New Zealand version of the series premiered on TV3, titled Underbelly NZ: Land of the Long Green Cloud this six part mini-series was the first Underbelly production to be produced and financed outside of Australia. The series detailed events beginning in the late 1960s to and throughout the 1970s and told the origin of the Mr Asia drug syndicate and its original leader Marty Johnstone.The series is somewhat a prequel to the series A Tale of Two Cities. An American version has also been announced on the network channel Starz though nothing else has been confirmed at this stage.
A fifth series has been confirmed by the Nine Network and is due to screen sometime in 2012. It is currently unknown what the setting, era or title of the fifth series will be. A sixth series is also rumoured to be in the writing stages.
Contents |
Season 1 focuses on events in Melbourne which occurred between 1995 and 2004 referred to as the Melbourne gangland killings in which 36 criminal figures and others were killed, and the transformation of Carl Williams from harmless driver into one of Australia's most notorious drug kingpins.
Season 2 is a prequel to the first and focuses on events that occurred in Sydney and Melbourne between the years 1976 to 1987. Events depicted include
Season 3 is the sequel to A Tale of Two Cities plus a prequel to the first season and focuses on events that stemmed from the Kings Cross nightclub scene in Sydney between the years 1988 to 1999. Characters and events depicted include
The activities of corrupt Kings Cross police officers - most notably Trevor Haken and "Chook" Fowler - and their actions are mainly depicted in the series, and some of these characters reprise their roles from the second season. The Wood Royal Commission into police corruption which occurred in 1995 is also prominently featured.
Season 4 started on 21 August 2011. Underbelly: Razor will be set in Sydney during the roaring 1920s, when organised crime in Australia began. This is the story of the bloody battle between the era’s most feared vice queens, Tilly Devine and her rival Kate Leigh.[3] The new series is based on the Ned Kelly Award-winning book Razor, by Larry Writer. The series includes an ensemble cast beginning with New Zealand actresses Chelsie Preston Crayford and Danielle Cormack portraying Devine and Leigh respectively.
This 6-part mini-series will air on TV3 in New Zealand sometime during September 2011. Underbelly NZ: Land of the Long Green Cloud will be set in the late 1960's to sometime throughout the 1970's. Events depicted include the origins of the Mr. Asia drug syndicate and its original leader Marty Johnstone. Though not a part of the Australian series chronology, this series is a prequel to the Australian series Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities. Main characters include Marty Johnstone, Terry Clark and Andy Maher.
A fifth series of Underbelly has been confirmed by the Nine Network as being in production and it is due to air sometime in 2012. The location, setting, era and title have not yet been announced but it is strognly rumoured that the series will be set in Queensland during the 1980's.
Although the fifth series has been announced to air in 2012, rumours and hints given in interviews by the creators of the franchise have suggested that the fifth series of Underbelly will not be its last. As no details have yet been revealed about the fifth series storyline, setting, era or title, it is highly likely that a sixth series could go into production if Underbelly 5 is a success in the ratings. Screentime's Des Monaghan has indicated that the production company is keen to possibly revisit Tony Mokbel's story for the pending sixth series. [4]
In early 2010 the Nine Network announced that three separate stand-alone crime telemovies would continue the Underbelly franchise. Known by the collective title Underbelly: Files, the first was Tell Them Lucifer was Here, the second Infiltration and the third The Man Who Got Away[5] and premiered on Australia's Nine Network early in the 2011 ratings season.
Tell Them Lucifer Was Here depicts the murders of Victorian police officers, Gary Silk and Rod Miller which occurred in 1998 and shows the enormous efforts of the Lorimer Task Force in leading the manhunt for their killer or killers.
It stars Brett Climo, Jeremy Kewley, Todd Lasance, Greg Stone, Dimitri Baveas, Ditch Davey, Jane Allsop, Annie Jones, Paul O'Brien, Daniel Whyte, Chris Bunworth, James Taylor, Craig Blumeris, Jasmine Dare, Marshall Napier, Robert Taylor, Shanti Pezet and Lee Cormie, with a return guest appearance by Don Hany as Nik 'The Russian' Radev - the same character he played in the original "Underbelly" series (which was set a few years after the events that take place in this movie).
The movie had its premiere screening across Australia on the Nine and WIN Networks on Monday 7 February 2011, quickly followed by an encore screening on GEM on Sunday 13 February 2011.
Late in 2010 this telemovie hit a legal snag as part of a pending court case in the NSW law courts, which resulted in a slightly altered version of 'Lucifer' being broadcast in Sydney and NSW on Monday 7 February. [6] The version screened in NSW omitted one particular scene and changed the names of a number of individuals in the case (for example "Bandali Debs" changed to "Patrici Fabro"), however in an oversight, the subtitles were not edited and showed the original names.
Infiltration is an adaptation for screen from an autobiographical novel written by ex-cop Colin McLaren. He and his police partner lived undercover in Griffith, New South Wales for a number of years, in order to 'Infiltrate' the very closed and deadly Mafia community there. Colin slowly befriended the Romeo family and eventually became a dear and trusted family friend and confidant to Mrs Romeo. Much to the Romeo family's shock and betrayal, all is exposed, and leads to broken hearts and death.
The two hour telemovie aired on 14 February 2011 and stars Sullivan Stapleton as Colin McLaren, Jessica Napier as Jude, Tottie Goldsmith as Sara, Kassandra Clementi as Chelsea McLaren, and co-stars Valentino del Toro, Buddy Dannoun, Glenda Linscott and Henry Nixon.[7]
The Man Who Got Away tells the story of David McMillan who was a British born Australian drug smuggler and the only westerner in history to escape from Klong Prem prison in Bangkok.
It stars Toby Schmitz as David McMillan and Claire van der Boom as McMillan's partner Clelia Vigano. The cast also features Jeremy Sims, Aaron Jeffery, Nicholas Eadie, Brendan Cowell, Freya Stafford, Josh Lawson, John Orcisk, William Zappa, Heather Mitchell and Deirdre Rubenstein. Also features Anthony Tsingas, as David's Dad.
The Man Who Got Away premiered on the Nine Network on Monday 21 February 2011.[8]
On 22 June 2010, it was announced that the channel, Starz, will remake the Underbelly series. It will not be based on the original series, instead the writers will look for American gangs and rewrite situations in Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities, replacing character traits and outcomes.[9]
On 22 December 2010, 3News reported that New Zealand on Air would contribute $3.9 million towards six one-hour episodes of Underbelly NZ: The Land of the Long Green Cloud, in conjunction with Screentime's New Zealand branch. The executive producer of Underbelly NZ was announced as Philly de Lacey.
The mini-series was scripted by John Banas and centred on the "Mr. Asia" drug syndicate, which was a major storyline of the second Australian Underbelly series, A Tale of Two Cities. The show was marketed at the time as Underbelly: The Mr. Asia Story in New Zealand. However, the NZ six-part narrative differentiates itself from the Australian series' portrayal by focussing on the story of New Zealander, Marty Johnstone - dubbed "Mr. Asia". Fellow Kiwi, Terry Clark, a central character of the Australian show, was convicted of Johnstone’s 1979 murder in England and is usually wrongly attributed as "Mr. Asia".
The cast includes:
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The character Detective Constable Ben Charlton is both the narrator and a key player of the series - similar to that of Jacqui James in the original Underbelly.
Land of the Long Green Cloud, a somewhat prequel to the central story of A Tale of Two Cities, will also be set in 1970s New Zealand, but from 1972 to 1980. The mini-series began filming in April 2011, similar to that of Underbelly: Razor. The six episodes will air on TV3 Wednesdays at 9:30pm from 17 August; Episode 1 is titled as "Disorganised Crime", followed by "Trains 'n' Boats 'n' Planes" and "Long Green Cloud".
The latest episodes are available On Demand for New Zealand based viewers for a limited time only. Catch up here.
| # | Episode | Air Date (NZ) | Timeslot |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Disorganised Crime" | 17 August 2011 | 9:30pm Wednesday |
| 2 | "Trains 'n' Boats 'n' Planes" | 24 August 2011 | |
| 3 | "All At Sea" | 31 August 2011 | |
| 4 | "Marty / Party" | 7 September 2011 | |
| 5 | "Dominoes" | 14 September 2011 | |
| 6 | "Thirty Of Silver / One Of Gold" | 21 September 2011 | |
| 1-6 | DVD Release | 22 September 2011 | (Official site) |
| Series | Release dates | DVD Extras and Bonus Features |
Number of Episodes |
Number of Discs |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 | Region 4 | ||||
| Underbelly (Uncut) | 6 December 2011[10] | 8 May 2008[11] | 'Carl Williams – The Day of Reckoning' documentary | 13 | 4 (5 in Special Edition) |
| Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities (Uncut) | 25 May 2009[12] | Extended scenes | 13 | 4 (5 in Special Edition) |
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| Underbelly: The Golden Mile (Fully Loaded) | 28 June 2010[13] | Lenticular packaging | 13 | 4 | |
| Underbelly Files | TBA | 3 March 2011[14] | TBA | 3 Telemovies (2 in NSW Edition) |
3 (2 in NSW Edition) |
| Underbelly: Razor | TBA | 10 November 2011 | TBA | 13 | TBA |
| Underbelly NZ: Land of the Long Green Cloud | TBA | 22 September 2011[15][16] | TBA | 6 | 2 |
Note: The first series release of Underbelly is not available for sale to Victorian customers, due to the Supreme Court of Victoria's prohibition of its distribution or exhibition therein.[17]
Note: There are two versions of the Underbelly Files release as one of the telemovies, Tell Them Lucifer was Here, cannot be shown in NSW due to legal reasons. The NSW Edition will only contain two of the three telemovies in the release.[18]
Note: The first three seasons (Underbelly, Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities and Underbelly: The Golden Mile) will be released together as "Underbelly - The Trilogy: 3 Seasons Uncut and Uncensored".[19]
| Series # | Episodes [20] | Timeslot | Season Premiere [20] | Season Finale | TV Season | Nightly Rankings [21] | Yearly Ranking [21] | Viewers (Millions) [21] |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | >3rd | ||||||||
| 1 | 13 | 8:30pm Wednesday |
13 February 2008 | 7 May 2008 | 2008 | 3 | 1.707* | ||||
| 2 | 13 | 8:30pm Monday |
9 February 2009 | 4 May 2009 | 2009 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2.159 |
| 3 | 13 | 8:30pm Sunday |
11 April 2010 | 27 June 2010 | 2010 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1.712 |
| 4 | 13 | 8:30pm Sunday |
21 August 2011 | 6 November 2011 | 2011 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 10 | 1.595 |
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