Underbelly: Razor

Underbelly: Razor is a 13-part Australian television mini-series detailing real events that occurred in Sydney between 1927 and 1936. The series depicts the "razor gangs" who controlled the city's underworld during the era and the violent war between the two "vice queen" powers, Tilly Devine and Kate Leigh.

In contrast to the previous Underbelly installments, which were based on books by John Silvester and Andrew Rule, Razor is based on the Ned Kelly Award-winning book of the same name, written by Larry Writer. The first episode is titled "The Worst Woman In Sydney"; the war waged between Devine and Leigh culminates in a bloody battle depicted in the episode, "Armageddon".^[1] The first two episodes were played back-to-back on 21 August 2011.

Synopsis

Razor is set during the "Roaring Twenties" and 1930s, mainly between 1927 and 1936 in Sydney, when organised crime in Australia became more prominent. The series details the story of the bloody battle between the era's most feared "vice queens", Tilly Devine and her rival Kate Leigh, plus the "razor gangs" which controlled the Sydney underworld during that time. Embroiled in the violence is the country's still-young police force and a young girl called Nellie Cameron, determined to lose her innocence and destined to become the most famous prostitute in the land.

Cast

Main characters

• Danielle Cormack stars as Kate Leigh, rival of the Devines and sly grog queen
• Chelsie Preston Crayford stars as Tilly Devine, brothel madam
• Anna McGahan stars as Nellie Cameron, a notorious prostitute embroiled in the violence of the era
• Jack Campbell stars as "Big Jim" Devine, Tilly Devine's husband
• John Batchelor stars as Wally Tomlinson, business associate and boyfriend of Kate Leigh
• Khan Chittenden stars as Frank "The Little Gunman" Green, notorious criminal and assassin
• Richard Brancatisano stars as Guido Calletti, feared gangland figure and Nellie Cameron's first husband
• Craig Hall stars as Detective Inspector Bill Mackay, part of the country's young police force
• Lucy Wigmore stars as Lillian May Armfield, one of Australia's first policewomen
• Steve Le Marquand stars as Sergeant Tom Wickham, a member of New South Wales' first drug "squad"

Secondary characters

• Jeremy Lindsay Taylor as Norman Bruhn, the era's most feared standover man
• Justin Rosniak as Leslie "Squizzy" Taylor, Bruhn's rival
• Felix Williamson as Phil "The Jew" Jeffs, infamous gangster
• Lincoln Lewis as Bruce Higgs, an associate of Kate Leigh
• Pippa Grandison as Mona Woods, singer at one of Kate Leigh's sly grog shops
• Conrad Coleby as Constable Wharton "Syd" Thompson, the other half of Sydney's first drug "squad"
• Guy Edmonds as Greg "The Gunman" Gaffney, an associate of vice-queen Kate Leigh
• Rel Hunt as William Archer, bathhouse proprietor and part of the razor gangs
• Matt Boesenberg as John "Snowy" Cutmore, standover man ^[2]
• Adam Tuominen as Frank "Razor Jack" Hayes, part of Bruhn's gang, which included "Snowy" and "The Midnight Raper"
• Pacharo Mzembe as "Nigger", a gangster. His character was redubbed "Nugget" for the "Underbelly: Razor - Uncut" DVD release.
• Jessica Mauboy as the Fifty Fifty Club singer
• Rob Mills as Eric Connolly, a jazz club singer
• Saskia Burmeister as Ida Maddocks, the main rape victim and primary witness in "the Darlinghurst Outrage" case
• Gigi Edgley as TBA
• Emily Rose Brennan as "Black" Aggie, one of Tilly Devine's prostitutes. Begins a relationship with Greg "The Gunman" Gaffney
• Rick Donald as Barney Dalton,employed by Kate Leigh and murdered by Frank Green.
• Guy Spence as Sid "Kicker" Kelly, the Kelly brothers were a part of the razor gangs
• Clint Foster as Tom Kelly, the other half of the Kelly brothers
• Caleb Alloway as Constable Keith Sullivan, one of the times' crime fighters
• T.J. Power as Len Jones, involved in the violence of the times
• Anna Lawrence as Irene Bruhn, wife of Norman Bruhn
• Tasman and Rex Palazzi as Noel and Keith Bruhn, toddler sons of Norman Bruhn
• Grant Garland as Charles Connors, gangster and 'razor-man'
• Izzy Stevens as Eileen Leigh, daughter of Kate Leigh and of 'Razorhurst'
• Troy Planet as George "The Midnight Raper" Wallace, violent gangster
• Jake Ryan as Ray "The Blizzard" Blissett, policeman amongst the violence of the Roaring Twenties
• Felix Jozeps as Ernest Wilson, a gangster involved in the violence
• Kim Knuckey as Fred Moffitt, taxi driver of the times
• Rachel Rowlatt as Phyllis, housekeeper of the Devines
• Maha Wilson as TBA, a prostitute living amongst the danger
• Mitchell Wright as TBA, a part of the wars of razor-filled Darlinghurst
• Larry Writer cameos as TBA, a wealthy businessman who frequents Kate Leigh's nightclubs
• Arianwen Parkes-Lockwood as Dolly Green, wife of Frank "The Little Gunman" Green
• Lizzie Schebesta as the famous gangster's moll Dulcie Markham

Weekly ratings

The premiere episode made Razor the highest rating drama in Australian history, surpassing the record set by Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities.^[3]
The weekly Australian metropolitan ratings are listed below:

References