Offspring (TV series)

Offspring

Offspring title card
Genre Drama
Created by Debra Oswald
John Edwards
Imogen Banks
Starring Asher Keddie
Kat Stewart
Don Hany
Deborah Mailman
Eddie Perfect
Linda Cropper
Richard Davies
Matthew Le Nevez
Lachy Hulme
John Waters
Jane Harber
Ido Drent
Ben Barrington
Patrick Brammall
Narrated by Asher Keddie
Theme music composer Thao with the Get Down Stay Down
Opening theme "When We Swam"
Composer(s) John Lee
Country of origin Australia
Original language(s) English
No. of series 5
No. of episodes 66 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Rick Maier
Rory Callaghan
Producer(s) John Edwards
Imogen Banks
Location(s) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Camera setup Nicholas Owens
Running time 45 minutes
Production company(s) Southern Star Entertainment
Broadcast
Original channel Network Ten
Picture format 576i (PAL)
Audio format Stereo
Original run 15 August 2010 – present
External links
Website

Offspring is a multi-award winning Australian television drama/comedy series which premiered on Network Ten on 15 August 2010. Offspring is centred on 30-something obstetrician Nina Proudman and her family, as they navigate the chaos of modern life.[1] The show mixes conventional narrative drama with flashbacks, graphic animation and fantasy sequences.

Debra Oswald wrote the series with John Edwards and Imogen Banks producing with Southern Star Entertainment.[2][3] Offspring was originally conceived as a two hour telemovie for Ten, but was spun off into a 13 episodes series after television executives were impressed by the quality of the telemovie. The second season began on 16 May 2011, with a double episode premiere.

Offspring was renewed for fourth and fifth seasons on 12 July 2012.[4]

On 3 October 2014, John Edwards confirmed that due to the Network Ten's in-house production company is running out of money, Offspring would not return for a sixth series. On that occasion the network will face cost-cutting measures in Ten's drama division.[5]

On October 20, 2014, caller Nathan reported on 3AW's Word on the Street segment that with Ten's in-house studio running out of money, Party Tricks would also not return for second series and that Edwards and Banks are looking at resurrecting Offspring with a new series slated for 2015.

Cast

Main

Actor Character Season
1 2 3 4 5
Asher Keddie Dr Nina Proudman Main
Kat Stewart Billie Proudman Main
Don Hany Dr Chris Havel Main Guest
Deborah Mailman Cherie Butterfield Main
Eddie Perfect Mick Holland Main
Richard Davies Jimmy Proudman Main
Linda Cropper Geraldine Proudman Main
John Waters Darcy Proudman Main Recurring
Matthew Le Nevez Dr Patrick Reid Main
Lachy Hulme Dr Martin Clegg Recurring Main
Jane Harber Zara Perkich-Proudman Recurring Main
Ido Drent Dr Lawrence Pethbridge Recurring Main
Patrick Brammall Leo Taylor Main
Ben Barrington Thomas Buchdahl Main

Current supporting cast

Past supporting cast

Production

The series is produced by John Edwards and Imogen Banks who also co-produce Tangle. John Edwards was responsible for such successes as Police Rescue, The Secret Life of Us, Love My Way, and Dangerous - also produced with Imogen Banks, and has more recently been producing Rush for Seriously Ten.

Offspring: The Nurses

A web series titled Offspring: The Nurses began in 2010 on the official Offspring website.[6] It follows nurses Kim (Alicia Gardiner) and Zara (Jane Harber) from the original series and also stars Benedict Hardie, Julia Grace, Laura Gilham, Carl Nilsson Polias, Jodie Sheehy and Matthew Heyward as fellow staff members of the Hospital. Some cast members from the original series have also starred as well.

A second web series follows Zara (Jane Harber) and this time Justina Noble as Nurse Tyra. Series 2 also starred Benedict Hardie, Harry Milas, Josh Price, Natalie Kaplan, Sonja Kowanjko and Kate Hopkins. While Richard Davies and Lachy Hulme also made guest appearances.

Awards and nominations

Australian Film Institute Awards

Year Nominee Award Result
2010 Deborah Mailman Best Guest or Supporting Actress in a Television Drama Won
John Waters Best Guest or Supporting Actor in a Television Drama Nominated

TV Week Logie Awards

Year Nominee Award Result
2011 Asher Keddie Most Popular Actress Won
Offspring Most Popular Drama Series Nominated
Don Hany Most Popular Actor Nominated
Eddie Perfect Most Popular New Male Talent Nominated
Richard Davies Most Outstanding New Talent Nominated
Asher Keddie Most Outstanding Actress Nominated
Kat Stewart Most Outstanding Actress Nominated
2012 Asher Keddie Most Popular Actress Won
Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality on Australian TV Nominated
Eddie Perfect Most Popular Actor Nominated
Offspring Most Popular Drama Series Nominated
Kat Stewart Most Outstanding Actress Nominated
Offspring Most Outstanding Drama Series, Miniseries or Telemovie Nominated
2013 Asher Keddie Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality on Australian TV Won
Most Popular Actress Won
Matthew Le Nevez Most Popular Actor Nominated
Clare Bowditch Most Popular New Female Talent Nominated
Offspring Most Popular Australian Drama Nominated
Most Outstanding Drama Series Nominated
2014 Asher Keddie Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality on Australian TV Nominated
Most Popular Actress Won
Matthew Le Nevez Most Popular Actor Nominated
Asher Keddie Most Outstanding Actress Won
Kat Stewart Nominated
Offspring Most Popular Drama Program Nominated
2015[7] Asher Keddie Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality on Australian TV Pending
Most Popular Actress Pending
Offspring Most Popular Drama Program Pending

Equity Ensemble Awards

Year Category Recipients and nominees Result
2013 Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Series 1 cast Nominated
2012 Series 2 cast Nominated
2013[8] Series 3 cast Nominated
2014[9] Series 4 cast Nominated

Series Ratings

Season # of Episodes Season
Premiere		 Season
Final		 Peak
Audience		 Average
Audience
1 14 15 August 2010 21 November 2010 1,160,000 1,064,000
2 13 16 May 2011 20 July 2011 1,070,000 936,000
3 13 18 April 2012 11 July 2012 1,086,000 836,000
4 13 22 May 2013 14 August 2013 1,106,000 804,000
5 13 14 May 2014 6 August 2014 992,000 849,000

Episodes

DVD releases

DVD season #
episodes		 #
disc(s)		 Region 1 Region 2 Region 4 Special features
The Complete First Series
and Feature-Length Telemovie		 13
(+ Telemovie)		 5 N/A N/A 1 December 2010[10]
  • Original feature-length telemovie
  • Offspring: The Nurses (Series 1 webisodes)
The Complete
Second Series		 13 4 N/A N/A 14 September 2011[11]
  • Offspring: The Nurses (Series 2 webisodes)
The Complete
Third Series		 13 4 N/A N/A 1 August 2012[12]
  • TBA

International distribution

Country Channel Year Notes
 Australia Network Ten 2010
 Brazil GNT 2012
 Ireland RTÉ One 2012 Sundays
 Israel HOT VOD, HOT3 2012
 Netherlands TLC Netherlands 2011 July
 New Zealand TV One 2010 Sundays 8:30pm[13]
 Norway TLC 2011
 Finland YLE TV2 2013 Mondays 22:05 hrs.
 Portugal AXN White 2011 Portuguese title: Descobrindo Nina
 Russia TLC 2011 Sundays beginning from 29 May
 Spain Sony Entertainment Television 2011 Spanish title: Descubriendo a Nina
 Sweden TLC 2011 Thursdays at 9:00pm

References

  1. ↑ "Three way drama tussle?". TV Tonight. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  2. ↑ "Offspring springs into series". TV Tonight. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  3. ↑ "Credits". Offspring. Network Ten, Film Victoria, Southern Star. 6 July 2010. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  4. ↑ "Renewed: Offspring". TV Tonight. 12 July 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  5. ↑ "Offspring cancelled: Asher Keddie has played beloved character for last time". The Guardian. 3 October 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
  6. ↑ "Home - Network Ten". Ten.com.au. 5 January 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  7. ↑ Willis, Charlotte (22 March 2015). "Here's the full List of 2015 Logies nominations". news.com.au. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  8. ↑ "3rd Equity Ensemble Awards - Winners announced!". Equity Foundation (Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance). 3 May 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  9. ↑ "Equity Ensemble Awards 2014 - Voting Now Open!". Equity Foundation (Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance). 1 April 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  10. ↑ "Australia's first and largest online DVD and Blu-ray store". EzyDVD. 22 April 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  11. ↑ "Buy Offspring - The Complete 2nd Season (4 Disc Set) on DVD-Video from". EzyDVD.com.au. 22 April 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  12. ↑ "Offspring: Season 3". EzyDVD. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  13. ↑ "New season TV: Offspring". The New Zealand Herald. 27 January 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2011.

External links