Richard Churchward

Dire. Embarrassing. Painful and uncomfortable viewing. I don't mind following an absurd storyline if the script is real, the casting well considered and the acting nuanced. We observed none of these. The script was so off the mark it was cringeworthy. Every character was delivering ridiculous 'Australianisms' which I have never heard in my life....gratuitous stereotyping. And so many absurdly confected moments meant to deliver some cinematic punch....key for the toilet?? Rough and ready Cafe owner?? Crusted over helicopter pilots with ridiculous 'Wolf Creek' attitude?? And playing chess no less!! It probably look great on the page for the 14 year old who penned it. I am accustomed to seeing really poor Australian drama. We just can't do authenticity...low budgets and a tiny talent pool don't help. A semester in NIDA and a gummed on moustache will get you a role in some wunderkind's first feature or televusion crime drama. But isn't this a BBC production?? What happened?? The British sense of characterisation is totally absent here. Set this drama in the remote reaches of the Highlands with a thorough reworking of the script and something worth viewing may have come out of it.... Sadly the usual British sense of capturing an authentic moment in the most understated of ways was subverted by an adolescent script and Australian acting.