Logie award-winning ABC TV drama My Place is about to grace our screens for a second time.
Produced by Penny Chapman and Helen Panckhurst and based on the acclaimed, multi-award winning children’s book penned by Nadia Wheatley, the children's drama will continue to journey further into Australian history.
This time the 13-part, half-hour series will share stories ranging from 1878 to a time before European settlement.
Filmed across Sydney (in such places as Old Sydney Town, the Manly Dam and the Lane Cove National Park), the second series has taken on the production design challenges of recreating eras that viewers will not be able to locate within their own memories.
Nevertheless, My Place doesn’t burden itself with historical earnestness but aims to focus on fun-filled narratives and an appeal to fascination in its child-like exploration of Australian history.
“It’s a history piece, it isn’t a history lesson,” Chapman tells IF.
“It’s a series of really entertaining short films, and then when you get into them you discover that they’re all connected by history.”
The drama, which earlier this year won Best Non-Animated or Mixed Series Award in the family category at the KidScreen Awards in New York, has captured positive responses from older generations, despite its target audience of ages 8-12, due to its creative recreation of Australia’s past.
While Chapman – the inaugural winner of the IF Award for contribution to TV – was initially inspired to turn the book into a televised series in 1993, the interactivity offered through an online component wasn’t available until 2006 when she took the idea to ABC’s Head of Children’s Programming, Claire Henderson.
Series two will once again be accompanied by a rich and interactive website, offering viewers the chance to engage more with the story and settings.
Stars who join the children in the series include Rob Carlton (Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo, Underbelly, Chandon Pictures), Matilda Brown (Underbelly, Rake), and Kate bell (Summer Coda, Home and Away, The Pacific).
Directors involved with series two include Rachel Ward (Beautiful Kate), Samantha Lang (The Monkey’s Mask, Out), Catriona McKenzie (Dance Academy, Satisfaction), and Michael James Rowland (Lucky Miles, Spirited).
My Place series two premieres on ABC3 this Sunday at 5pm.
Co-producer Penny Chapman