ABC black romantic comedy Laid has gone south for series two, with shooting starting today in Melbourne.
After filming in Sydney for the first series in July last year, the six-part production – created and written by Marieke Hardy and Kirsty Fisher – has moved due to several cast and creatives already being based in Melbourne. Financial assistance was also provided from Film Victoria. The series will again explore the “robustly comical motifs of sex and death”, Hardy says.
Reprising their roles include Alison Bell (as Roo), Celia Pacquola (as EJ), Toby Truslove (as EJ’s on again, off again boyfriend Zach), Graeme Blundell and Tracy Mann (as Roo’s parents Graham and Marion), and Shaun Micallef as G-Bomb (Roo’s gyno with the unconventional bedside manner). Damon Herriman (CSI, Cold Case, Love My Way) joins the series (as Marcus).
Roo’s world is turned upside down when she meets Marcus, somebody stricken with a vaguely similar set of mysterious circumstances to the ones plaguing her – although Marcus is a little different from Roo. In fact, he is her opposite. And everybody he has sex with … is healed.
With EJ as her somewhat reluctant co-pilot, Roo embarks upon a journey. A journey to wipe the slate clean – emotionally, physically, spiritually. Along the way the two will encounter halitosis, port wine stains, funerals, trial separations, couples bootcamp and one particularly appalling conversation about semen – all in the name of preserving true love.
The Porchlight Films production will be produced by Andrew Walker (Judith Lucy's Spiritual Journey, Woodley, The Librarians), directed by Abe Forsythe (who appeared in series one), and executive produced by Liz Watts (Animal Kingdom) and Debbie Lee (for ABC).
The shoot is scheduled for about six weeks and the show (originally known as Like A Virgin) will screen on ABC next year.