Anthony LaPaglia, Jessica Marais.
Anthony LaPaglia and Jessica Marais will co-star with Rebecca Gibney in the Nine Network’s crime thriller miniseries Halifax: Retribution, which will start shooting in Melbourne later this month.
Jacqueline McKenzie, Rick Donald, Hannah Monson, Craig Hall, Mavournee Hazel and Louisa Mignone round out the cast of the Halifax reboot produced by Beyond Lonehand.
Original creator and writer Roger Simpson returns as writer and producer alongside executive producer Mikael Borglund and writers Mac Gudgeon (The Secret River, Killing Time), Peter Gawler (My Life is Murder, Wolf Creek, Underbelly) and Oscar-nominated Jan Sardi (The Secret River, Mao’s Last Dancer, Shine).
Gudgeon and Sardi both worked with Simpson on Halifax f.p., which ran for seven seasons on Nine and ended in 2002. Rebecca Gibney reprises her role as forensic psychiatrist Jane Halifax, who has carved out a new career as a university professor.
When a serial sniper starts terrorising Melbourne, she is lured back into the field to help the police task force find the killer. As she profiles a killer hidden in plain sight, she finds herself firmly in his sights.
The set-up director Mark Joffe (Jimmy Barnes: Working Class Boy, Jack Irish) will direct the first two episodes. Nathan Lloyd is the casting director.
Screen Australia and Film Victoria are backing the production and Beyond Distribution will handle international sales.
Beyond Lonehand is a new joint venture between Simpson and Borglund, whose relationship dates back to Beyond Simpson Le Mesurier in the 1980s.
Rebecca said: “I am beyond excited to be breathing new life into Jane Halifax as she was and still is one of my favourite characters. I always believed there was so much more we could explore with her
“Having grown as a woman and hopefully as an actor over the last 20 years I’m really looking forward to exploring Jane’s world from a new perspective.
“I’m also thrilled to be reuniting with Anthony LaPaglia, my co-star in Mental, and Jessica Marais. Both are formidable talents and excellent humans so I know we will have a fantastic time on the shoot.
“Roger Simpson has been at the forefront of the best Australian drama for over 35 years and has once again delivered a truly gripping storyline that I know will keep audiences guessing right up until the last episode.”
Screen Australia CEO Graeme Mason said: “Australian television has a rich history of creating iconic female characters and Jane Halifax is one of them. There is a real appetite to revisit these characters and bring them into new settings with SeaChange also in production for Nine.”