‘Mr Inbetween’ (Photo: Mark Rogers).
Foxtel today launched Fox Showcase, a rebrand of the showcase drama channel, designated as the streaming home of the best drama from Australia and around the world.
One pillar of the new channel will be Foxtel Originals starting with Goalpost Pictures’ Fighting Season, which premieres at 8.30 pm on October 28, plus the seventh season of FremantleMedia Australia’s Wentworth and the second series of Matchbox Pictures’ Secret City: Under the Eagle.
Currently in post-production, Lingo Pictures’ four-part Lambs of God follows three nuns, each a generation apart, living in an isolated convent who are interrupted by an unwelcome visitor, a priest. Directed by Jeffrey Walker and written by Sarah Lambert, the show stars Anne Dowd (The Handmaid’s Tale), Essie Davis (Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries), Jessica Barden, Sam Reid, Damon Herriman, Sigrid Thornton, Kate Mulvany and John Bell.
Lingo Pictures will soon start shooting Upright, an eight-part comedy-drama written by Tim Minchin and The Chaser’s Chris Taylor and directed by Matt Saville. Minchin and Milly Alcock play misfits who are thrown together by chance in the middle of the desert and form a bond in their quest to get a piano from one side of Australia to the other.
Minchin’s character is on a mission to see his estranged mother before she dies and Alcock is a teenage runaway. “It’s really funny, with a lot of action and adventure, a story about going home and how you live with your mistakes,” Minchin said at the Foxtel launch function at the Dendy Opera Quays.
Foxtel also announced the co-commission with Sky UK of The End, a 10-part drama which starts filming in Queensland next week, produced by See-Saw Films.
The event was attended by a galaxy of stars including Fighting Season’s Ewen Leslie, George Pullar and Julian Maroun, Secret City: Under The Eagle’s Rob Collins and Don Hany, Wentworth’s Celia Ireland and Susie Porter and A Place To Call Home’s Marta Dusseldorp, David Berry and Frankie J. Holden.
Dusseldorp hailed Foxtel as a leader in Australian drama and originality, its willingness to push boundaries and its nurturing of creatives.
Foxtel CEO Patrick Delany said: “Foxtel sets the bar as the gold standard in home entertainment in Australia. Our recent launch of Fox Flicks brought an unrivaled movies experience to our subscribers with thousands of movies to stream on demand.
“Today, we’re raising that bar even higher by unveiling Fox Showcase, which promises a massive line up of edgy, thought-provoking and inspiring drama from overseas powerhouses including FX and HBO, alongside our award-winning Foxtel Original dramas to stream when you want, where you want and as often as you want. Fox Showcase provides extra value for subscribers included in the drama pack along with five premium drama channels.”
The FX Originals include Jungle Entertainment and Blue-Tongue Films’ Mr Inbetween, which premieres on October 1 at 8.30 pm. Commissioned by FX’s Australian channel, which was dumped by Foxtel in February, the six-part drama was created by and stars Scott Ryan, co-starring Brooke Satchwell. The director Nash Edgerton, Ryan and Satchwell attended the launch.
Showcase already was the home of HBO, featuring such shows as Game of Thrones, Westworld, The Deuce, Divorce, Veep, Ballers and Big Little Lies.
Upcoming FX Originals include Trust, a series which delves into the trials and triumphs of one of America’s wealthiest and unhappiest families, the Gettys, created by Simon Beaufoy and directed by Danny Boyle. Premiering on October 7, the series stars Donald Sutherland, Hilary Swank, Harris Dickinson, Michael Esper and Brendan Fraser.
The FX roster includes American Horror Story, Mayans M.C., Pose, Snowfall, Better Things and Legion.
Currently in production is FX’s What We Do In The Shadows, an adaptation of the cult New Zealand feature film of the same name, co-created by Jamaine Clement and Taika Waititi, which follows three vampires living in New York, roommates for hundreds of years who are struggling with the challenges of modern life.
The 2019 line-up from HBO includes the finale of Game of Thrones, screening at the same time as the US, the third season of True Detective and the second series of Big Little Lies, with Meryl Streep joining the cast. Nicole Kidman recorded a plug for the show.