Ten months after starting production on new six-part drama Desert King across Northern Territory and South Australia, Netflix ANZ has revealed that the star of The Newsreader, Anna Torv, will lead the neo-Western series alongside Michael Dorman, Robert Taylor, and Sam Corlett.
Now titled Territory, the story centres on Marianne Station, a cattle station left without a clear successor that is the subject of generational clashes between the Lawsons.
Sensing this once great dynasty is in decline, the outback’s most powerful factions – rival cattle barons, desert gangsters, Indigenous elders, and billionaire miners – move in for the kill. With billions of dollars at stake, everyone wants a piece of the pie.
Torv stars as Emily Lawson, with Dorman, Taylor, and Corlett playing Graham, Colin and Marshall Lawson, respectively.
The ensemble cast also includes Clarence Ryan, Dan Wyllie, Jay Ryan, Philippa Northeast, Joe Klocek, Kylah Day, Sam Delich, Hamilton Morris, Tuuli Narkle, Tyler Spencer, and Jake Ryan.
Production locations ranged from the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park – with special permission from the Traditional Owners – to Tipperary Station, a real-life working cattle station so large it has an airfield and school.
Tim Lee and Ben Davies created the concept, with the latter also executive producing alongside Rob Gibson and Ian Collie, while the former wrote the episodes with Kodie Bedford, Steven McGregor, and Michaeley O’Brien. The creative team also included producer Paul Ranford and director Greg McLean.
Davies said the idea for the Ronde and Easy Tiger series had been borne out of a pandemic-era beach walk with Gibson, during which the two “got excited about the prospect of doing a big scale, high stakes action-drama” set in a “part of the country you don’t often see on screen”.
“It was a complete contrast as we were surrounded by the Bondi crowd,” he said.
“People moving past us in their active wear, wet suits, carrying their surfboards, while Rob and I were dreaming up stories about people in jeans, boots, and flannel shirts in the Top End.”
Territory will be available to stream on Netflix from October 24.