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Revamped ‘Mother and Son’, return of ‘Utopia’ headline 2023 ABC slate

Matt Okine and Denise Scott will star in a reimagined version of 'Mother and Son'.

The ABC will dole out a healthy dose of comedy nostalgia to audiences in 2023 in the form of a reimagined version of classic sitcom Mother and Son, as well as fresh episodes of the bureaucratic comedy Utopia.

New drama House of Gods from Matchbox Pictures also joins previously announced scripted titles Bay of Fires, The Messenger, and the second season of The Newsreader.

Thursday’s upfronts come six months after the broadcaster unveiled a slate of new programming for its 90th anniversary, including retrospective titles, such as Looking Black and The ABC Of…, the latter of which is set for a second season.

Acting director of entertainment and specialist Jennifer Collins said the ABC was proud to offer “unique, thought-provoking, and entertaining” programming for the year ahead.

“As the single largest commissioner of Australian content, working with the best creatives, the ABC in ’23 will continue to showcase a diverse range of Australian stories that will delight our audiences across all our platforms, free and accessible to all Australians.”

They include a fresh take on the characters made famous by Gary McDonald and Ruth Cracknell, with Matt Okine set to take on the role of recently single man who moves back into the family home after his widowed mother (Denise Scott) sets fire to the kitchen.

A Wooden Horse production for the ABC, Mother and Son is created, written and executive produced by Okine, with Jude Troy and Richard Finlayson producing alongside associate producer Alexandra Cameron and ABC executive producers Todd Abbott and Louise Smith.

The eight-part series has received major production from Screen Australia, with ABC Commercial handling international sales.

Rob Sitch.

Another ABC favourite set to be revived for 2023 is Working Dog’s Utopia, which returns for a fifth season after a nearly four-year hiatus.

Set inside the offices of the National Building Authority, the series is written and
produced by Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner, and Rob Sitch, who also directs, with Michael Hirsh executive producing and original casting by Jane Kennedy. Brett Sleigh is the ABC commissioning editor.

Other new comedy titles announced on Thursday included Mercury Scout’s No Stupid Questions (working title), in which Chas Licciardello, Kirsten Drysdale, Lawrence Leung,
Alex Lee, Cameron James, and Louise Wall field audience questions ranging from how they may be able to join the Illuminati to whether fish feel pain. Licciardello executive produces with Martin Robertson and the ABC’s Frances O’Riordan, with Stef Smith and Steve Kirkby directing.

There is also 1850s-set comedy Gold Diggers, in which a pair of renegade sisters search for newly-rich, dumb husbands, with further details to be announced in coming weeks.

Rounding out the laughs for broadcaster next year are Haven’t You Done Well Productions’ Aunty Donna’s Coffee Cafe and Bunya Productions and Heiress Films’ Limbo.

Elsewhere in scripted, sole new drama title House of Gods stars Osamah Sami and Shahin Shafaei in a tale of faith, family, secrets, and lies that takes audiences behind the walls of an imam’s family and the community he leads, exploring the personal cost of power and ambition.

Produced by Sheila Jayadev and Bree-Anne Sykes, the series has major production investment from Screen Australia and is financed with support from Screen NSW.

Blake Ayshford and Debbie Lee are executive producing with the ABC’s Brett Sleigh, with Universal International Studios managing international sales.

Nature is set to feature heavily in ABC Kids and ABC ME channels next year, with WildBear Entertainment’s Wildlifers!, a series that follows 14-year-old wannabe documentary filmmakers Su and Pharrell.

While Su is a naturalist in waiting Pharrell would probably rather be making real films with scripts, emotions and actors. Thrown together by Roaring Koala, the production company they’re interning for, they make an unlikely team, as they spend their days, and sometimes nights, crammed together in tents, camouflaged in hides, behind bushes dressed in ghillie suits, or stuck up trees. The series received production funding from Screen Australia and is financed in association with Film Victoria, with ABC Commercial handling international sales.

Anthony LaPaglia.

There will be similarly green focus for Gardening Australia Junior, a spin-off of the long running Gardening Australia. Hosted by The Buds, the factual series will include a number of surprise guests, as well as a range of challenges within Gardening Australia Junior HQ.

In 2023, younger viewers will also get to see Werner Films’ Crazy Fun Park, Photoplay Films and Dragonet Films’ The Disposables, Tony Ayres Productions (TAP) and Megaboom Pictures’ The Spooky Files, Matchbox Pictures and Film Camp’s Turn Up The Volume, and the second season of Fremantle Australia’s The PM’s Daughter.

Even heftier is the broadcasters factual and cultural slate for the coming year, which incorporates nearly 20 titles.

Joining new editions of Back in Time for the Corner Shop, Kitchen Cabinet, War on Waste, Designing A Legacy, Take 5 with Zan Rowe and The ABC Of are Wild Pacific Media’s Australia’s Wild Odyssey, Northern Pictures’ character-led docuseries Better Date Than Never, Sea Dog TV International’s environmental investigation Dolphins: Is Our Love Too Deep?, Serendipity Productions’ Simon Young documentary Knowing The Score, and Artemis’ mental health-focused New Leash on Life.

There is also an Anthony LaPaglia-fronted examination of Italian-Australian history, The Black Hand, wildlife-centric The Platypus Guardian, and Great Australian Stuff, hosted by Tony Armstrong, all of which are from WildBear.

The previously announced titles include Blackfella Films’ First Weapons, Artemis Media’s Ningaloo Nyinggul, Guesswork Television’s Queerstralia, and In Films’ Whiteley On Trial.

Speaking about the overall slate, ABC managing director David Anderson echoed Collins’ claims, stating “no other network or streaming service features Australian stories and voices as much as ABC, ABC iview, and ABC News”.