Director Justin Kurzel at the premiere of True History of the Kelly Gang in Toronto.Credit:The Canadian Press
Narrow Road to small screen
Richard Flanagan’s Booker Prize winning novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North will be turned into a limited TV series, to be directed by the in-demand Justin Kurzel, written by his long-time collaborator Shuan Grant and produced by Fremantle Australia. Flanagan’s novel is inspired by his father’s experiences as a POW in World War II and is set to the backdrop of the building of the Thai-Burma railway. Kurzel most recently directed Stan’s forthcoming The True Story of The Kelly Gang, and is in production on Shantaram for Apple TV+, both of which, like The Narrow Road to the Deep North, are based on acclaimed novels by Australian authors Peter Carey and Gregory David Roberts, respectively. It’s not Flanagan’s first foray into the film and TV world. In 1998 he directed a feature film based on his novel The Sound of One Hand Clapping.
Food for thought
SBS held its annual Upfront presentation last week to several hundred of its media clients in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Among the dozen or so new and local shows that will air later this year and in 2020 were food shows by Luke Nguyen and news MasterChef 2017 winner Diana Chan and Silvia Colloca are bound for what SBS claims will be the only free, 24/7 food channel on free TV next year, SBS Food. SBS’ claim fuels speculation that 7Food will move to a streaming platform in the near future. Seven launched its food channel, a partnership with US-based Food Network, in December 2018, but the channel hasn’t attracted a dedicated following to its library of US food programs, many if not most of which have already done the rounds of local TV and seem pale compared to blue-chip offerings local audiences have ready access to. A Seven spokesman says “it’s business as usual” for 7Food, but speculation is rife in the industry that the network will free up the bandwidth for another channel in 2020.
Beginnings and endings at Seven
Meanwhile, newly installed Seven boss James Warburton has closed down the Adelaide and Perth editions of Today Tonight as well as a string of brand-supported travel and leisure shows, including Sydney Weekender and its state-based versions. This follows several high-profile signings to the network, the latest of which is Sonia Kruger who will become a judge on Australia’s Got Talent and host on Mega Mini-Golf. Warburton says that Kruger “relates across age demographics in that family environment”.
Sonia Kruger and Seven managing director James Warburton.
Oldman joins Slow Horses cast
Gary Oldman has been cast to play Jackson Lamb, the protagonist of novelist Mick Herron’s Slough House books in a TV series for the new Apple TV+ streaming platform. The series, Slow Horses, takes its title from Herron’s first book, which introduced the foul-mouthed and grubby leader of MI5 spies whose infamous and inglorious careers see them relegated to the outpost of Slough House. While Herron’s books are often compared to those of John Le Carre, he recently told The Age’s Jason Steger, “I am much more interested in this small world that I have created, this bunch of failures struggling with their own issues, than I am writing about what the world of spies is really like because I have never been in that world.” The series will be written by Veep’s Will Smith and produced by See-Saw Films.
Scoring a different goal
Weeks after its widely condemned decision to axe the indigenous AFL football show Marngrook, NITV has announced it will make a spin-off edition of SBS’ The World Game. According to the release, “The program will capture the best moments of domestic and international football, engaging Indigenous and non-Indigenous audiences alike by following all the best moments from the biggest tournaments including the Premier League, FA Cup, Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga, the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Champions League.” Lowanna Grant will host the show, which premieres on Tuesday on NITV (at 1.30pm) and SBS On Demand. Grant says “I’m thrilled to be hosting NITV’s version of The World Game. I grew up watching and playing all kinds of sport and I have a massive interest in football. I’m really looking forward to being able to expand my knowledge on all of the different competitions around the world and to bring football to our viewers who might normally be AFL or Rugby League fans.”
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