Ok, its not exactly hot potato hot but damn is this Aussie series good!
Having heard about the production a while back now, I had made a mental note to keep tabs on the show and make an effort to watch the series premiere in early July. That was of course in the middle of all my crazy filmmaking/MIFF volunteering days and TV by then had become a blip of my radar; the reason why I missed the premiere. It was purely by chance today that stumbled across a free episode hosted by iTunes on the store that I made the decision to watch the first episode and boy was I glad I did.
The series is based on the Department of Public Prosecutions and the people that run it. Janet King is the Senior Crown Prosecutor, the matriarch of the entire office and the firm bullet amongst the chaos of her much younger, irresponsible colleagues. The series premieres at an interesting time period, Christmas in Australia, where emotions (and hormones) raise with the mercury. We are introduced not only to the crosshatched collection of lawyers who work alongside King but also the standard of cases that regularly march through the DPP; everything from apparent inherited aggressive tendencies leading to assault, to diabolical cases of sexual abuse from the Attorney-General. The show is no holds barred and is swift and exciting in its delivery of the convuluted facts (associated with the cases), as well as throwing you into the deep end with its clever assortment of DPP staff.
There's Lina, the slightly straighter-than-your-average-ruler do-gooder of the group; Erin, the ferocious-firecracker with hair color to boot; Ben, your typical eye candy who makes you feel sexy just by being on-screen; Richard, the disastrously awkward nerd of the clan; Tracey, a god-fearing, jealous old-b*#$h who's great at her Briefing and HR Manager role; David, the top-cat with the big title as Director of Public Prosecutions; and finally, Tatum, the little office intern who puts all of the above through their paces despite her age. I think of them all so far, I like Tatum the most. She looks like your average bimbo and I commiserate with her on the attitudes that this can get you from others around but luckily for her, Tatum has brains as well as boobs which makes her character all that more interesting. Layers, my friends, like an onion, aren't complicating. Just challenging.
And it is the many layers of this new show that should have Australian audiences glued to their seats. Unfortunately however, due to its broadcast on the ABC (the only rightful destination for it really), the show has not had that great a reception. Not only that but competing with Ten's Law and Order:SVU, Seven's Masterchef, and Channel 9's AFL Footy Show, it was hard pressed to reach the much needed audience it deserves. I urge you strongly to consider this as your port of call when you're next in the mood for a little bit of great Aussie drama because Crownies really does surpass all the other reality rubbish (Yes, I do mean you Masterchef, Gap Year, Renovators and The Block) in terms of talent and story.
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