Offspring fans, your day has finally come – more than a year after the last episode of the show went to air, Ten have announced that it will be making its way back for a sixth season in 2016.
Over five seasons, Offspring – which stars Asher Keddie as Nina Proudman, a 30-something obstetrician trying to have it all – was a popular ratings winner for the network.
At the peak of its success, though, budgetary concerns shut it down, meaning that the fifth season, which wrapped up its run in August 2014, was looking set to be Offspring‘s last.
Today, more than a year later, Ten’s programming chief Beverly McGarvey has thrown the show and its fans a lifeline, saying:
“It was no secret that we wanted to continue Nina’s adventures and we are thrilled to announce that Offspring will return to Ten for a sixth season in 2016.”“There are so many more chapters left in Nina’s life. We paused her story just as she had bravely navigated motherhood as a single parent rediscovering the joy and romance of life, while dealing with her fabulously messy family as they went about their unpredictable daily lives.”“The strength and appeal of Offspring lies in the ability of its producers and writers to marry conventional narrative drama with flashbacks and fantasy sequences. We can’t wait to start production on the sixth season.”
At the end of its fifth season, after producing 65 episodes, Offspring was no longer eligible for the 20% tax rebate given to locally-produced dramas, and the increasingly high profiles of its cast meant potentially expensive contract renegotiations.
This, coupled with rumoured money troubles at Ten’s in-house drama division meant that the show was shut down, with producer John Edwards lamenting that it had become a victim of its own popularity.
Whether it’s a fresh influx of $$$ at Ten after successful seasons of Masterchef and The Bachelor, or a simple change of heart, we don’t really care, because yay, Offspring is coming back!
via Mumbrella
