That Other Show About The Shire, also known as the remake of late 70s coming-of-age in Australia classic Puberty Blues, has announced its cast members and is ready to begin shooting in the heartland of Australia’s current television controversy, the Sutherland Shire.
The eight part series, also set to screen on Channel 10, will be lead by a cast including Love My Way and Spirited star Claudia Karvan, Underbelly Razor’s Jeremy Lindsay Taylor Animal Kingdom’s Dan Wylie, Rodger Corser (Rush) and East West 101’s Susie Porter. Presumably (hopefully, thankfully) none of these actors will be playing thirteen year old teenage girls.
Speaking with the Telegraph, Karvan said that, unlike it’s reality TV contemporary, “This (series) is entertaining but there’s depth there…everything’s not entirely sugar-coated. Teenage girls (today) will hopefully have greater ambitions than just impressing boys [who will enjoy] this blatant celebration of surf culture and chauvinism.“
Actress Ashleigh Cummings – who played the conservative Robyn in Tomorrow When The War Began – will play protagonist Debbie, the role originally made famous by Nell Schofield in the 1982 movie adaptation of Kathy Lette (who’s coming for the Sydney Writers’ Festival) and Gabrielle Carey’s groundbreaking novel. Brenna Harding (Packed To The Rafters) Sean Keenan (Ted Pickles in Cloudstreet), Charlotte Best (Home & Away), and Isabelle Cornish (Abbie’s sister, also Home & Away) will also star.
Producers Imogen Banks (Offspring, Paper Giants) and John Edwards (Secret Life Of Us) said Sutherland Shire Council had been “very welcoming and helpful” toward the production on account of it being “very much a part of Cronulla’s history and identity, I don’t think they’d want to walk away from that.” I don’t really there was much of a choice considering their other option.
Filming is slated to begin April 10th on Cronulla Beach. The Shire began filming this week and both series are expected to go to air this year. I will probably watch both/neither.
