For anyone who does not frequent free-to-air on a school night and is instead out being a part of life’s rich tapestry, sinking piss, or enjoying on demand media via laptop via HDMI, you may have missed the television event that was ‘G L I T C H’.
In the words of Patrick Brammall, the series’ lead actor, “it’s just something a bit different for ABC, you know, it’s people coming back from the dead.”
It’s not zombies, though. At least not in the ‘traditional’ sense. As Patrick said: “Zombies have got their own thing, they’re all about eating your brains and they’re not in great shape. But these people are all healthy, and they don’t want to eat brains. The series fits more into a ‘resurrection’ genre.”
G L I T C H has such an interesting concept, the likes of which, with respect, has rarely been seen on Australian television. Patrick said of the story:
“The cool thing about it is, I reckon, it could be easy to slip into melodrama with that sort of thing. A big challenge for the show was to try and show it in a realistic way – how would you actually respond to the situation? – because it’s an impossible situation.”
It would be fair to say the show has distinct ‘HBO vibes’ – which sounds like a vaguely batshit thing to say, considering Home Box Office is responsible for a large and diverse range of content. But it does, in the sense that ‘HBO’ has become shorthand for premium quality viewing in which viewers are supremely invested and are willing to shame any loved ones not also on board.
In the case of ‘G L I T C H’, so far it looks like any investment on your behalf would see a solid return and you could feel additionally smug watching it, knowing you’re supporting the local industry.
And why is it that any world-class Australian television content becomes noteworthy? “Australia’s strength to weight ratio is through the roof”, said Patrick. “We do so well, it’s just the resources we have – I’m talking about money – is not enough.” What the team behind Glitch made a point of, particularly Director Emma Freeman, the DOP Simon Chapman and the art department in general, was making sure every
last
dollar
spent
ended up on-screen.
And it shows.
So, if you do have room in your life for yet another audiovisual friend, you can now watch the entire first season on ABC iView HERE or tune in 8:30pm every Thursday from here on in.
