The ABC is taking us back in time —35 years, to be precise—with their new TV drama series The Newsreader, set in Melbourne circa 1986. If I know anything from terrific prime time stories like Network and Broadcast News, there should be just as much urgent drama happening behind the scenes, as there is in the vital news our protagonists serve up.
Anna Torv (Mindhunter) stars as Helen Norville, a fictional star reporter who’s gained a reputation for being difficult. When she complains to her boss (William McInnes) that she’s after bigger stories (“60 Minutes are sending female reporters to war zones”), he shoots back “you’re a war zone on two legs!”
Her romance with a new rookie reporter (Sam Reid) could be the key to transforming the very nature of the nightly news—or it could spell destruction for the pair. Check out the trailer below, featuring some gorgeous shots of Melbourne transformed back to its Hawke-era glory, and plenty of shoulder-pads and sweater vests.
The first season of The Newsreader consists of six episodes, which will be launched week by week on ABC iview, beginning August 15. It’s got a touch of Halt and Catch Fire‘s workplace tension stories, and the ABC’s own Paper Giants: Magazine Wars, which focused on the women dominating Australian publishing throughout the 1980s.
The release of The Newsreader sounds like nothing but good news to us, with opportunities to retell Australian history through a dramatic and personal lens.
