Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities
Encyclopedia
Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities is a 13-part Australian television mini-series loosely based on real events that stemmed from the marijuana trade centred around the New South Wales
town of Griffith
. The timeline of the series is the years between 1976 and 1987. Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities primarily depicts the Mr. Asia drug syndicate and its influence on crime in Australia. Among the characters presented are real-life criminals Robert Trimbole
, Terry Clark, George Freeman
, Christopher Dale Flannery
and the Kane Brothers. The mini-series is a prequel to the 2008 production Underbelly
, which was about the Melbourne gangland killings
and forms part of the Underbelly
series.
The series premiered on the Nine Network
on 9 February at 8.30pm, with the double episode premiere attracting an average of 2,501,500 viewers nationally, in the mainland capitals. The show has consistently rated highly, being the most watched show on Australian television for all episodes broadcast so far. In New Zealand, the series began broadcast on 4 March where it has been advertised as Underbelly: The Mr Asia Story. This name stems from the common misidentification of protagonist Terry Clark as "Mr Asia" within New Zealand. "Mr Asia" was in fact the name assigned to Marty Johnstone
by Auckland reporter Pat Booth in his series of investigative newspaper articles into the Mr Asia drug syndicate. Johnstone was both Clark's business partner and victim.
Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities is the second in the series of four to date. It was followed by a third series, Underbelly: The Golden Mile
.
and Victoria between 1976 and 1987. The story revolves around the organised crime groups that stemmed from the Griffith
-based marijuana trade, led by "Aussie Bob" Trimbole
(Roy Billing
) and "Kiwi Terry" Clark (Matthew Newton
).
New Zealand
drug trafficker Clark arrives in Sydney with plans to establish a heroin racket. He meets with marijuana-grower Trimbole but is at first rebuffed and bashed by crime figure George Freeman
(Peter O'Brien). Soon however, he convinces Trimbole he is genuine and the two establish a partnership. The activities of local politician Donald Mackay (Andrew McFarlane) put their plans in jeopardy and when attempts to extort and blackmail him fail, Clark tells Trimbole to have him killed. Trimbole visits Melbourne to organise the hit. Detective Liz Cruickshank (Asher Keddie
) is tipped off about the murder plot but her boss Joe Messina (Peter Phelps
) discredits the informant, Les Kane (Martin Dingle Wall), as unreliable. When Mackay is murdered by James Frederick Bazley (Scott Burgess), the efforts of detective Warwick Mobbs (Matt Passmore
) to investigate are stymied by high-level police corruption that leads to him being posted to rural NSW.
Clark has soon established the Mr Asia syndicate in Sydney. Allison Dine (Anna Hutchison
) arrives in Australia with her boyfriend but soon becomes Clark's lover and major accomplice as she devises a new method of passing the drugs through Customs. Meanwhile, Trimbole helps Melbourne armed robber Ray 'Chuck' Bennett (Nathan Page) organise a major heist
in defiance of local stand-over men Les and Brian Kane (Tim McCunn), who demand a cut of any loot. After Bennett cuts reckless bully Chris Flannery
(Dustin Clare
) from his team, Flannery informs the Kanes, touching off a turf war. When two of Bennett's crew steal some of Trimbole's money from the Kanes, the violence escalates until Les Kane is machine-gunned to death in front of his family. Bennett stands trial for the murder but is acquitted; while being led into court on another matter, a disguised Brian Kane murders him.
Clark, his Singapore
middleman Andy Maher (Damon Gameau
) and couriers Doug and Isabelle Wilson (Gareth Reeves and Simone Kessell
) travel to Queensland
where Clark is arrested on a gun charge and extradited to New Zealand. The Wilsons crack under police questioning and reveal the location of the body of murdered drug mule Pommy Lewis (Sam Anderson). Clark's lawyer Karen Soich (Katie Wall) becomes his new lover and he is acquitted. Returning to Australia, Trimbole convinces him to have the Wilsons killed.
Clark goes to England to expand his business. Bazley completes the Wilson hit but the bodies are found almost immediately, finally causing the Victorian and Federal police to form a join taskforce led by David Priest (Jonny Pasvolsky), and including Mobbs, Cruickshank, Messina and a Sydney CIB detective Trevor Hakens (Dieter Brummer
) with links to Dennis Kelly's (Paul Tassone) bent NSW cops. Kelly's corrupt detectives attempt to take control of the drug trade, while working to deceive the interstate police by closing down George Freeman's casinos. Allison questions her role in the syndicate after being threatened by corrupt narcotics agent Jack Smith (Samuel Johnson
), who ultimately plants drugs on her in order to arrest her. Freeman begins to aggressively push into other avenues of crime and is shot by an intruder outside his home.
Now in exile in the UK, Clark becomes paranoid upon learning of Allison's arrest and after a meeting with Trimbole, convinces him to take a contract out on Allison. Reluctantly, Trimbole hires Chris Flannery but when Smith arrests the young woman, he calls off the hit. When Clark himself changes his mind and orders the hit called off, Trimbole helps Allison flee to the US. Meanwhile, Freeman recovers from his wound while his friend, stand-over man Lenny McPherson
(John McNeill), murders his would-be killer. Back in England, Clark meets with his supplier Marty Johnstone
(Merrick Watts
). After Johnnstone begins supplying Clark with less than top quality heroin, Clark orders Andy Maher to kill him.
British police find Johnstone's body and arrest Clark. Allison Dine is apprehended by the FBI and returned to Australia to turn star witness against her former lover. Trimbole learns of a massive shipment of Lebanese
cannabis
from his friend Dr Nick Paltos
(Wadih Dona) and makes plans to import it. In the meantime, legal secretary and mob lawyer Brian Alexander (Damian de Montemas) comes under intense police scrutiny as the weakest link in the syndicate. Allison implicates the entire syndicate and provides evidence linking Trimbole to the Mr. Asia syndicate. The prime minister announces a Royal Commission
and disbands the Federal Narcotics Bureau; the move ultimately results in Jack Smith and nearly 150 equally corrupt Narcotics agents being demoted to customs agent-status. But due to Trevor Hakens alerting his friends in the NSW Police of the impending bust, Trimbole is able to flee overseas and Alexander is murdered by Detective Dennis Kelly and his fellow dirty cops. Messina quickly discovers Hakens has been leaking intel, even as the taskforce manages to tie the murders of the Wilsons to that of Mackay through a deal Messina makes with Frank Tizzoni (Tony Poli), an associate of Trimbole.
Allison testifies against Clark in England, who is convicted for murder and sentenced to twenty years. Now in Ireland
, Trimbole becomes an arms dealer for the IRA
while also working with Paltos to import cannabis into Australia. Chris Flannery arrives in Sydney and approaches Freeman for work, killing a number of drug dealers in order to make a name for himself. But his uncontrollable temper and ego makes him enemies with the NSW Police and Freeman, who ultimately arranges his death after manipulating Flannery into eliminating the various mobsters who have taken over the drug trade in Trimbole's absence.
Clark suffers a heart attack in prison and dies. With the net tightening on him, Trimbole, dying of prostate cancer
, is arrested in Ireland on a trumped-up charge. Before the Australian police can bring evidence against him, however, he is released and flees to Spain
. Paltos completes the drug shipment but Mobbs arrests him immediately; Hakens is prevented from narcing on Paltos via his friends in the NSW police and is confronted. However, Hakens refuses to turn against his fellow corrupt cops and, without any hard evidence, send him back to his old job. Paltos also refuses to co-operate, but Trimbole's new wife accidentally gives away his location to the task force. Priest rushes to arrest Trimbole, but arrives too late as Trimbole dies right before he enters his room
The series' epilogue states that Freeman and McPherson continue their illegal businesses for another decade or so, Laurie Prendergast (Teo Gebert) goes missing after Flannery's death (with it implied that Freeman had him murdered) and the corrupt NSW police continued their illicit operations. The final scene has Kelly and Haken, their luggage packed full of heroin and cocaine, going through customs as the corrupt Jack Smith waves his drug carrying friends through security. As the camera lingers upon Trevor's face, the narrator (Caroline Craig) talks about how the NSW police would ultimately fall due to one man (Haken), but suggests this would be "a whole other story
".
(as Robert Trimbole
), Anna Hutchison
(as Allison Dine), Matthew Newton
(as Terry Clark), Asher Keddie
(as Detective Senior Constable Liz Cruickshank) and Peter Phelps
(as Detective Inspector Joe Messina). Other major cast members are billed in the episodes in which they feature heavily. Andrew McFarlane features in the opening episodes as Liberal politician and anti-drugs campaigner Donald Mackay. Peter O'Brien portrays the late Sydney underworld figure George Freeman. Kate Ritchie
appears twice as Judi Kane, wife of slain standover man Les Kane and stepmother of Trisha Kane who was married to Jason Moran
. Merrick Watts
appears in an episode as Marty Johnstone
, Clark's main supplier. Caroline Craig
is the narrator, reprising her role from the first series. Other prominent actors to appear in the series include Samuel Johnston
as a corrupt Federal Narcotics Agent, John Wood
as corrupt NSW chief magistrate Murray Farquhar
and Diane Craig
as Don Mackay's wife.
Like in the original series, the Victorian Police characters, Joe Messina and Liz Cruickshank, are fictional characters based on several unnamed Victorian police officers, due to Victorian laws that do not allow the media portrayal of officers that have not been dishonorably discharged.
and Warwick Farm
were used to portray Griffith in the 1970s. Along with these sites, a house in Wahroonga
was used to shoot episodes seven and eight. The scenes in Freeman's casino were shot at a hotel in Sefton
. Writers Peter Gawler and Greg Haddrick have admitted that there is more nudity and sex than in the original.
The Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities DVD was released 27 May 2009 by Roadshow Entertainment
.
The show is rated R18 in New Zealand.
for her performance as Judi Kane. Ninemsn
's Sam Downing said he was "pleasantly surprised" by her acting. Downing expected to be thinking of Ritchie's Home and Away
character Sally the whole time, but found "she was surprisingly different and really good". TV reviewer and La Trobe University
media lecturer Sue Turnbull thought Ritchie managed to cast off her soap opera persona through the role. Turnbull said that Ritchie did not overplay her scenes, and the emotion on her face indicated there was "a lot more going on".
The series received generally positive reviews, but has been criticised for embellishing and dramatising the real events on which is it based. In a column for the tabloid The Sydney Daily Telegraph
on 24 February 2009, author Keith Moor is highly critical of the events depicted in the show. In the article, Moor points out among other things that Trimbole and Clark never met until after Donald Mackay was murdered, that Trimbole had no role in the Great Bookie Robbery
nor did he own or live on an orange orchard and that Allison Dine didn't see Clark for three days after he killed Pommy Lewis. It is also known that Brian and Les Kane did participate in the Great Bookie Robbery and were not shut out of it as suggested by the show. Former NSW police detective Roger Rogerson
was also critical of the show, particularly with regards to the characterisation of Chris Flannery and the portrayal of George Freeman
as a murderer and major crime lord.
Packed to the Rafters
with 1.938 million.
*Second due to double episode premiere
**5th due to other networks grand finales and premieres
Peter Andrikidis
, director of the first series, has said that writers are penning a third edition of the crime drama to link the two series. "It's being written at the moment and I think it takes it up to the first series. So it's the end of this series and up to 1995, that is the plan. I'd say it'd have something to do with the people that were set up in series one. But they're still developing that, it's just what they can get the rights on," Andrikidis said.
In a further press release on 11 June 2009, Nine Network has disclosed the plot will pick up from where A Tale of Two Cities ended in 1987: centring around the worsening systematic corruption within the NSW Police and associated illicit drug, prostitution, underground gambling, night club activities at King's Cross in the late 1980s. This entrenched culture of corruption and entanglement with organised crime only ended in the mid 1990s with the Wood Royal Commission which "cleaned out the Black Empire within the NSW Police".
)
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
town of Griffith
Griffith, New South Wales
Griffith is a city in south-western New South Wales, Australia. It is also the seat of the City of Griffith local government area. Like the Australian capital, Canberra and the nearby town of Leeton, Griffith was designed by Walter Burley Griffin. Griffith was named after Sir Arthur Griffith the...
. The timeline of the series is the years between 1976 and 1987. Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities primarily depicts the Mr. Asia drug syndicate and its influence on crime in Australia. Among the characters presented are real-life criminals Robert Trimbole
Robert Trimbole
Robert Trimbole was an Australian businessman, drug baron and organised crime boss whose alleged involvement in the disappearance of anti-marijuana campaigner Donald Mackay and involvement in drug trafficking in the Griffith, New South Wales area, led to a royal commission, a Coroner's inquest and...
, Terry Clark, George Freeman
George Freeman (bookmaker)
George David Freeman was a Sydney organised crime figure and illegal casino operator. He was linked to the Sydney drug trade during the 1970s and '80s, was named in several Royal Commissions into organised crime and had links with American crime figures...
, Christopher Dale Flannery
Christopher Dale Flannery
Christopher Dale Flannery, aka Mr. Rent-A-Kill is alleged to have been an Australian hitman. Flannery was born in Brunswick, Victoria.- Juvenile Crime:...
and the Kane Brothers. The mini-series is a prequel to the 2008 production Underbelly
Underbelly (TV series)
Underbelly is a 13-part Australian television mini-series that retells the real events of the 1995–2004 gangland war in Melbourne, and is the first series in the larger Underbelly Franchise. It depicts the key players in Melbourne's criminal underworld, including the Carlton Crew and their rival,...
, which was about the Melbourne gangland killings
Melbourne gangland killings
The Melbourne gangland killings were the murders in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia of 36 criminal figures or partners between 16 January 1998 and 13 August 2010. The murders were in a series of retributional murders involving various underworld groups. The deaths caused a sustained power vacuum...
and forms part of the Underbelly
Underbelly (series)
Underbelly is an Australian television true crime-drama which originally broadcast on the Nine Network. Each series contains 13 episodes and is based on real-life events including the Melbourne gangland killings between 1995-2004, the Griffith drug trade between 1976-1987, and the Kings Cross scene...
series.
The series premiered on the Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
on 9 February at 8.30pm, with the double episode premiere attracting an average of 2,501,500 viewers nationally, in the mainland capitals. The show has consistently rated highly, being the most watched show on Australian television for all episodes broadcast so far. In New Zealand, the series began broadcast on 4 March where it has been advertised as Underbelly: The Mr Asia Story. This name stems from the common misidentification of protagonist Terry Clark as "Mr Asia" within New Zealand. "Mr Asia" was in fact the name assigned to Marty Johnstone
Marty Johnstone
Christopher Martin "Marty" Johnstone was a New Zealand drug trafficker. The former Takapuna Grammar pupil was dubbed "Mr Asia" by the Auckland Star newspaper in August 1978 in a series of articles by Pat Booth.-Murder:...
by Auckland reporter Pat Booth in his series of investigative newspaper articles into the Mr Asia drug syndicate. Johnstone was both Clark's business partner and victim.
Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities is the second in the series of four to date. It was followed by a third series, Underbelly: The Golden Mile
Underbelly: The Golden Mile
Underbelly: The Golden Mile is a 13-part Australian television mini-series loosely based on real events that stemmed from the nightclub scene of the Sydney suburb of Kings Cross. The timeline of the series is the years between 1988 and 1999. it primarily depicts the running of Kings Cross and the...
.
Synopsis
The series is a broadly fictional account of the Australian criminal underworld, loosely based on events in New South WalesNew South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
and Victoria between 1976 and 1987. The story revolves around the organised crime groups that stemmed from the Griffith
Griffith, New South Wales
Griffith is a city in south-western New South Wales, Australia. It is also the seat of the City of Griffith local government area. Like the Australian capital, Canberra and the nearby town of Leeton, Griffith was designed by Walter Burley Griffin. Griffith was named after Sir Arthur Griffith the...
-based marijuana trade, led by "Aussie Bob" Trimbole
Robert Trimbole
Robert Trimbole was an Australian businessman, drug baron and organised crime boss whose alleged involvement in the disappearance of anti-marijuana campaigner Donald Mackay and involvement in drug trafficking in the Griffith, New South Wales area, led to a royal commission, a Coroner's inquest and...
(Roy Billing
Roy Billing
Roy Billing is a New Zealand television actor, now based in Sydney, Australia.-Career:Billing has starred in many television shows and had main roles on Bad Cop, Bad Cop, Dossa and Joe and Hell Has Harbour Views...
) and "Kiwi Terry" Clark (Matthew Newton
Matthew Newton
Matthew Newton is an Australian stage and screen actor. Born in Melbourne, he is the son of television personalities, Bert and Patti Newton, brother of Lauren Newton, brother-in-law of Matt Welsh and uncle to Sam Albert and Eva Eunice Newton Welsh.-Acting:Newton has performed in Australia and...
).
New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
drug trafficker Clark arrives in Sydney with plans to establish a heroin racket. He meets with marijuana-grower Trimbole but is at first rebuffed and bashed by crime figure George Freeman
George Freeman (bookmaker)
George David Freeman was a Sydney organised crime figure and illegal casino operator. He was linked to the Sydney drug trade during the 1970s and '80s, was named in several Royal Commissions into organised crime and had links with American crime figures...
(Peter O'Brien). Soon however, he convinces Trimbole he is genuine and the two establish a partnership. The activities of local politician Donald Mackay (Andrew McFarlane) put their plans in jeopardy and when attempts to extort and blackmail him fail, Clark tells Trimbole to have him killed. Trimbole visits Melbourne to organise the hit. Detective Liz Cruickshank (Asher Keddie
Asher Keddie
Asher Keddie is an Australian actress who is perhaps best known for her role in the Australian television series Offspring. She is also known for her theatre work and leading roles in the television series Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo, Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities and Love My...
) is tipped off about the murder plot but her boss Joe Messina (Peter Phelps
Peter Phelps
Peter Phelps is an Australian actor, singer and writer. He is notable for his role of Peter Church in the television drama, Stingers and Trevor Cole, in Baywatch...
) discredits the informant, Les Kane (Martin Dingle Wall), as unreliable. When Mackay is murdered by James Frederick Bazley (Scott Burgess), the efforts of detective Warwick Mobbs (Matt Passmore
Matt Passmore
Matt Passmore , an Australian actor. He is known for McLeod's Daughters , Blue Heelers , and his first American television show, The Glades .-Personal:Passmore grew up in Wynnum-Manly, Brisbane....
) to investigate are stymied by high-level police corruption that leads to him being posted to rural NSW.
Clark has soon established the Mr Asia syndicate in Sydney. Allison Dine (Anna Hutchison
Anna Hutchison
Anna Hutchison is a New Zealand actress. She is known for her roles on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street and American series Power Rangers: Jungle Fury...
) arrives in Australia with her boyfriend but soon becomes Clark's lover and major accomplice as she devises a new method of passing the drugs through Customs. Meanwhile, Trimbole helps Melbourne armed robber Ray 'Chuck' Bennett (Nathan Page) organise a major heist
Great Bookie Robbery
The Great Bookie Robbery was a crime committed in Melbourne, Australia on 21 April 1976.A well-organized gang of six stole between $6 million and $12 million from the Victoria Club, which was located on the second floor of a building in Queen Street...
in defiance of local stand-over men Les and Brian Kane (Tim McCunn), who demand a cut of any loot. After Bennett cuts reckless bully Chris Flannery
Christopher Dale Flannery
Christopher Dale Flannery, aka Mr. Rent-A-Kill is alleged to have been an Australian hitman. Flannery was born in Brunswick, Victoria.- Juvenile Crime:...
(Dustin Clare
Dustin Clare
Dustin Clare is a Logie Award winning Australian actor. He is best known for his starring role as Gannicus in the Starz mini-series Spartacus: Gods of the Arena and will reprise his role in Spartacus: Vengeance.-Biography:...
) from his team, Flannery informs the Kanes, touching off a turf war. When two of Bennett's crew steal some of Trimbole's money from the Kanes, the violence escalates until Les Kane is machine-gunned to death in front of his family. Bennett stands trial for the murder but is acquitted; while being led into court on another matter, a disguised Brian Kane murders him.
Clark, his Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
middleman Andy Maher (Damon Gameau
Damon Gameau
Damon Gameau is an Australian television and film actor, who has appeared in the Australian series Love My Way, and in a small role in the US series How I Met Your Mother, as well as the 2002 Australian film The Tracker....
) and couriers Doug and Isabelle Wilson (Gareth Reeves and Simone Kessell
Simone Kessell
Simone Kessell is a New Zealand actress who has starred in several films and television series.-Personal life:Kessell is married to Australian director Gregor Jordan...
) travel to Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
where Clark is arrested on a gun charge and extradited to New Zealand. The Wilsons crack under police questioning and reveal the location of the body of murdered drug mule Pommy Lewis (Sam Anderson). Clark's lawyer Karen Soich (Katie Wall) becomes his new lover and he is acquitted. Returning to Australia, Trimbole convinces him to have the Wilsons killed.
Clark goes to England to expand his business. Bazley completes the Wilson hit but the bodies are found almost immediately, finally causing the Victorian and Federal police to form a join taskforce led by David Priest (Jonny Pasvolsky), and including Mobbs, Cruickshank, Messina and a Sydney CIB detective Trevor Hakens (Dieter Brummer
Dieter Brummer
Dieter Brummer is an Australian actor of German descent, probably best known for his role on the television soap opera Home and Away.-Career:...
) with links to Dennis Kelly's (Paul Tassone) bent NSW cops. Kelly's corrupt detectives attempt to take control of the drug trade, while working to deceive the interstate police by closing down George Freeman's casinos. Allison questions her role in the syndicate after being threatened by corrupt narcotics agent Jack Smith (Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson (actor)
Samuel Johnson is an Australian actor, radio presenter and voiceover artist.He was educated at Wesley College, Melbourne and is best known for his role as Evan Wylde in the television series The Secret Life of Us.-Starting out:At the age of 14, Johnson performed in his first school play, cast in a...
), who ultimately plants drugs on her in order to arrest her. Freeman begins to aggressively push into other avenues of crime and is shot by an intruder outside his home.
Now in exile in the UK, Clark becomes paranoid upon learning of Allison's arrest and after a meeting with Trimbole, convinces him to take a contract out on Allison. Reluctantly, Trimbole hires Chris Flannery but when Smith arrests the young woman, he calls off the hit. When Clark himself changes his mind and orders the hit called off, Trimbole helps Allison flee to the US. Meanwhile, Freeman recovers from his wound while his friend, stand-over man Lenny McPherson
Lenny McPherson
Leonard Arthur McPherson was one of the most notorious and powerful Australian career criminals of the late 20th century...
(John McNeill), murders his would-be killer. Back in England, Clark meets with his supplier Marty Johnstone
Marty Johnstone
Christopher Martin "Marty" Johnstone was a New Zealand drug trafficker. The former Takapuna Grammar pupil was dubbed "Mr Asia" by the Auckland Star newspaper in August 1978 in a series of articles by Pat Booth.-Murder:...
(Merrick Watts
Merrick Watts
Merrick Watts is a Australian comedian, radio host and television presenter. He is best known for performing stand-up comedy and radio works as part of the comedy duo Merrick and Rosso with Tim Ross....
). After Johnnstone begins supplying Clark with less than top quality heroin, Clark orders Andy Maher to kill him.
British police find Johnstone's body and arrest Clark. Allison Dine is apprehended by the FBI and returned to Australia to turn star witness against her former lover. Trimbole learns of a massive shipment of Lebanese
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
cannabis
Cannabis
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...
from his friend Dr Nick Paltos
Nick Paltos
Nicholas George Paltos was an Australian Doctor and convicted criminal.-Early life:Paltos was born "Nicholas George Paltos" in 1940 or 1941 on the small Greek island of Kastelorizon...
(Wadih Dona) and makes plans to import it. In the meantime, legal secretary and mob lawyer Brian Alexander (Damian de Montemas) comes under intense police scrutiny as the weakest link in the syndicate. Allison implicates the entire syndicate and provides evidence linking Trimbole to the Mr. Asia syndicate. The prime minister announces a Royal Commission
Royal Commission
In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
and disbands the Federal Narcotics Bureau; the move ultimately results in Jack Smith and nearly 150 equally corrupt Narcotics agents being demoted to customs agent-status. But due to Trevor Hakens alerting his friends in the NSW Police of the impending bust, Trimbole is able to flee overseas and Alexander is murdered by Detective Dennis Kelly and his fellow dirty cops. Messina quickly discovers Hakens has been leaking intel, even as the taskforce manages to tie the murders of the Wilsons to that of Mackay through a deal Messina makes with Frank Tizzoni (Tony Poli), an associate of Trimbole.
Allison testifies against Clark in England, who is convicted for murder and sentenced to twenty years. Now in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Trimbole becomes an arms dealer for the IRA
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...
while also working with Paltos to import cannabis into Australia. Chris Flannery arrives in Sydney and approaches Freeman for work, killing a number of drug dealers in order to make a name for himself. But his uncontrollable temper and ego makes him enemies with the NSW Police and Freeman, who ultimately arranges his death after manipulating Flannery into eliminating the various mobsters who have taken over the drug trade in Trimbole's absence.
Clark suffers a heart attack in prison and dies. With the net tightening on him, Trimbole, dying of prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
, is arrested in Ireland on a trumped-up charge. Before the Australian police can bring evidence against him, however, he is released and flees to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. Paltos completes the drug shipment but Mobbs arrests him immediately; Hakens is prevented from narcing on Paltos via his friends in the NSW police and is confronted. However, Hakens refuses to turn against his fellow corrupt cops and, without any hard evidence, send him back to his old job. Paltos also refuses to co-operate, but Trimbole's new wife accidentally gives away his location to the task force. Priest rushes to arrest Trimbole, but arrives too late as Trimbole dies right before he enters his room
The series' epilogue states that Freeman and McPherson continue their illegal businesses for another decade or so, Laurie Prendergast (Teo Gebert) goes missing after Flannery's death (with it implied that Freeman had him murdered) and the corrupt NSW police continued their illicit operations. The final scene has Kelly and Haken, their luggage packed full of heroin and cocaine, going through customs as the corrupt Jack Smith waves his drug carrying friends through security. As the camera lingers upon Trevor's face, the narrator (Caroline Craig) talks about how the NSW police would ultimately fall due to one man (Haken), but suggests this would be "a whole other story
Underbelly: The Golden Mile
Underbelly: The Golden Mile is a 13-part Australian television mini-series loosely based on real events that stemmed from the nightclub scene of the Sydney suburb of Kings Cross. The timeline of the series is the years between 1988 and 1999. it primarily depicts the running of Kings Cross and the...
".
Cast
Similar to the first season, five main cast members are billed in the opening credit sequence, Roy BillingRoy Billing
Roy Billing is a New Zealand television actor, now based in Sydney, Australia.-Career:Billing has starred in many television shows and had main roles on Bad Cop, Bad Cop, Dossa and Joe and Hell Has Harbour Views...
(as Robert Trimbole
Robert Trimbole
Robert Trimbole was an Australian businessman, drug baron and organised crime boss whose alleged involvement in the disappearance of anti-marijuana campaigner Donald Mackay and involvement in drug trafficking in the Griffith, New South Wales area, led to a royal commission, a Coroner's inquest and...
), Anna Hutchison
Anna Hutchison
Anna Hutchison is a New Zealand actress. She is known for her roles on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street and American series Power Rangers: Jungle Fury...
(as Allison Dine), Matthew Newton
Matthew Newton
Matthew Newton is an Australian stage and screen actor. Born in Melbourne, he is the son of television personalities, Bert and Patti Newton, brother of Lauren Newton, brother-in-law of Matt Welsh and uncle to Sam Albert and Eva Eunice Newton Welsh.-Acting:Newton has performed in Australia and...
(as Terry Clark), Asher Keddie
Asher Keddie
Asher Keddie is an Australian actress who is perhaps best known for her role in the Australian television series Offspring. She is also known for her theatre work and leading roles in the television series Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo, Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities and Love My...
(as Detective Senior Constable Liz Cruickshank) and Peter Phelps
Peter Phelps
Peter Phelps is an Australian actor, singer and writer. He is notable for his role of Peter Church in the television drama, Stingers and Trevor Cole, in Baywatch...
(as Detective Inspector Joe Messina). Other major cast members are billed in the episodes in which they feature heavily. Andrew McFarlane features in the opening episodes as Liberal politician and anti-drugs campaigner Donald Mackay. Peter O'Brien portrays the late Sydney underworld figure George Freeman. Kate Ritchie
Kate Ritchie
Katherine "Kate" Ritchie is an Australian actress, best known for her long-running role as Sally Fletcher on the television soap opera Home and Away. She played the character for 20 years from 1988–2008...
appears twice as Judi Kane, wife of slain standover man Les Kane and stepmother of Trisha Kane who was married to Jason Moran
Jason Moran
Jason Matthew Patrick Moran was an Australian criminal from Melbourne, Victoria, and one of the leaders of the Moran crime family, notable for its involvement in the Melbourne gangland killings. He sported a 12 cm scar on the side of his face.-Early life:Moran was the son of Lewis Moran and...
. Merrick Watts
Merrick Watts
Merrick Watts is a Australian comedian, radio host and television presenter. He is best known for performing stand-up comedy and radio works as part of the comedy duo Merrick and Rosso with Tim Ross....
appears in an episode as Marty Johnstone
Marty Johnstone
Christopher Martin "Marty" Johnstone was a New Zealand drug trafficker. The former Takapuna Grammar pupil was dubbed "Mr Asia" by the Auckland Star newspaper in August 1978 in a series of articles by Pat Booth.-Murder:...
, Clark's main supplier. Caroline Craig
Caroline Craig
Caroline Craig is an Australian television and stage actress, and television director, based in Sydney Australia...
is the narrator, reprising her role from the first series. Other prominent actors to appear in the series include Samuel Johnston
Samuel Johnson (actor)
Samuel Johnson is an Australian actor, radio presenter and voiceover artist.He was educated at Wesley College, Melbourne and is best known for his role as Evan Wylde in the television series The Secret Life of Us.-Starting out:At the age of 14, Johnson performed in his first school play, cast in a...
as a corrupt Federal Narcotics Agent, John Wood
John Wood (Australian actor)
John Wood is a Gold Logie Award-winning Australian actor, best known for his role as Senior Sergeant Tom Croydon in the Seven Network's long running police drama Blue Heelers.-TV career:...
as corrupt NSW chief magistrate Murray Farquhar
Murray Farquhar
Murray Farquhar OBE was the Chief Stipendiary Magistrate of New South Wales between 1971 and 1977. Farquhar was born in the mining city of Broken Hill, New South Wales in Far West New South Wales. He attended Broken Hill High School and served in the Australian Army in the Second World War...
and Diane Craig
Diane Craig
Diane Mary Craig is an actress born in County Down, Northern Ireland but who is best known for her performances on Australian television....
as Don Mackay's wife.
Like in the original series, the Victorian Police characters, Joe Messina and Liz Cruickshank, are fictional characters based on several unnamed Victorian police officers, due to Victorian laws that do not allow the media portrayal of officers that have not been dishonorably discharged.
Main Characters
Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities features five regular cast members, with other actors who recur throughout the series.- Matthew NewtonMatthew NewtonMatthew Newton is an Australian stage and screen actor. Born in Melbourne, he is the son of television personalities, Bert and Patti Newton, brother of Lauren Newton, brother-in-law of Matt Welsh and uncle to Sam Albert and Eva Eunice Newton Welsh.-Acting:Newton has performed in Australia and...
stars as Terry Clark, the head of the Mr Asia drug ring. - Roy BillingRoy BillingRoy Billing is a New Zealand television actor, now based in Sydney, Australia.-Career:Billing has starred in many television shows and had main roles on Bad Cop, Bad Cop, Dossa and Joe and Hell Has Harbour Views...
stars as "Aussie Bob" TrimboleRobert TrimboleRobert Trimbole was an Australian businessman, drug baron and organised crime boss whose alleged involvement in the disappearance of anti-marijuana campaigner Donald Mackay and involvement in drug trafficking in the Griffith, New South Wales area, led to a royal commission, a Coroner's inquest and...
, Clark's partner in Australia. - Anna HutchisonAnna HutchisonAnna Hutchison is a New Zealand actress. She is known for her roles on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street and American series Power Rangers: Jungle Fury...
stars as Allison Dine, Clark's lover and main drug mule. - Asher KeddieAsher KeddieAsher Keddie is an Australian actress who is perhaps best known for her role in the Australian television series Offspring. She is also known for her theatre work and leading roles in the television series Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo, Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities and Love My...
stars as Senior Detective Constable Liz Cruickshank, a member of the Victorian Major Crime Squad - Peter PhelpsPeter PhelpsPeter Phelps is an Australian actor, singer and writer. He is notable for his role of Peter Church in the television drama, Stingers and Trevor Cole, in Baywatch...
stars as Detective Inspector Joe Messina of the Major Crime Squad, Cruickshank's boss. - Jonny Pasvolsky recurs as Detective Inspector Dave Priest, head of the Federal task force investigating the syndicate
- Matt PassmoreMatt PassmoreMatt Passmore , an Australian actor. He is known for McLeod's Daughters , Blue Heelers , and his first American television show, The Glades .-Personal:Passmore grew up in Wynnum-Manly, Brisbane....
recurs as Senior Detective Constable Warwick Mobbs, NSW detective in the Federal task force. - Peter O'Brien recurs as George FreemanGeorge Freeman (bookmaker)George David Freeman was a Sydney organised crime figure and illegal casino operator. He was linked to the Sydney drug trade during the 1970s and '80s, was named in several Royal Commissions into organised crime and had links with American crime figures...
, bookmakerBookmakerA bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds.- Range of events :...
and illegal casino operator - Dustin ClareDustin ClareDustin Clare is a Logie Award winning Australian actor. He is best known for his starring role as Gannicus in the Starz mini-series Spartacus: Gods of the Arena and will reprise his role in Spartacus: Vengeance.-Biography:...
recurs as Chris FlanneryChristopher Dale FlanneryChristopher Dale Flannery, aka Mr. Rent-A-Kill is alleged to have been an Australian hitman. Flannery was born in Brunswick, Victoria.- Juvenile Crime:...
, the Melbourne hitman known as Mr Rent-a-Kill - Damian de Montemas recurs as Brian Alexander, the syndicate's legal advisor
- Wadih Dona recurs as Dr. Nick Paltos, surgeon and drug trafficker
- Martin Dingle Wall recurs as Les Kane, Melbourne stand-over man
- Tim McCunn recurs as Brian Kane, Melbourne stand-over man
- Nathan Page recurs as Ray "Chuck" Bennett, Melbourne armed robber
- Samuel JohnsonSamuel Johnson (actor)Samuel Johnson is an Australian actor, radio presenter and voiceover artist.He was educated at Wesley College, Melbourne and is best known for his role as Evan Wylde in the television series The Secret Life of Us.-Starting out:At the age of 14, Johnson performed in his first school play, cast in a...
recurs as Jack Smith, corrupt Federal Narcotics Agent - Paul Tassone recurs as Detective Sergeant Dennis Kelly, corrupt NSW police detective
- Daniel RobertsDaniel RobertsDaniel Roberts, born 1969, in New York City, is a playwright, editor and educator.-Early life and career:Daniel graduated with a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. He edited the literary magazine Press from 1995–2001...
recurs as Detective Sergeant Jim Egan, a corrupt NSW detective - Simone KessellSimone KessellSimone Kessell is a New Zealand actress who has starred in several films and television series.-Personal life:Kessell is married to Australian director Gregor Jordan...
recurs as Isabelle Wilson, one of Clark's drug mules and victims - Gareth Reeves recurs as Douglas Wilson, one of Clark's drug mules and victims
- Damon GameauDamon GameauDamon Gameau is an Australian television and film actor, who has appeared in the Australian series Love My Way, and in a small role in the US series How I Met Your Mother, as well as the 2002 Australian film The Tracker....
recurs as Andy Maher, Clark's Singapore middleman. - Katie WallKatie Wall-Television roles:* Dirt Game as Caz Cohen* Dangerous as Esther* Love My Way as Sonia McClusky* The Surgeon as Siobhan Kerry* The Secret Life of Us as Karen* All Saints as Diana Short...
recurs as Karen Soich, Terry's lawyer and lover - Caroline CraigCaroline CraigCaroline Craig is an Australian television and stage actress, and television director, based in Sydney Australia...
is the series narrator, reprising her role from the first series
Secondary characters
- John McNeillJohn McNeill (actor)John McNeill is an Australian actor and teacher. He featured in the TV series Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities as Lenny McPherson.. As of midway through 2010, he has been working as a substitute teacher at the South Brisbane school Saint Laurences College....
recurs as Lenny McPhersonLenny McPhersonLeonard Arthur McPherson was one of the most notorious and powerful Australian career criminals of the late 20th century...
, Sydney stand-over man - Jenna Lind recurs as Maria Muhary, the mother of Clark's son
- Suzannah McDonald recurs as Ann-Marie Presland, Bob's Mistress in Sydney
- Elan Zavelsky recurs as Alphonse GangitanoAlphonse GangitanoAlphonse John Gangitano was an Italian Australian criminal from Templestowe, a suburb of Melbourne. Nicknamed the "Black Prince of Lygon Street", Gangitano was the face of an organisation known as the Carlton Crew, and a close associate of convicted criminals Graham Kinniburgh, Mick Gatto and...
, Melbourne stand-over man - Teo Gebert recurs as Laurie Prendergast, one of Bennett's crew
- Wayne Bradley recurs as Vinnie Mikkelsen, one of Bennett's crew
- Scott Burgess recurs as James Fredrick "Fred" Bazley, Melbourne hitman
- Ric Herbert appears in one episode as Al Grassby, former government minister and associate of Trimbole
- Dieter BrummerDieter BrummerDieter Brummer is an Australian actor of German descent, probably best known for his role on the television soap opera Home and Away.-Career:...
recurs as Detective Constable Trevor Hakens, a corrupt NSW detective - Don Halbert recurs as Barry Walker, a corrupt Melbourne detective
- Kate RitchieKate RitchieKatherine "Kate" Ritchie is an Australian actress, best known for her long-running role as Sally Fletcher on the television soap opera Home and Away. She played the character for 20 years from 1988–2008...
appears in two episodes as Judi Kane, wife of Les Kane - John WoodJohn Wood (Australian actor)John Wood is a Gold Logie Award-winning Australian actor, best known for his role as Senior Sergeant Tom Croydon in the Seven Network's long running police drama Blue Heelers.-TV career:...
appears in two episodes as Murray FarquharMurray FarquharMurray Farquhar OBE was the Chief Stipendiary Magistrate of New South Wales between 1971 and 1977. Farquhar was born in the mining city of Broken Hill, New South Wales in Far West New South Wales. He attended Broken Hill High School and served in the Australian Army in the Second World War...
, corrupt NSW chief magistrate - Merrick WattsMerrick WattsMerrick Watts is a Australian comedian, radio host and television presenter. He is best known for performing stand-up comedy and radio works as part of the comedy duo Merrick and Rosso with Tim Ross....
appears in one episode as Marty JohnstoneMarty JohnstoneChristopher Martin "Marty" Johnstone was a New Zealand drug trafficker. The former Takapuna Grammar pupil was dubbed "Mr Asia" by the Auckland Star newspaper in August 1978 in a series of articles by Pat Booth.-Murder:...
, Clark's Singapore supplier - Andrew McFarlane appears in the opening episodes as Don MackayDonald MackayDonald Bruce Mackay was an Australian anti-drugs campaigner who came to fame in 1977 through the circumstances of his murder.Mackay was born in Griffith and raised in Sydney...
, Trimbole and Clark's first victim - Diane CraigDiane CraigDiane Mary Craig is an actress born in County Down, Northern Ireland but who is best known for her performances on Australian television....
appears in the opening episodes and final episode as Mackay's wife Barbara Mackay. - Renato Fabretti appears in one episode as Mark "Chopper" ReadChopper ReadMark Brandon "Chopper" Read is an Australian ex-criminal, who wrote a series of semi-autobiographical and fictional crime novels. The 2000 film Chopper was based on his life.-Early life:...
, Melbourne stand-over man and Bennett's fellow inmate - Tony Poli recurs as Gianfranco "Frank" Tizzoni, Marijuana grower and a close associate of Trimbole
- Anthony SimcoeAnthony SimcoeAnthony Simcoe is an Australian actor, best known for his portrayal of Ka D'Argo in the science fiction television series Farscape.The 6' 6" Simcoe is a graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Arts in Sydney...
appears in two episodes as Danny Chubb, Sydney drug supplier - Brendan Donoghue appears in two episodes as Mick Sayers, Sydney heroin dealer
- Paul Ireland appears in two episodes as Tony Eustace, Sydney brothel owner and drug dealer
- Myles PollardMyles PollardMyles Pollard is an Australian actor known for his role as Nick Ryan on the TV series McLeod's Daughters.-Biography:...
recurs as Phil de la Salle, a Sydney homicide detective who investigates Mackay's murder - Sam Anderson appears in three episodes as Harry "Pommy" Lewis, one of Clark's drug mules and victims
- Chris Sandrinna appears in two episodes as Greg Ollard, a heroin dealer and friend of Clark
- Jake Lindesay recurs as Wayne Robb, Allison's boyfriend and drug courier
- Ian Roberts recurs as Barry, Freeman's bodyguard
- Ria VandervisRia VandervisRia Vandervis is a New Zealand actress. She plays the role of the villainess Miratrix in Power Rangers Operation Overdrive.Originally from Dunedin in the South Island of New Zealand, she attended Auckland's UNITEC School of Performing & Screen Arts and completed a three-year course in Acting...
recurs as Kay Reynolds, one of Clark's drug mules and friend to Allison - Peter Lamb appears in two episodes as Johannes Muller, Sydney underworld figure and who organised the hit on Freeman
- Josh McConville appears in two episodes as Michael Hurley, would-be drug dealer and Freeman's failed assassin
- Harold HopkinsHarold HopkinsHarold Horace Hopkins FRS was a renowned British physicist. His Wave Theory of Aberrations, , is central to all modern optical design and provides the mathematical analysis which enables the use of computers to create the wealth of high quality lenses available today...
appears in two episodes as George Joseph, Melbourne gun dealer and Bazley's associate - Aaron Hammond appears in two episodes as Tim a Federal Narcotics Agent
- Michael Sarantos appears in one episode as a Spanish Detective
Production
Filming took place in both Sydney and Melbourne until March 2009. Sydney locations RichmondRichmond, New South Wales
Richmond is a town in New South Wales, north-west of Sydney, in the Local Government Area of the City of Hawkesbury. It is located at a latitude of 33° 35' 54" South and a longitude of 150°45' 04" east, 19 metres above sea level on the alluvial Hawkesbury River flats, at the foot of the Blue...
and Warwick Farm
Warwick Farm, New South Wales
Warwick Farm is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.Warwick Farm is located 30 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Liverpool and is part of the South-western Sydney region.-History:This area was occupied by...
were used to portray Griffith in the 1970s. Along with these sites, a house in Wahroonga
Wahroonga, New South Wales
Wahroonga is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Wahroonga is located 22 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council and Hornsby Shire....
was used to shoot episodes seven and eight. The scenes in Freeman's casino were shot at a hotel in Sefton
Sefton, New South Wales
Sefton, a suburb of local government area City of Bankstown, is located 23 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and is a part of the Western Sydney region....
. Writers Peter Gawler and Greg Haddrick have admitted that there is more nudity and sex than in the original.
The Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities DVD was released 27 May 2009 by Roadshow Entertainment
Village Roadshow Limited
Village Roadshow Limited is an Australian media company with interests in cinema, theme parks, film production and distribution. The company is a publicly listed entity on the Australian Securities Exchange...
.
The show is rated R18 in New Zealand.
Critical reception
Critics praised Kate RitchieKate Ritchie
Katherine "Kate" Ritchie is an Australian actress, best known for her long-running role as Sally Fletcher on the television soap opera Home and Away. She played the character for 20 years from 1988–2008...
for her performance as Judi Kane. Ninemsn
NineMSN
ninemsn is an Australian 50/50 joint venture between Microsoft and Nine Entertainment Co.. It effectively acts as the website for both the Nine Network and MSN, and is one of Australia's most popular websites...
's Sam Downing said he was "pleasantly surprised" by her acting. Downing expected to be thinking of Ritchie's Home and Away
Home and Away
Home and Away is an Australian soap opera that has been produced in Sydney since July 1987 and is airing on the Seven Network since 17 January 1988. It is the second-longest-running drama and most popular soap opera on Australian television...
character Sally the whole time, but found "she was surprisingly different and really good". TV reviewer and La Trobe University
La Trobe University
La Trobe University is a multi-campus university in Victoria, Australia. It was established in 1964 by an Act of Parliament to become the third oldest university in the state of Victoria. The main campus of La Trobe is located in the Melbourne suburb of Bundoora; two other major campuses are...
media lecturer Sue Turnbull thought Ritchie managed to cast off her soap opera persona through the role. Turnbull said that Ritchie did not overplay her scenes, and the emotion on her face indicated there was "a lot more going on".
The series received generally positive reviews, but has been criticised for embellishing and dramatising the real events on which is it based. In a column for the tabloid The Sydney Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph (Australia)
The Daily Telegraph is an Australian tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, by Nationwide News, part of News Corporation.The Tele, as it is also known, was founded in 1879. From 1936 to 1972, it was owned by Frank Packer's Australian Consolidated Press. That year it was sold to...
on 24 February 2009, author Keith Moor is highly critical of the events depicted in the show. In the article, Moor points out among other things that Trimbole and Clark never met until after Donald Mackay was murdered, that Trimbole had no role in the Great Bookie Robbery
Great Bookie Robbery
The Great Bookie Robbery was a crime committed in Melbourne, Australia on 21 April 1976.A well-organized gang of six stole between $6 million and $12 million from the Victoria Club, which was located on the second floor of a building in Queen Street...
nor did he own or live on an orange orchard and that Allison Dine didn't see Clark for three days after he killed Pommy Lewis. It is also known that Brian and Les Kane did participate in the Great Bookie Robbery and were not shut out of it as suggested by the show. Former NSW police detective Roger Rogerson
Roger Rogerson
Roger Caleb Rogerson is a controversial former detective-sergeant of the New South Wales Police Force. Rogerson was convicted of perverting the course of justice and lying to the 1999 Police Integrity Commission...
was also critical of the show, particularly with regards to the characterisation of Chris Flannery and the portrayal of George Freeman
George Freeman (bookmaker)
George David Freeman was a Sydney organised crime figure and illegal casino operator. He was linked to the Sydney drug trade during the 1970s and '80s, was named in several Royal Commissions into organised crime and had links with American crime figures...
as a murderer and major crime lord.
Ratings
The series debuted with double episodes attracting an average of 2,501,500 viewers nationally, in the mainland capitals. The first episode with 2,584,000 viewers was the biggest audience for a non-sporting program premiere since the introduction of people metres in Australia in 2001. As of episode 3, the series has attracted an average of 2.489 million viewers per episode. The previous years highest rating broadcast was Seven'sSeven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
Packed to the Rafters
Packed to the Rafters
Packed to the Rafters is an Australian family-orientated television series which premiered on the Seven Network on Tuesday 26 August 2008 at 8:30 pm. The drama series features a mix of lighthearted comedy woven through the plot. It revolves around the Rafter family facing work pressures and...
with 1.938 million.
Series ratings
The following table's ratings and rankings are subject to change as more episodes are broadcast.| TV Season | Timeslot | Season Premiere | Season Finale | Weekly Ranking | Yearly Ranking | Viewers (Millions) |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | >2nd | ||||||
| 2009 2009 in Australian television This is a list of Australian television events and premieres which occurred in 2009. The year 2009 is the 54th year of continuous operation of television in Australia... |
8:30pm Monday |
9 February 2009 | 4 May 2009 | 10 | 2* | 1** | #1 | 2.159 |
*Second due to double episode premiere
**5th due to other networks grand finales and premieres
Weekly ratings
The weekly Australian metropolitan ratings are below.| # | Episode | AU Air Date | Timeslot | Viewers (m) | Nightly Rank (#) | Weekly Rank (#) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Aussie Bob & Kiwi Terry" | 9 February 2009 | 8:30pm Monday |
2.582 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | "Bad Habits" | 9:30pm Monday |
2.397 | 2 | 2 | |
| 3 | "Brave New World" | 16 February 2009 | 8:30pm Monday |
2.476 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | "Business as Usual" | 23 February 2009 | 2.334 | 1 | 1 | |
| 5 | "A Tale of Two Hitmen" | 2 March 2009 | 2.233 | 1 | 1 | |
| 6 | "Stranded" | 9 March 2009 | 2.267 | 1 | 1 | |
| 7 | "A Nice Little Earner" | 16 March 2009 | 2.174 | 1 | 1 | |
| 8 | "Diamonds" | 23 March 2009 | 2.069 | 1 | 1 | |
| 9 | "Judas Kiss" | 30 March 2009 | 2.126 | 1 | 1 | |
| 10 | "The Reckoning" | 20 April 2009 | 1.826 | 1 | 1 | |
| 11 | "The Brotherhood" | 9:30pm Monday |
1.803 | 2 | 2 | |
| 12 | "O Lucky Man" | 27 April 2009 | 8:30pm Monday |
1.705 | 4 | 5 |
| 13 | "The Loved Ones" | 4 May 2009 | 2.078 | 1 | 1 | |
| --- | Series average | --- | --- | 2.159 | 1.3 | 1.4 |
Sequel
The third season, titled Underbelly: The Golden Mile, began airing in 2010. It is a sequel to the second season and a prequel to the first.Peter Andrikidis
Peter Andrikidis
Peter Andrikidis is an Australian television director and producer.Peter Andrikidis graduated from the Australian Film Television and Radio School in Film Direction in 1981 and was immediately recruited to Crawford Productions where he worked on The Flying Doctors.He moved to the ABC, where he...
, director of the first series, has said that writers are penning a third edition of the crime drama to link the two series. "It's being written at the moment and I think it takes it up to the first series. So it's the end of this series and up to 1995, that is the plan. I'd say it'd have something to do with the people that were set up in series one. But they're still developing that, it's just what they can get the rights on," Andrikidis said.
In a further press release on 11 June 2009, Nine Network has disclosed the plot will pick up from where A Tale of Two Cities ended in 1987: centring around the worsening systematic corruption within the NSW Police and associated illicit drug, prostitution, underground gambling, night club activities at King's Cross in the late 1980s. This entrenched culture of corruption and entanglement with organised crime only ended in the mid 1990s with the Wood Royal Commission which "cleaned out the Black Empire within the NSW Police".
See also
- Underbelly (series)Underbelly (series)Underbelly is an Australian television true crime-drama which originally broadcast on the Nine Network. Each series contains 13 episodes and is based on real-life events including the Melbourne gangland killings between 1995-2004, the Griffith drug trade between 1976-1987, and the Kings Cross scene...
- Underbelly (TV series)Underbelly (TV series)Underbelly is a 13-part Australian television mini-series that retells the real events of the 1995–2004 gangland war in Melbourne, and is the first series in the larger Underbelly Franchise. It depicts the key players in Melbourne's criminal underworld, including the Carlton Crew and their rival,...
- List of Australian television series
- 2009 in Australian television2009 in Australian televisionThis is a list of Australian television events and premieres which occurred in 2009. The year 2009 is the 54th year of continuous operation of television in Australia...
- List of Australian television ratings for 2009
External links
(STV PlayerSTV Player
The STV Player is a website based video on demand service accessible though the main STV website and separately in the distinct domain name stvplayer.tv. Current programmes are available for 30 days after transmission on the main STV channel, with archive programming available longer-term...
)
- Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities series news and pics