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Underbelly (TV series)
Encyclopedia
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, Carl Williams. The series is based on the book Leadbelly: Inside Australia's Underworld, by The Age
journalists John Silvester
and Andrew Rule, and is produced by the Australian Film Finance Corporation, in association with Film Victoria. The executive producers are Des Monaghan and Jo Horsburgh.
The lead-up to Underbelly involved a heavy marketing campaign which covered radio, print, billboards and an increased online presence, including the use of social networking tools. At a reported cost of $500,000, both this marketing investment and potentially millions of dollars in advertising revenue were claimed to be put at risk by the Victoria
n Supreme Court's injunction, as the series was expected to attract 800,000 to 1 million viewers in Victoria alone. The injunction was put in place to ensure that upcoming criminal trials were not unfair to the accused, because the series contained fictionalised re-enactments of several disputed events. Underbelly began screening on 13 February 2008 on the Nine Network
in all states and territories except Victoria. An edited version of the series premiered in Victoria on 14 September 2008 after the injunction was partially lifted, although only the first five episodes were shown.
Underbelly was a critical and ratings success, being described as "Australia's best ever crime drama". The opening double episodes, which aired on 13 February, attracted an average of 1,320,000 viewers nationally, minus Victoria. Every episode of the 13-part series was soon made available for download on a range of sites, with the Nine Network saying it was considering legal action. The legal DVD of Underbelly was released on 8 May 2008, a day after the final episode was aired on television. Due to the legal suppression, the release was not able to be distributed through any retail or rental outlets in Victoria or on the internet. The Nine Network has aired three prequels to the series, Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities
, Underbelly: The Golden Mile
and Underbelly: Razor
.
Underbelly is a fictionalised account of the events behind the Melbourne gangland war
that lasted from 1995 until 2004. In the first episode, the Carlton Crew crime syndicate is introduced, comprising stand-over man Alphonse Gangitano
(Vince Colosimo
), Domenic "Mick" Gatto
(Simon Westaway
), loanshark Mario Condello
(Martin Sacks
), retired bank robber Graham Kinniburgh
(Gerard Kennedy
) and drug-dealing siblings Jason
and Mark Moran
(Les Hill
and Callan Mulvey
) and their father Lewis
(Kevin Harrington). Jason Moran's seemingly harmless and half-witted driver Carl Williams (Gyton Grantley
) is also introduced, along with two police characters; Steve Owen (Rodger Corser
) and Jacqui James (Caroline Craig
), the most prominent members of Task Force Purana.
Alphonse Gangitano, the self-styled "Black Prince of Lygon Street", kills a man at a party over a small debt and, with Jason's assistance, injures 13 innocent people. During his trial, Gangitano is murdered by Jason, although the killing goes unsolved. The Moran brothers buy a pill press and employ Carl Williams to produce their drugs. Carl secretly begins making his own supply and forms an alliance with Moran rival Tony Mokbel (Robert Mammone
). When Carl is busted by the police, Jason discovers his double-cross and shoots him in the stomach, before Jason is arrested. Mark Moran takes over the drug business, selling Tony Mokbel out to a corrupt officer from the drug squad. Carl kills Mark with the assistance of drug dealer Dino Dibra
(Daniel Amalm
) and L (Ian Bliss
), who establish an alibi. Lewis Moran hires Andrew "Benji" Veniamin
(Damian Walshe-Howling
) to avenge his stepson, believing the killer to be Dibra. Benji kills Dibra then offers his services to Carl and becomes his bodyguard, although Carl is eventually jailed. Carl's wife, Roberta (Kat Stewart
), is forced to run the business and she begins an affair with Benji.
Carl is released from jail and Jason Moran is given special parole conditions to allow him to move to London. Moran rival Nik "The Russian" Radev
(Don Hany
) becomes a liability and Carl has him murdered by Benji and T. (Alex Dimitriades
). Jason returns from London and a concerned Lewis offers to run the business, but is arrested during a bust. With Benji under constant police observation, Carl asks L. and T. to murder Jason, who is executed in front of his children. Carl orders a hit on small-time dealer Willie Thompson, who turns out to be a friend of Tony Mokbel. However, Tony blames another small-time dealer, Michael Marshall, for the crime and asks Carl to kill him. Carl's hitmen L. and T. shoot Marshall and are immediately arrested, but the police are unable to prove Carl's involvement in the crime.
When Graham Kinniburgh is murdered, Carl agrees to end the violence and asks Benji to murder Gatto. Gatto instead kills Benji and is arrested, although he is later acquitted. A new thug, Keith Faure
(Kym Gyngell
) (not named in the series), offers to team up with Carl, while his real motive is to take over for himself. Several days later, Faure kills Lewis Moran in a crowded bar. Consumed by revenge for Benji's death, his friend, convicted killer Lewis Caine
(Marcus Graham
), decides to kill Condello, the only surviving member of the Carlton Crew. However, Caine is double-crossed by his accomplices and is murdered beforehand. Detective Owen has Condello's bodyguard "Tibor" arrested. They agree to have Tibor act as an undercover agent to record Condello ordering a hit on Carl. Meanwhile, Carl's jailed associates testify against him. In the series final episode, Task Force Purana and Owen arrest Carl at a family barbecue. A voice-over, performed by police officer Jacqui James, reveals that Mick Gatto is eventually acquitted for the killing of Andrew Veniamin and that Mario Condello is killed while awaiting trial on attempted murder charges.
In the seventh episode, Paul Kallipolitis is murdered in his home by Andrew Veniamin, and in the following episode, Victor Peirce
is murdered outside of his home. When Carl Williams is shot in the series by Moran there is a beach shore evident in the background, however the real shooting occurred in Broadmeadows, where no shoreline can be seen. While both murders occurred in 2002, the series timeline is incorrect, as Peirce was murdered on 1 May, and Kallipolitis was murdered on 15 October. The execution of Victor Peirce in episode eight is portrayed as taking place in his car at the front of his home, but Peirce was shot dead while parked opposite a supermarket in Bay Street, Port Melbourne. The murder of alleged drug dealer Willie Thompson was portrayed in episode ten as Thompson being shot after leaving a martial arts class in broad daylight. However, Thompson was shot dead at around 9:30pm, and the murder occurred on Waverley Road in the Melbourne suburb of Chadstone, as he began to drive off in his car, directly outside the entrance to the martial arts centre. Another fiction portrayed was the murder of Nik Radev
by both Victor Brincat and Andrew Veniamin
in the late hours of the night when Radev was in fact ambushed on a residential street in Coburg
in the company of 2 bodyguards in the late afternoon.
In all episodes showing the Melbourne Skyline, the Eureka Tower
is shown, however, the building was not actually completed until 2006, at least 2 years after the events depicted in the series.
The regular cast includes Rodger Corser
, Caroline Craig
, Gyton Grantley
and Kat Stewart
. Corser stars as Detective
Senior Sergeant Steve Owen, a prominent member of Task Force Purana. Craig stars as Senior Detective Jacqui James, Owen's partner in Task Force Purana and also narrates the series. Grantley stars as Carl Williams, a seemingly harmless and half-witted driver who becomes a killer and convicted criminal. Stewart stars as Roberta Williams, Carl's wife who is forced to run his drug business.
The recurring cast includes:
journalists John Silvester and Andrew Rule. As the Nine Network was interested in creating local and world-class television, they decided to invest in a drama series that told the story of the Melbourne gangland killings. Jo Horsburgh, Nine Network Head of Drama, stated that the network was "100 percent committed to bringing Underbelly to the small screen". Des Monaghan, executive producer for Screentime, called the series "one of the most exciting and challenging drama projects ever shot in [Australia]". The script took 12 months to write, beginning in June 2006, with the main writers, Greg Haddrick
, Peter Gawler and Felicity Packard putting together an entire episode themselves before their scripts were edited. Haddrick, Screentime's Head of Drama, felt that the challenge for the writing team was to "capture the essential truth of these extraordinary events in a compelling and coherent manner".
Underbelly was filmed in Melbourne, at locations around the city where the real-life events occurred. Filming took over 82 days, from 2 July to 19 October 2007, with 150 inner urban locations utilised and 450 locations surveyed making the series as close to life as possible. Parts of the series were filmed in the Essendon
area, near many of the houses and schools associated with the "Underworld". Many of the Carlton
scenes were filmed in North Melbourne, primarily around Errol Street. All La Porcella filming was done at Rubicon Restaurant Errol Street, and jail visit sequences were filmed in the dressing rooms at the Telstra Dome
.
The Nine Network spent more than fifteen million dollars producing and promoting Underbelly. The lead-up resulted in a heavy marketing campaign which covered radio, print, billboards and an increased online presence, including the use of social networking tools. When the CEO of the Nine Network, David Gyngell
noted the need to up its online presence, and embrace social networking as a valuable marketing tool, the official website was launched. The original website was launched on 15 January 2008, with only a 3-minute trailer; while the full site, with all its features, launched on 1 February 2008. It was announced that the full first episode would be available for download on the site on 10 February, three days before the show premieres on television, but this option was made unavailable due to the Supreme court suppression case. This intention follows a similar strategy used for the launch of Sea Patrol
in 2007. The site was "poised to become" the biggest and most detailed website the Nine Network has hosted for a show so far, including features such as behind the scenes footage, profiles, visitor interactivity and the use of social networking tools. Due to the court injunction, the Nine Network was ordered to remove character profiles from its official website in Victoria.
According to its marketing, Underbelly "uses the framework of the murderous war between the two gangs, and the bigger moral war between the gangs and the Purana Task Force, to explore a complex array of individual stories and relationships—some touching, some incredible, all breathtaking—it is a mini-series that examines the kaleidoscopic nature of loyalty, love, revenge and pride when the normal and identifiable emotions of human attachment are moved from the context of social decency to social indecency."
, revolves around the organised crime groups that stemmed from the Griffith
-based dope trade. The series follows the lives of two late infamous drug lords, "Aussie Bob" Trimbole
and Terry "Mr Asia" Clark, portrayed by Roy Billing
and Matthew Newton
respectively. Filming took place in both Sydney and Melbourne until March 2009. Sydney locations Richmond
, Bondi Beach
and Warwick Farm
were used to portray Griffith in the 1970s. Writers Peter Gawler and Greg Haddrick admitted that there was more nudity and sex than the original. The prequel premiered on 9 February 2009 to 2.5 million viewers, making it the highest rated non-sporting program in the history of Australian television ratings. The second prequel, titled Underbelly: The Golden Mile
, began airing on 11 April 2010. A telemovie trilogy known as The Underbelly Files was made and then aired in early 2011. The three telemovies Infiltration, The Man Who Got Away, and Tell Them Lucifer Was Here. The fourth full series, Underbelly: Razor
, began airing on 21 August 2011 and was mostly concerned with telling the story of 1920s criminal matriachs Tilly Devine
and Kate Leigh
. It was also therefore a prequel to the original series.
's critic Michael Idato
declared the series "The Blue Murder of its time", referring to the critically acclaimed 1995 ABC TV
drama Blue Murder
, considered by many to be the finest crime drama ever produced in Australia. In a review on his blog on 17 January 2008, David Knox, stated that Underbelly "is our own Sopranos
", and awarded it 4.5 out of 5. He also commented "If there are any criticisms to be found with Underbelly, they are few. One or two shots give away that period Melbourne was actually shot in 2007. And while watching these gangsters thrive on power with ballsy disdain, it was hard not to think of the behaviour of some television executives in recent history. This aside, Underbelly looks set to be one of the highlights of the 2008 television year." A review appeared in the Herald Sun
on 18 January 2008, in which critic Paul Anderson quoted: "Whether you followed the Melbourne gangland war or not, there's a fair chance you will be blown away by the coming TV series Underbelly. [It] is a slick, violent and sexually charged dramatisation backed by a ripping soundtrack." In an article appearing on 31 January 2008, The Daily Telegraph
's TV editor, Marcus Casey, said of Underbelly after viewing the first four episodes: "If the quality is maintained then, while not perfect, Underbelly should equal, if not better, Australia's best ever crime dramas – the Phoenix series
and Blue Murder."
if the content of the show was anything near that of an unauthorised promotional clip leaked from Nine's production department.
, managed only 271,000 viewers. The third episode, which aired on 20 February, managed to hold most of its viewers from its premiere, attracting 1,273,000 viewers nationally, a decline of only 50,000 viewers. The fourth episode, which aired on 27 February, managed to hold nearly all of its viewers from the previous episode, attracting 1,250,000 viewers nationally, a decline of only 23,000 viewers. Although leaked copies of all the episodes became available online, the show continued to attract "huge television audiences". Underbelly averaged 1.26 million viewers for all 13 episodes.
, winning six. The awards won were: Best Drama Series; Best Director (Peter Andrikidis
, for episode 7); Best Lead Actor (Gyton Grantley); Best Lead Actress (Kat Stewart); Best Guest or Supporting Actor (Damian Walshe-Howling, for episode 7); and Best Guest or Supporting Actress (Madeleine West, for episode 7). The series was also nominated for Best Screenplay (Peter Gawler); and Best Guest or Supporting Actor (Vince Colosimo, for episode 2). At the 2008 Screen Music Awards, composer Burkhard Dallwitz won two awards for best television theme and best music for a television series.
The show was also nominated for nine Logie Award
s. It won three awards from the nominations of Most Outstanding Drama Series, Most Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series (Gyton Grantley) and Most Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series (Kat Stewart). The other six nominations were from the categories of Most Outstanding Actor (Vince Colosimo and Damian Walshe-Howling), Most Outstanding New Talent (Lauren Clair), Most Popular Drama Series, Most Popular Actor (Gyton Grantley) and Most Popular Actress (Kat Stewart).
on 26 January 2008. Defteros, said to be portrayed by George Kapiniaris, engaged a top Melbourne defamation specialist, saying:
Nine Network had subsequently said there would now be no direct reference to Mr Defteros, despite earlier publicity. A spokeswoman for the network said "There is no lawyer called Defteros in Underbelly", but Defteros said he could still be defamed by implication, noting "it's already been advertised as me". The case was dropped by Director of Public Prosecutions
Paul Coghlan, QC, due to a lack of evidence.
The screening of Underbelly in Victoria was put into jeopardy after last-minute legal proceedings were instituted by the Director of Public Prosecutions
, Jeremy Rapke, QC
. Rapke secured an urgent viewing of the series, after which he decided to seek an injunction stopping its broadcast in Victoria. A Supreme Court
judge called prosecutors and defence lawyers together after serious concerns were raised about whether the show could prejudice the jury in the trial of Evangelos Goussis
, who had pleaded not guilty to the 2004 gangland killing of Lewis Moran. Although Goussis was not named in the series, there were concerns the show could hurt his chance of a fair trial.
The Supreme Court hearing took place on 11 February 2008 – only two days before the series was due to premiere. The Nine Network was ordered by a DPP
subpoena to hand over tapes of all 13 episodes, as well as outlines and story lines, to the Victorian Supreme Court by 10 am on that date. The Nine Network refused to voluntarily hand over the tapes, saying they were incomplete and that the network's lawyers were closely supervising production. However, it was willing to comply with any Court order and took the matter very seriously. The Network was also adamant that the series makes no assertions about the guilt of the accused killer. At the hearing, which took place at the Geelong Supreme Court, Justice Betty King gave prosecution and defence lawyers 24 hours to view the series and return to court the following day to decide whether it had the potential to affect the forthcoming trial. Justice King issued a suppression order on 12 February banning the Nine Network from broadcasting the series in the state of Victoria and on the internet until after the murder trial was completed. The Nine Network offered to air a heavily edited version in Victoria, but the offer was rejected by Justice King. It was initially planned that an alternative program, Underbelly: A Special Announcement, discussing the subject matter of the series, would air in Victoria instead of the series premiere. This idea was scrapped, and the movie The Shawshank Redemption
was aired in Victoria instead. The Nine Network declared their intention to appeal the decision, and Network lawyers stated that they would exercise all legal options.
The injunction also affected national audiences receiving transmissions from Imparja Television
, a Nine Network affiliate, because its single national satellite distribution signal is retransmitted in some parts of Victoria. Alternative programming was to be shown until the restriction was lifted.
The appeal began on 29 February 2008 in the Victorian Court of Appeal. Nine Network lawyers argued that the network should be allowed to broadcast the first three episodes of the series, arguing Justice King had erred in her decision to suppress the series because she had viewed the unedited version, rather than the final edited cut that was to be shown to audiences. The network believed the first three episodes, which depicted events from the beginning of the underworld war in 1995, would have no potential to prejudice any part of the trial. Goussis's murder trial was due to begin on 31 March 2008. The judges overseeing the appeal retired to decide their verdict on 3 March 2008. Their decision on 26 March 2008 upheld Justice King's ruling that the series was not to be broadcast or distributed in or out of Victoria. During the appeal the Nine Network had proposed to screen the first three episodes immediately after any successful appeal, and would give the court seven days written notice of its intention to show any further episodes that it believed would not prejudice the murder trial. The Court of Appeal had dismissed the network's application to appeal, and the network was compelled to comply with the suppression order issued by Justice King until the offending trial was complete.
The ban expired the week ending 30 May 2008, with the conviction of Goussis for the murder of Lewis Moran, paving the way for Nine to begin screening episodes; however, Andrew Rule, who co-wrote the book on which the series is based, says Underbelly will not be seen in Victoria anytime soon, saying "the problem now will be that Tony Mokbel is back in Australia and ready to stand trial on very serious charges. That will effectively prevent the series being screened in Victoria until that trial is held ... That could be some time. I'm not sure about several [years], but it might be two years." However, Underbelly was legally shown in Victoria in September 2008, after a court ruled that the network could air the first five episodes. Supreme Court Justice Peter Vickery gave the network permission to air the specially edited episodes, but said screening the sixth episode could prejudice the upcoming trials of an accused criminal. The edited versions had whole scenes cut out, and Tony Mokbel
's face was pixelated. Reactions from viewers were not favourable, mainly because most had already seen the entire series. The suppression order was finally lifted after Mokbel's trial in April 2011, after which the series was broadcast in its entirety in Victoria.
on Sunday at 9:30pm, but the network put the series on hiatus after three episodes because it was "not performing as expected in the time slot". Due to a public outcry, TV3 reversed their decision 48 hours later, saying it was "bowing to the pressure of angry fans". TV3 reinstated the series in its old timeslot, but rescheduled it to 11:15pm on Tuesday evenings just weeks later. TV3 senior publicist Nicole Wood said the show had failed to win new viewers in the Sunday slot, and even though they were "inundated with fans" when they took it off air, it "still didn't rate" on its second showing. The series was brought back to primetime in July 2009, after the sequel series performed well in New Zealand. Beginning with episode 1, the series is currently playing every Thursday at 9:30pm. In April 2008, the Nine Network signed an international distribution deal with Fox International Channels
and Portman Film & Television. The series will be broadcast in Scandinavia, Canada, France, the UK, Italy (Rai 4), Balkans, Korea, Pan-Asia, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Turkey and Germany. Gyngell said, "to say we are pleased is an understatement – we are delighted that the series will gain international audiences and global recognition". Scottish commercial broadcaster STV have signed up to broadcast the series. Series 3 is now broadcasting after the good reception of the first two series. STV announcer Cameron McKenna is the voice of the Underbelly promotions.
U.S. satellite-only service DirecTV
will broadcast the entire trilogy, beginning in February 2010, on its channel "The 101".
Season 1 airs in the Republic of Ireland on free-to-air channel TV3 Ireland
from Thursday, 23 September 2010 at 10pm.
. The Nine Network reportedly obtained the IP address of the first person to upload the show, and network lawyers were considering legal action. The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) was investigating the matter, and was expected to make a list of recommendations to Victoria Police
. Fears of inside leaks were aroused when advance screener
versions of the first eight episodes were posted online.
Every episode of the 13-part series was soon available for download on a range of sites. It was reported that on mininova.org more than 3,000 users were attempting to download episode seven late on the afternoon of 27 February 2008. The Nine Network said it was considering legal action, and was looking into how copies got into the hands of underworld figures in Victoria, including Roberta Williams, the former wife of gangland kingpin Carl Williams. Unauthorised copies of the entire series were also made available to the public. People were offered a 4-disc DVD set for between A$
10 and $80 in public places such as carparks and building sites. The episodes were commercial-free and came with introductory station countdowns, suggesting a major leak from inside the network's production department.
Two network employees had been questioned by the network over the matter, but both denied distributing any copies of the series. Pirated DVDs containing the first nine episodes of Underbelly were seized in a raid by police on a business in Melbourne's western suburbs on 11 March 2008. As well as facing serious copyright charges, the 41-year-old man arrested with connections to the piracy set-up will also risk prosecution for breaching the court suppression order banning broadcast of the program in Victoria. Along with the Underbelly DVDs, more than 7000 other pirated DVDs were uncovered, as well as eight printers and 70 new DVD burners. The piracy ring contained several members, some of which had been arrested for offences in the recent months prior.
, a day after the final episode was aired on television. In accordance with the legal suppression, the release was not distributed through any retail or rental outlets in Victoria or on the internet. Roadshow Entertainment has confirmed that all box sets and point of sale displays will carry a sticker or stamp reminding buyers the series is not for sale, distribution or exhibition in Victoria. Legal experts said Victorians who bought the box set interstate and watched it themselves at home would likely not fall foul of the law, but anyone who showed it more widely could be charged with contempt. The DVD has sold 265,000 copies around Australia. In September 2008, a Limited Edition DVD was released, containing a numbered steel case and an extra disc with a documentary entitled Carl Williams – A Day of Reckoning. The Underbelly soundtrack
was released on 29 March 2008, both as a CD and online. It features elements of the score by Burkhard Dallwitz
in addition to tracks that were featured in the series. Underbelly was released on Blu-ray on 5 August 2010.
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...
in Melbourne, and is the first series in the larger Underbelly Franchise
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...
. It depicts the key players in Melbourne's criminal underworld, including the Carlton Crew and their rival, Carl Williams. The series is based on the book Leadbelly: Inside Australia's Underworld, by The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
journalists John Silvester
John Silvester
John Silvester is an Australian journalist and crime writer. He has written for major Melbourne based newspapers such as The Age, the Sunday Herald Sun and others. Silvester has also co-written a number of bestselling books with Andrew Rule, based on crime in Melbourne. Some of their works formed...
and Andrew Rule, and is produced by the Australian Film Finance Corporation, in association with Film Victoria. The executive producers are Des Monaghan and Jo Horsburgh.
The lead-up to Underbelly involved a heavy marketing campaign which covered radio, print, billboards and an increased online presence, including the use of social networking tools. At a reported cost of $500,000, both this marketing investment and potentially millions of dollars in advertising revenue were claimed to be put at risk by the Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
n Supreme Court's injunction, as the series was expected to attract 800,000 to 1 million viewers in Victoria alone. The injunction was put in place to ensure that upcoming criminal trials were not unfair to the accused, because the series contained fictionalised re-enactments of several disputed events. Underbelly began screening on 13 February 2008 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...
in all states and territories except Victoria. An edited version of the series premiered in Victoria on 14 September 2008 after the injunction was partially lifted, although only the first five episodes were shown.
Underbelly was a critical and ratings success, being described as "Australia's best ever crime drama". The opening double episodes, which aired on 13 February, attracted an average of 1,320,000 viewers nationally, minus Victoria. Every episode of the 13-part series was soon made available for download on a range of sites, with the Nine Network saying it was considering legal action. The legal DVD of Underbelly was released on 8 May 2008, a day after the final episode was aired on television. Due to the legal suppression, the release was not able to be distributed through any retail or rental outlets in Victoria or on the internet. The Nine Network has aired three prequels to the series, Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities
Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities
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...
, 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...
and Underbelly: Razor
Underbelly: Razor
Underbelly: Razor is a 13-part Australian television mini-series detailing real events that occurred in Sydney between 1927 and 1936. The series depicts the "razor gangs" who controlled the city's underworld during the era and the violent war between the two "vice queen" powers, Tilly Devine and...
.
Overview
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...
that lasted from 1995 until 2004. In the first episode, the Carlton Crew crime syndicate is introduced, comprising stand-over man Alphonse Gangitano
Alphonse Gangitano
Alphonse 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...
(Vince Colosimo
Vince Colosimo
Vincenzo Colosimo is an Australian AFI Award winning stage, television and screen actor. He has worked in both Australia and the United States.-Personal life:...
), Domenic "Mick" Gatto
Domenic Gatto
Domenic "Mick" Gatto is an Italian-Australian criminal and is known for his involvement in the Melbourne underworld.Gatto is a 'professional mediator' within the building industry in Melbourne...
(Simon Westaway
Simon Westaway
Simon Westaway is an Australian actor who has appeared in many television series, films and theatre productions. He is most remembered as portraying Domenic "Mick" Gatto in the crime series Underbelly. He currently hosts Channel Seven's Surf Patrol. He has three children: Jackson, Bella and Ruben...
), loanshark Mario Condello
Mario Condello
Mario Condello was an Italian-Australian organized crime figure. Condello, once a lawyer, was a member of the Carlton Crew, who is believed to have been a money launderer for Melbourne's Calabrian mafia...
(Martin Sacks
Martin Sacks
Martin Colin Sacks is an award-winning Australian actor, chiefly known for his 12-year role on Blue Heelers from 1993–2005.-Career:...
), retired bank robber Graham Kinniburgh
Graham Kinniburgh
Graham 'The Munster' Allen Kinniburgh was an Australian organised crime figure from Kew, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia...
(Gerard Kennedy
Gerard Kennedy
Gerard Michael Kennedy is a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as Ontario's Minister of Education from 2003 to 2006, when he resigned to make an unsuccessful bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada...
) and drug-dealing siblings Jason
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...
and Mark Moran
Mark Moran (criminal)
Mark Anthony Moran was a criminal of the infamous Moran family from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, notable for its involvement in the illegal drug trade and the Melbourne gangland killings...
(Les Hill
Les Hill
Les Hill is an Australian actor. The first of two children born in the Hill family.-Acting career:Hill is best known for his role as Blake Dean on the television soap opera Home and Away from 1990–1993 and as underworld figure Jason Moran in the 2008 series Underbelly...
and Callan Mulvey
Callan Mulvey
Callan Francis Mulvey is an Australian actor.-Biography:Mulvey was born in New Zealand and is of Maori heritage. His family moved to Sydney, Australia when he was eight years old...
) and their father Lewis
Lewis Moran
Lewis Moran was an Australian organized crime figure and patriarch of the infamous Moran family of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Notable for his involvement in the Melbourne gangland killings, Moran was shot dead in a Melbourne hotel The Brunswick Club in 2004...
(Kevin Harrington). Jason Moran's seemingly harmless and half-witted driver Carl Williams (Gyton Grantley
Gyton Grantley
Gyton Grantley is a Logie Award and AFI Award-winning Australian actor, best known for his portrayal of convicted murderer and drug trafficker Carl Williams in the hit Australian television show Underbelly, for which he was nominated for both Most Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series and Most...
) is also introduced, along with two police characters; Steve Owen (Rodger Corser
Rodger Corser
Rodger Corser is an Australian actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Detective Senior Sergeant Steve Owen in the Nine Network crime mini-series Underbelly, based on the Melbourne gangland killings, and Senior Seargent Lawson Blake in the Network Ten police drama series Rush.-Early...
) and Jacqui James (Caroline Craig
Caroline Craig
Caroline Craig is an Australian television and stage actress, and television director, based in Sydney Australia...
), the most prominent members of Task Force Purana.
Alphonse Gangitano, the self-styled "Black Prince of Lygon Street", kills a man at a party over a small debt and, with Jason's assistance, injures 13 innocent people. During his trial, Gangitano is murdered by Jason, although the killing goes unsolved. The Moran brothers buy a pill press and employ Carl Williams to produce their drugs. Carl secretly begins making his own supply and forms an alliance with Moran rival Tony Mokbel (Robert Mammone
Robert Mammone
Robert Mammone is an Australian actor who has many television and film credits.-Filmography:* Sons and Daughters * All the Way * Embassy * The Crossing...
). When Carl is busted by the police, Jason discovers his double-cross and shoots him in the stomach, before Jason is arrested. Mark Moran takes over the drug business, selling Tony Mokbel out to a corrupt officer from the drug squad. Carl kills Mark with the assistance of drug dealer Dino Dibra
Dino Dibra
Dino Dibra was an Albanian-Australian suspected murderer and a victim of the infamous Melbourne gangland killings....
(Daniel Amalm
Daniel Amalm
Daniel Amalm is an Australian actor and musician.-Early life:Daniel's mother is Maltese and his father is Swedish. Daniel's Father introduced Daniel to Guitar from an early age...
) and L (Ian Bliss
Ian Bliss
Ian Bliss is an Australian actor, best known for his role as Bane in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, for which he was chosen by the Wachowski Brothers because of his accurate impersonation of Hugo Weaving , and also his partial resemblance to Weaving...
), who establish an alibi. Lewis Moran hires Andrew "Benji" Veniamin
Andrew Veniamin
Andrew "Benji" Veniamin was an Australian criminal, convicted car thief, murderer accused of killing 7 underworld figures and was one of the key figures involved in the Melbourne underworld killings...
(Damian Walshe-Howling
Damian Walshe-Howling
Damian Walshe-Howling is an Australian actor, best known for his role as Andrew "Benji" Veniamin in the Australian underworld drama, Underbelly, for which he won the Best Supporting or Guest Actor in a Drama Series at the 2008 AFI Awards.-Biography:He also starred on Blue Heelers as Constable Adam...
) to avenge his stepson, believing the killer to be Dibra. Benji kills Dibra then offers his services to Carl and becomes his bodyguard, although Carl is eventually jailed. Carl's wife, Roberta (Kat Stewart
Kat Stewart
Kat Stewart is a Logie Award-winning Australian actress who has made numerous appearances in television series, movies and on-stage.-Career:...
), is forced to run the business and she begins an affair with Benji.
Carl is released from jail and Jason Moran is given special parole conditions to allow him to move to London. Moran rival Nik "The Russian" Radev
Nik Radev
Nikolai "The Russian" Radev was a Bulgarian refugee who became known as a career criminal in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
(Don Hany
Don Hany
Don Hany is an Australian award-winning actor. He is best known for his role in the series White Collar Blue, the film Lucky Miles and in the mini-series East West 101.-Biography:...
) becomes a liability and Carl has him murdered by Benji and T. (Alex Dimitriades
Alex Dimitriades
Alex Dimitriades is a Greek Australian film and television actor.-Early life:Dimitriades was born in Sydney, the son of first generation Greek immigrants and is the youngest of three siblings . He grew up in the suburb of Earlwood...
). Jason returns from London and a concerned Lewis offers to run the business, but is arrested during a bust. With Benji under constant police observation, Carl asks L. and T. to murder Jason, who is executed in front of his children. Carl orders a hit on small-time dealer Willie Thompson, who turns out to be a friend of Tony Mokbel. However, Tony blames another small-time dealer, Michael Marshall, for the crime and asks Carl to kill him. Carl's hitmen L. and T. shoot Marshall and are immediately arrested, but the police are unable to prove Carl's involvement in the crime.
When Graham Kinniburgh is murdered, Carl agrees to end the violence and asks Benji to murder Gatto. Gatto instead kills Benji and is arrested, although he is later acquitted. A new thug, Keith Faure
Keith Faure
Keith George Faure , from Norlane, Victoria, is an Australian career criminal, convicted of multiple murders and manslaughters. He is currently serving life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 19 years for his role in two murders related to the Melbourne gangland killings...
(Kym Gyngell
Kym Gyngell
Kym Gyngell is an Australian AFI award winning comedian and film, television and stage actor...
) (not named in the series), offers to team up with Carl, while his real motive is to take over for himself. Several days later, Faure kills Lewis Moran in a crowded bar. Consumed by revenge for Benji's death, his friend, convicted killer Lewis Caine
Lewis Caine
Lewis Caine was an Australian organized crime figure who was murdered on 8 May 2004 during the Melbourne gangland killings....
(Marcus Graham
Marcus Graham
Marcus Graham is an Australian television and stage actor who has also starred in several films, including Mulholland Drive and Josh Jarman. He was known as a teenage heartthrob in the early 90s while starring in the Australian TV soap E Street as the character "Wheels"...
), decides to kill Condello, the only surviving member of the Carlton Crew. However, Caine is double-crossed by his accomplices and is murdered beforehand. Detective Owen has Condello's bodyguard "Tibor" arrested. They agree to have Tibor act as an undercover agent to record Condello ordering a hit on Carl. Meanwhile, Carl's jailed associates testify against him. In the series final episode, Task Force Purana and Owen arrest Carl at a family barbecue. A voice-over, performed by police officer Jacqui James, reveals that Mick Gatto is eventually acquitted for the killing of Andrew Veniamin and that Mario Condello is killed while awaiting trial on attempted murder charges.
Inaccuracies
While the series retells the real events of the gangland war, several inaccuracies have been pointed out and some delibrate fictionalizations have been made. The Purana Taskforce, as presented in this series, is not a portrayal of the real Taskforce, as laws in Victoria do not allow real police officers, including those who previously served and were not sacked, to be portrayed by actors in the media. As a result, the characters presented are entirly fictional characters vaguely based on the real officers, leading to some major differences such as the series suggesting that a senior officer died due to a heart attack, which never in fact occurred.In the seventh episode, Paul Kallipolitis is murdered in his home by Andrew Veniamin, and in the following episode, Victor Peirce
Victor Peirce
Victor George Peirce was an Australian criminal from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Peirce was a member of the Pettingill family, headed by matriarch and former Richmond brothel owner Kath Pettingill....
is murdered outside of his home. When Carl Williams is shot in the series by Moran there is a beach shore evident in the background, however the real shooting occurred in Broadmeadows, where no shoreline can be seen. While both murders occurred in 2002, the series timeline is incorrect, as Peirce was murdered on 1 May, and Kallipolitis was murdered on 15 October. The execution of Victor Peirce in episode eight is portrayed as taking place in his car at the front of his home, but Peirce was shot dead while parked opposite a supermarket in Bay Street, Port Melbourne. The murder of alleged drug dealer Willie Thompson was portrayed in episode ten as Thompson being shot after leaving a martial arts class in broad daylight. However, Thompson was shot dead at around 9:30pm, and the murder occurred on Waverley Road in the Melbourne suburb of Chadstone, as he began to drive off in his car, directly outside the entrance to the martial arts centre. Another fiction portrayed was the murder of Nik Radev
Nik Radev
Nikolai "The Russian" Radev was a Bulgarian refugee who became known as a career criminal in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
by both Victor Brincat and Andrew Veniamin
Andrew Veniamin
Andrew "Benji" Veniamin was an Australian criminal, convicted car thief, murderer accused of killing 7 underworld figures and was one of the key figures involved in the Melbourne underworld killings...
in the late hours of the night when Radev was in fact ambushed on a residential street in Coburg
Coburg
Coburg is a town located on the Itz River in Bavaria, Germany. Its 2005 population was 42,015. Long one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined with Bavaria by popular vote in 1920...
in the company of 2 bodyguards in the late afternoon.
In all episodes showing the Melbourne Skyline, the Eureka Tower
Eureka Tower
Eureka Tower is a skyscraper located in the Southbank precinct of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction began in August 2002 and the exterior completed on 1 June 2006. The plaza was finished in June 2006 and the building was officially opened on 11 October 2006...
is shown, however, the building was not actually completed until 2006, at least 2 years after the events depicted in the series.
Cast and characters
Underbelly features four regular cast members, with 27 actors who recur throughout the series.The regular cast includes Rodger Corser
Rodger Corser
Rodger Corser is an Australian actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Detective Senior Sergeant Steve Owen in the Nine Network crime mini-series Underbelly, based on the Melbourne gangland killings, and Senior Seargent Lawson Blake in the Network Ten police drama series Rush.-Early...
, Caroline Craig
Caroline Craig
Caroline Craig is an Australian television and stage actress, and television director, based in Sydney Australia...
, Gyton Grantley
Gyton Grantley
Gyton Grantley is a Logie Award and AFI Award-winning Australian actor, best known for his portrayal of convicted murderer and drug trafficker Carl Williams in the hit Australian television show Underbelly, for which he was nominated for both Most Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series and Most...
and Kat Stewart
Kat Stewart
Kat Stewart is a Logie Award-winning Australian actress who has made numerous appearances in television series, movies and on-stage.-Career:...
. Corser stars as Detective
Detective
A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...
Senior Sergeant Steve Owen, a prominent member of Task Force Purana. Craig stars as Senior Detective Jacqui James, Owen's partner in Task Force Purana and also narrates the series. Grantley stars as Carl Williams, a seemingly harmless and half-witted driver who becomes a killer and convicted criminal. Stewart stars as Roberta Williams, Carl's wife who is forced to run his drug business.
The recurring cast includes:
- Daniel AmalmDaniel AmalmDaniel Amalm is an Australian actor and musician.-Early life:Daniel's mother is Maltese and his father is Swedish. Daniel's Father introduced Daniel to Guitar from an early age...
as Dino DibraDino DibraDino Dibra was an Albanian-Australian suspected murderer and a victim of the infamous Melbourne gangland killings.... - Vince ColosimoVince ColosimoVincenzo Colosimo is an Australian AFI Award winning stage, television and screen actor. He has worked in both Australia and the United States.-Personal life:...
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... - Les HillLes HillLes Hill is an Australian actor. The first of two children born in the Hill family.-Acting career:Hill is best known for his role as Blake Dean on the television soap opera Home and Away from 1990–1993 and as underworld figure Jason Moran in the 2008 series Underbelly...
as Jason MoranJason MoranJason 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... - Lliam Amor as Greg Workman
- Nathaniel DeanNathaniel DeanNathaniel Dean is an Australian actor and NIDA graduate, with a range of television credits that include: Home and Away , Always Greener , Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars , All Saints , Rain Shadow , Underbelly and Rush .He plays NickScandlon in WildboysDean is also an Australian movie actor, with...
as Sidney Martin - George KapiniarisGeorge KapiniarisGeorge Kapiniaris is Greek Australian television actor, stage actor and comedian.-Career:Kapiniaris broke through in the stage show Wogs Out of Work with Nick Giannopoulos. He then starred in the Melbourne based television sitcom Acropolis Now with Giannopoulos, Simon Palomares and Mary Coustas...
as Lawyer (George Defteros) - Frankie J. Holden as Garry Butterworth
- Neil MelvilleNeil MelvilleNeil Melville is an Australian actor. He was born in Sydney, but spent most of his childhood in Apollo Bay, Victoria.Melville graduated from Adelaide's Flinders University with a Bachelor of Arts in Drama, and performed in a number of university productions, including, most notably, the world...
as Todd McDonald - Martin SacksMartin SacksMartin Colin Sacks is an award-winning Australian actor, chiefly known for his 12-year role on Blue Heelers from 1993–2005.-Career:...
as Mario CondelloMario CondelloMario Condello was an Italian-Australian organized crime figure. Condello, once a lawyer, was a member of the Carlton Crew, who is believed to have been a money launderer for Melbourne's Calabrian mafia... - Caroline GillmerCaroline GillmerCaroline Gillmer is an Australian actress, best known for her roles in various television series, such as Prisoner as Helen Smart and Neighbours as Cheryl Stark....
as Judy MoranJudy MoranJudy Moran is the matriarch of the infamous Moran criminal family of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.Judy Moran was first married to Leslie John "Johnny" Cole, who was shot dead in Sydney drug-related gangland conflict in 1982... - Marcus GrahamMarcus GrahamMarcus Graham is an Australian television and stage actor who has also starred in several films, including Mulholland Drive and Josh Jarman. He was known as a teenage heartthrob in the early 90s while starring in the Australian TV soap E Street as the character "Wheels"...
as Lewis CaineLewis CaineLewis Caine was an Australian organized crime figure who was murdered on 8 May 2004 during the Melbourne gangland killings.... - Don HanyDon HanyDon Hany is an Australian award-winning actor. He is best known for his role in the series White Collar Blue, the film Lucky Miles and in the mini-series East West 101.-Biography:...
as Nik "The Russian" RadevNik RadevNikolai "The Russian" Radev was a Bulgarian refugee who became known as a career criminal in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.... - Ryan JohnsonRyan Johnson (actor)Ryan Johnson , an Australian actor who has appeared in numerous television series and films.-Biography:Johnson is a native of Brisbane. He attended Somerset College in Gold Coast, Queensland, and graduated from Queensland University of Technology in 1999. His most recent film role was in the...
as Rocco Arico - Robert Rabiah as Paul "PK" Kallipolitis
- Gerard KennedyGerard Kennedy (actor)Gerard Kennedy is an Australian actor and two-time Gold Logie winner. He played six different characters in guest appearances in Homicide, all in 1966...
as Graham "Munster" KinniburghGraham KinniburghGraham 'The Munster' Allen Kinniburgh was an Australian organised crime figure from Kew, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia... - Callan MulveyCallan MulveyCallan Francis Mulvey is an Australian actor.-Biography:Mulvey was born in New Zealand and is of Maori heritage. His family moved to Sydney, Australia when he was eight years old...
as Mark MoranMark Moran (criminal)Mark Anthony Moran was a criminal of the infamous Moran family from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, notable for its involvement in the illegal drug trade and the Melbourne gangland killings... - Damian Walshe-HowlingDamian Walshe-HowlingDamian Walshe-Howling is an Australian actor, best known for his role as Andrew "Benji" Veniamin in the Australian underworld drama, Underbelly, for which he won the Best Supporting or Guest Actor in a Drama Series at the 2008 AFI Awards.-Biography:He also starred on Blue Heelers as Constable Adam...
as Andrew "Benji" VeniaminAndrew VeniaminAndrew "Benji" Veniamin was an Australian criminal, convicted car thief, murderer accused of killing 7 underworld figures and was one of the key figures involved in the Melbourne underworld killings... - Simon WestawaySimon WestawaySimon Westaway is an Australian actor who has appeared in many television series, films and theatre productions. He is most remembered as portraying Domenic "Mick" Gatto in the crime series Underbelly. He currently hosts Channel Seven's Surf Patrol. He has three children: Jackson, Bella and Ruben...
as Mick GattoDomenic GattoDomenic "Mick" Gatto is an Italian-Australian criminal and is known for his involvement in the Melbourne underworld.Gatto is a 'professional mediator' within the building industry in Melbourne... - Kevin Harrington as Lewis MoranLewis MoranLewis Moran was an Australian organized crime figure and patriarch of the infamous Moran family of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Notable for his involvement in the Melbourne gangland killings, Moran was shot dead in a Melbourne hotel The Brunswick Club in 2004...
- Robert MammoneRobert MammoneRobert Mammone is an Australian actor who has many television and film credits.-Filmography:* Sons and Daughters * All the Way * Embassy * The Crossing...
as Tony MokbelTony MokbelAntonios Sajih 'Tony' Mokbel is an Australian from Melbourne, Australia, who was a fugitive until his recapture in Athens, Greece on 5 June 2007. He is of Lebanese descent and born in Kuwait. Detectives from Operation Purana allege that he is the mastermind behind the Melbourne amphetamines trade... - Madeleine WestMadeleine WestMadeleine West is an Australian actress known for her TV roles, having played Dee Bliss on the Australian soap opera Neighbours from 2000–2003 and high-class escort Mel on Satisfaction from 2007 to 2010.-Career:...
as Danielle McGuire - Lauren Clair as Tracey Seymour
- Alex DimitriadesAlex DimitriadesAlex Dimitriades is a Greek Australian film and television actor.-Early life:Dimitriades was born in Sydney, the son of first generation Greek immigrants and is the youngest of three siblings . He grew up in the suburb of Earlwood...
as Victor Brincat (Mr.T in TV Series) - Ian BlissIan BlissIan Bliss is an Australian actor, best known for his role as Bane in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, for which he was chosen by the Wachowski Brothers because of his accurate impersonation of Hugo Weaving , and also his partial resemblance to Weaving...
as Thomas Hentschel (Mr.L in TV Series) - Dan Wyllie as "Mad" Richard Mladenich
- Brett Swain as Tibor Cassadae
- Jane HarberJane HarberJane Harber is an Australian actress who is best known from her role on television series Offspring as Zara Perkich.Previous roles include the television series Underbelly as Susie Money, The Secret Life of Us as Zdenka Milanovic and Neighbours as Bianca Nugent.- External links :...
as Susie Money - Kim Gyngell as Keith FaureKeith FaureKeith George Faure , from Norlane, Victoria, is an Australian career criminal, convicted of multiple murders and manslaughters. He is currently serving life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 19 years for his role in two murders related to the Melbourne gangland killings...
(Unnamed in TV Series, due to the court order)
Development
Underbelly is based on the book Leadbelly: Inside Australia's Underworld, by AgeThe Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
journalists John Silvester and Andrew Rule. As the Nine Network was interested in creating local and world-class television, they decided to invest in a drama series that told the story of the Melbourne gangland killings. Jo Horsburgh, Nine Network Head of Drama, stated that the network was "100 percent committed to bringing Underbelly to the small screen". Des Monaghan, executive producer for Screentime, called the series "one of the most exciting and challenging drama projects ever shot in [Australia]". The script took 12 months to write, beginning in June 2006, with the main writers, Greg Haddrick
Greg Haddrick
Gregory Bevan Haddrick is an Australian-born Logie Award winning screenwriter and film and television producer....
, Peter Gawler and Felicity Packard putting together an entire episode themselves before their scripts were edited. Haddrick, Screentime's Head of Drama, felt that the challenge for the writing team was to "capture the essential truth of these extraordinary events in a compelling and coherent manner".
Underbelly was filmed in Melbourne, at locations around the city where the real-life events occurred. Filming took over 82 days, from 2 July to 19 October 2007, with 150 inner urban locations utilised and 450 locations surveyed making the series as close to life as possible. Parts of the series were filmed in the Essendon
Essendon, Victoria
Essendon is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 km north-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moonee Valley...
area, near many of the houses and schools associated with the "Underworld". Many of the Carlton
Carlton, Victoria
Carlton is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne...
scenes were filmed in North Melbourne, primarily around Errol Street. All La Porcella filming was done at Rubicon Restaurant Errol Street, and jail visit sequences were filmed in the dressing rooms at the Telstra Dome
Telstra Dome
Docklands Stadium is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment stadium in the Docklands precinct of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia...
.
Marketing
David Gyngell
David Gyngell is the CEO of Australian commercial broadcasting network Channel Nine. He is currently serving his second stint as CEO after resigning from the job in May 2005...
noted the need to up its online presence, and embrace social networking as a valuable marketing tool, the official website was launched. The original website was launched on 15 January 2008, with only a 3-minute trailer; while the full site, with all its features, launched on 1 February 2008. It was announced that the full first episode would be available for download on the site on 10 February, three days before the show premieres on television, but this option was made unavailable due to the Supreme court suppression case. This intention follows a similar strategy used for the launch of Sea Patrol
Sea Patrol (TV series)
Sea Patrol is an Australian television drama, set on board HMAS Hammersley, a fictional patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy . The series focuses on the ship and the lives of its crew members....
in 2007. The site was "poised to become" the biggest and most detailed website the Nine Network has hosted for a show so far, including features such as behind the scenes footage, profiles, visitor interactivity and the use of social networking tools. Due to the court injunction, the Nine Network was ordered to remove character profiles from its official website in Victoria.
According to its marketing, Underbelly "uses the framework of the murderous war between the two gangs, and the bigger moral war between the gangs and the Purana Task Force, to explore a complex array of individual stories and relationships—some touching, some incredible, all breathtaking—it is a mini-series that examines the kaleidoscopic nature of loyalty, love, revenge and pride when the normal and identifiable emotions of human attachment are moved from the context of social decency to social indecency."
Prequels
The series' first prequel, Underbelly: A Tale of Two CitiesUnderbelly: A Tale of Two Cities
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...
, 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 dope trade. The series follows the lives of two late infamous drug lords, "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...
and Terry "Mr Asia" Clark, portrayed by 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 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...
respectively. Filming took place in both Sydney and Melbourne until March 2009. Sydney locations Richmond
Richmond, 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...
, Bondi Beach
Bondi Beach, New South Wales
Bondi Beach is a popular beach and the name of the surrounding suburb in Sydney, Australia. Bondi Beach is located 7 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council, in the Eastern Suburbs...
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. Writers Peter Gawler and Greg Haddrick admitted that there was more nudity and sex than the original. The prequel premiered on 9 February 2009 to 2.5 million viewers, making it the highest rated non-sporting program in the history of Australian television ratings. The second prequel, titled 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...
, began airing on 11 April 2010. A telemovie trilogy known as The Underbelly Files was made and then aired in early 2011. The three telemovies Infiltration, The Man Who Got Away, and Tell Them Lucifer Was Here. The fourth full series, Underbelly: Razor
Underbelly: Razor
Underbelly: Razor is a 13-part Australian television mini-series detailing real events that occurred in Sydney between 1927 and 1936. The series depicts the "razor gangs" who controlled the city's underworld during the era and the violent war between the two "vice queen" powers, Tilly Devine and...
, began airing on 21 August 2011 and was mostly concerned with telling the story of 1920s criminal matriachs Tilly Devine
Tilly Devine
Matilda 'Tilly' Devine was an English-born prominent Sydney crime syndicate gangs member figure, involved in a wide range of activities, including sly-grog and razor gangs, but most notable as a madam.-Early life:...
and Kate Leigh
Kate Leigh
Catherine Mary Josephine Leigh was an underworld figure who rose to prominence as an illegal trader of alcohol and cocaine dealer in Surry Hills, Sydney, Australia during the first half of the twentieth century...
. It was also therefore a prequel to the original series.
Critical reception
The first episode of the series was screened privately to media on 17 January 2008, prior the media had been treated with extracts and trailers promoting the series. On 3 January 2008, The Sydney Morning HeraldThe Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
's critic Michael Idato
Michael Idato
Michael Idato is a television critic and writer for The Sydney Morning Herald.He has worked previously at The Daily Telegraph, and at The Sunday Telegraph between 1995 and 1999 as a writer and columnist. Between 1992 and 1996 he was also the film critic for Australian Penthouse Magazine...
declared the series "The Blue Murder of its time", referring to the critically acclaimed 1995 ABC TV
ABC Television
ABC Television is a service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation launched in 1956. As a public broadcasting broadcaster, the ABC provides four non-commercial channels within Australia, and a partially advertising-funded satellite channel overseas....
drama Blue Murder
Blue Murder (mini-series)
Blue Murder is a two-part Australian television miniseries produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1995, and is based on true events. Given its confronting content, the DVD release was classified MA 15+...
, considered by many to be the finest crime drama ever produced in Australia. In a review on his blog on 17 January 2008, David Knox, stated that Underbelly "is our own Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
", and awarded it 4.5 out of 5. He also commented "If there are any criticisms to be found with Underbelly, they are few. One or two shots give away that period Melbourne was actually shot in 2007. And while watching these gangsters thrive on power with ballsy disdain, it was hard not to think of the behaviour of some television executives in recent history. This aside, Underbelly looks set to be one of the highlights of the 2008 television year." A review appeared in the Herald Sun
Herald Sun
The Herald Sun is a morning tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia. It is published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Limited, itself a subsidiary of News Corporation. It is available for purchase throughout Melbourne, Regional Victoria, Tasmania, the Australian Capital...
on 18 January 2008, in which critic Paul Anderson quoted: "Whether you followed the Melbourne gangland war or not, there's a fair chance you will be blown away by the coming TV series Underbelly. [It] is a slick, violent and sexually charged dramatisation backed by a ripping soundtrack." In an article appearing on 31 January 2008, The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
's TV editor, Marcus Casey, said of Underbelly after viewing the first four episodes: "If the quality is maintained then, while not perfect, Underbelly should equal, if not better, Australia's best ever crime dramas – the Phoenix series
Phoenix (TV series)
Phoenix is an Australian police drama television series. Phoenix screened as two thirteen-part series on Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1992 and 1993....
and Blue Murder."
Australian Family Association's reaction
On 11 February 2008 the Australian Family Association (AFA), was publicly outraged that Underbelly would be screening at 8:30 pm, well within reach of children, after clips of the series were leaked onto the internet. The clips highlighted the use of extreme profanities, and scenes that show a violent bashing, a cold-blooded murder, and a sexual encounter. The Nine Network defended the timeslot and the M classification, saying the clips, leaked from the Network's production department, were indeed from the series, but not all of them made the final cut. The Network set its own classification, under the accepted rules of the Australian Commercial Television Code of Conduct. The Australian Family Association threatened to take the matter to Communications Minister Stephen ConroyStephen Conroy
Stephen Michael Conroy is an Australian politician and the current Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy in the Gillard Ministry...
if the content of the show was anything near that of an unauthorised promotional clip leaked from Nine's production department.
Ratings
The opening double episodes, which aired on 13 February, attracted an average of 1,320,000 viewers nationally, minus Victoria, making it the third most-watched show of the night. In Victoria alone, the series was expected to attract 800,000 to 1 million viewers, which would have put Underbelly figures over the 2 million mark. The replacement movie for Underbelly in Victoria, The Shawshank RedemptionThe Shawshank Redemption
The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 American drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont and starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman....
, managed only 271,000 viewers. The third episode, which aired on 20 February, managed to hold most of its viewers from its premiere, attracting 1,273,000 viewers nationally, a decline of only 50,000 viewers. The fourth episode, which aired on 27 February, managed to hold nearly all of its viewers from the previous episode, attracting 1,250,000 viewers nationally, a decline of only 23,000 viewers. Although leaked copies of all the episodes became available online, the show continued to attract "huge television audiences". Underbelly averaged 1.26 million viewers for all 13 episodes.
Awards
Underbelly was nominated for eight awards at the 2008 AFI AwardsAustralian Film Institute Awards
The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award, known as the AACTA Award , is an accolade presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts . The awards recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry and television industry, including directors,...
, winning six. The awards won were: Best Drama Series; Best Director (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...
, for episode 7); Best Lead Actor (Gyton Grantley); Best Lead Actress (Kat Stewart); Best Guest or Supporting Actor (Damian Walshe-Howling, for episode 7); and Best Guest or Supporting Actress (Madeleine West, for episode 7). The series was also nominated for Best Screenplay (Peter Gawler); and Best Guest or Supporting Actor (Vince Colosimo, for episode 2). At the 2008 Screen Music Awards, composer Burkhard Dallwitz won two awards for best television theme and best music for a television series.
The show was also nominated for nine Logie Award
Logie Award
The TV Week Logie Awards are the Australian television industry awards, which have been presented annually since 1959. Renamed by Graham Kennedy in 1960 after he won the first 'Star Of The Year' award, the name 'Logie' awards honours John Logie Baird, a Scotsman who invented the television as a...
s. It won three awards from the nominations of Most Outstanding Drama Series, Most Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series (Gyton Grantley) and Most Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series (Kat Stewart). The other six nominations were from the categories of Most Outstanding Actor (Vince Colosimo and Damian Walshe-Howling), Most Outstanding New Talent (Lauren Clair), Most Popular Drama Series, Most Popular Actor (Gyton Grantley) and Most Popular Actress (Kat Stewart).
Supreme Court writ threat
George Defteros, a high-profile lawyer cleared of charges relating to underworld war, disrupted the lead-up to the series' launch, when he threatened the Nine Network with a Supreme Court writWrit
In common law, a writ is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court...
on 26 January 2008. Defteros, said to be portrayed by George Kapiniaris, engaged a top Melbourne defamation specialist, saying:
Nine Network had subsequently said there would now be no direct reference to Mr Defteros, despite earlier publicity. A spokeswoman for the network said "There is no lawyer called Defteros in Underbelly", but Defteros said he could still be defamed by implication, noting "it's already been advertised as me". The case was dropped by Director of Public Prosecutions
Director of Public Prosecutions
The Director of Public Prosecutions is the officer charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several criminal jurisdictions around the world...
Paul Coghlan, QC, due to a lack of evidence.
Supreme Court suppression
Director of Public Prosecutions
The Director of Public Prosecutions is the officer charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several criminal jurisdictions around the world...
, Jeremy Rapke, QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
. Rapke secured an urgent viewing of the series, after which he decided to seek an injunction stopping its broadcast in Victoria. A Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Victoria
The Supreme Court of Victoria is the superior court for the State of Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1852, and is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited jurisdiction within the state...
judge called prosecutors and defence lawyers together after serious concerns were raised about whether the show could prejudice the jury in the trial of Evangelos Goussis
Evangelos Goussis
Evangelos Goussis, is an Australian former boxer and kickboxer from Geelong, Victoria, and is a multiple murderer, guilty of the murders of two victims of the Melbourne gangland killings...
, who had pleaded not guilty to the 2004 gangland killing of Lewis Moran. Although Goussis was not named in the series, there were concerns the show could hurt his chance of a fair trial.
The Supreme Court hearing took place on 11 February 2008 – only two days before the series was due to premiere. The Nine Network was ordered by a DPP
Director of Public Prosecutions
The Director of Public Prosecutions is the officer charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several criminal jurisdictions around the world...
subpoena to hand over tapes of all 13 episodes, as well as outlines and story lines, to the Victorian Supreme Court by 10 am on that date. The Nine Network refused to voluntarily hand over the tapes, saying they were incomplete and that the network's lawyers were closely supervising production. However, it was willing to comply with any Court order and took the matter very seriously. The Network was also adamant that the series makes no assertions about the guilt of the accused killer. At the hearing, which took place at the Geelong Supreme Court, Justice Betty King gave prosecution and defence lawyers 24 hours to view the series and return to court the following day to decide whether it had the potential to affect the forthcoming trial. Justice King issued a suppression order on 12 February banning the Nine Network from broadcasting the series in the state of Victoria and on the internet until after the murder trial was completed. The Nine Network offered to air a heavily edited version in Victoria, but the offer was rejected by Justice King. It was initially planned that an alternative program, Underbelly: A Special Announcement, discussing the subject matter of the series, would air in Victoria instead of the series premiere. This idea was scrapped, and the movie The Shawshank Redemption
The Shawshank Redemption
The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 American drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont and starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman....
was aired in Victoria instead. The Nine Network declared their intention to appeal the decision, and Network lawyers stated that they would exercise all legal options.
The injunction also affected national audiences receiving transmissions from Imparja Television
Imparja Television
Imparja Television is an Australian television network servicing remote eastern and central Australia, that began broadcasting on 2 January 1988. It is based in Alice Springs, where it has a studio and satellite uplink facility. Notably, it is controlled by Australian Aborigines through ownership...
, a Nine Network affiliate, because its single national satellite distribution signal is retransmitted in some parts of Victoria. Alternative programming was to be shown until the restriction was lifted.
The appeal began on 29 February 2008 in the Victorian Court of Appeal. Nine Network lawyers argued that the network should be allowed to broadcast the first three episodes of the series, arguing Justice King had erred in her decision to suppress the series because she had viewed the unedited version, rather than the final edited cut that was to be shown to audiences. The network believed the first three episodes, which depicted events from the beginning of the underworld war in 1995, would have no potential to prejudice any part of the trial. Goussis's murder trial was due to begin on 31 March 2008. The judges overseeing the appeal retired to decide their verdict on 3 March 2008. Their decision on 26 March 2008 upheld Justice King's ruling that the series was not to be broadcast or distributed in or out of Victoria. During the appeal the Nine Network had proposed to screen the first three episodes immediately after any successful appeal, and would give the court seven days written notice of its intention to show any further episodes that it believed would not prejudice the murder trial. The Court of Appeal had dismissed the network's application to appeal, and the network was compelled to comply with the suppression order issued by Justice King until the offending trial was complete.
The ban expired the week ending 30 May 2008, with the conviction of Goussis for the murder of Lewis Moran, paving the way for Nine to begin screening episodes; however, Andrew Rule, who co-wrote the book on which the series is based, says Underbelly will not be seen in Victoria anytime soon, saying "the problem now will be that Tony Mokbel is back in Australia and ready to stand trial on very serious charges. That will effectively prevent the series being screened in Victoria until that trial is held ... That could be some time. I'm not sure about several [years], but it might be two years." However, Underbelly was legally shown in Victoria in September 2008, after a court ruled that the network could air the first five episodes. Supreme Court Justice Peter Vickery gave the network permission to air the specially edited episodes, but said screening the sixth episode could prejudice the upcoming trials of an accused criminal. The edited versions had whole scenes cut out, and Tony Mokbel
Tony Mokbel
Antonios Sajih 'Tony' Mokbel is an Australian from Melbourne, Australia, who was a fugitive until his recapture in Athens, Greece on 5 June 2007. He is of Lebanese descent and born in Kuwait. Detectives from Operation Purana allege that he is the mastermind behind the Melbourne amphetamines trade...
's face was pixelated. Reactions from viewers were not favourable, mainly because most had already seen the entire series. The suppression order was finally lifted after Mokbel's trial in April 2011, after which the series was broadcast in its entirety in Victoria.
International distribution
Underbelly began airing in New Zealand on TV3TV3 (New Zealand)
TV3 is a New Zealand commercial television network, owned by MediaWorks New Zealand. Launched on 26 November 1989, the first private television network in New Zealand...
on Sunday at 9:30pm, but the network put the series on hiatus after three episodes because it was "not performing as expected in the time slot". Due to a public outcry, TV3 reversed their decision 48 hours later, saying it was "bowing to the pressure of angry fans". TV3 reinstated the series in its old timeslot, but rescheduled it to 11:15pm on Tuesday evenings just weeks later. TV3 senior publicist Nicole Wood said the show had failed to win new viewers in the Sunday slot, and even though they were "inundated with fans" when they took it off air, it "still didn't rate" on its second showing. The series was brought back to primetime in July 2009, after the sequel series performed well in New Zealand. Beginning with episode 1, the series is currently playing every Thursday at 9:30pm. In April 2008, the Nine Network signed an international distribution deal with Fox International Channels
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
and Portman Film & Television. The series will be broadcast in Scandinavia, Canada, France, the UK, Italy (Rai 4), Balkans, Korea, Pan-Asia, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Turkey and Germany. Gyngell said, "to say we are pleased is an understatement – we are delighted that the series will gain international audiences and global recognition". Scottish commercial broadcaster STV have signed up to broadcast the series. Series 3 is now broadcasting after the good reception of the first two series. STV announcer Cameron McKenna is the voice of the Underbelly promotions.
U.S. satellite-only service DirecTV
DirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
will broadcast the entire trilogy, beginning in February 2010, on its channel "The 101".
Season 1 airs in the Republic of Ireland on free-to-air channel TV3 Ireland
TV3 Ireland
TV3 is a free-to-air commercial television network in the Republic of Ireland. Launched on 20 September 1998 it was Ireland's first commercial broadcaster. The channel is owned by TV3 Group a subsidiary of Doughty Hanson & Co.-The TV3 Group:...
from Thursday, 23 September 2010 at 10pm.
Illegal distribution
Despite the ban on broadcasting the series in Victoria, Victorians were still able to access episodes via illegal online distribution. The first episode was made available on torrent sites within 20 minutes of it concluding 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...
. The Nine Network reportedly obtained the IP address of the first person to upload the show, and network lawyers were considering legal action. The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) was investigating the matter, and was expected to make a list of recommendations to Victoria Police
Victoria Police
Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of Victoria, Australia. , the Victoria Police has over 12,190 sworn members, along with over 400 recruits, reservists and Protective Service Officers, and over 2,900 civilian staff across 393 police stations.-Early history:The Victoria Police...
. Fears of inside leaks were aroused when advance screener
Screener
A screener is an advance screening of a film sent to critics, awards voters, video stores , and other film industry professionals, including producers and distributors. A screener often has no post-processing....
versions of the first eight episodes were posted online.
Every episode of the 13-part series was soon available for download on a range of sites. It was reported that on mininova.org more than 3,000 users were attempting to download episode seven late on the afternoon of 27 February 2008. The Nine Network said it was considering legal action, and was looking into how copies got into the hands of underworld figures in Victoria, including Roberta Williams, the former wife of gangland kingpin Carl Williams. Unauthorised copies of the entire series were also made available to the public. People were offered a 4-disc DVD set for between A$
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
10 and $80 in public places such as carparks and building sites. The episodes were commercial-free and came with introductory station countdowns, suggesting a major leak from inside the network's production department.
Two network employees had been questioned by the network over the matter, but both denied distributing any copies of the series. Pirated DVDs containing the first nine episodes of Underbelly were seized in a raid by police on a business in Melbourne's western suburbs on 11 March 2008. As well as facing serious copyright charges, the 41-year-old man arrested with connections to the piracy set-up will also risk prosecution for breaching the court suppression order banning broadcast of the program in Victoria. Along with the Underbelly DVDs, more than 7000 other pirated DVDs were uncovered, as well as eight printers and 70 new DVD burners. The piracy ring contained several members, some of which had been arrested for offences in the recent months prior.
Merchandise
The legal Underbelly DVD was released 8 May 2008 by Roadshow EntertainmentVillage 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...
, a day after the final episode was aired on television. In accordance with the legal suppression, the release was not distributed through any retail or rental outlets in Victoria or on the internet. Roadshow Entertainment has confirmed that all box sets and point of sale displays will carry a sticker or stamp reminding buyers the series is not for sale, distribution or exhibition in Victoria. Legal experts said Victorians who bought the box set interstate and watched it themselves at home would likely not fall foul of the law, but anyone who showed it more widely could be charged with contempt. The DVD has sold 265,000 copies around Australia. In September 2008, a Limited Edition DVD was released, containing a numbered steel case and an extra disc with a documentary entitled Carl Williams – A Day of Reckoning. The Underbelly soundtrack
Underbelly (soundtrack)
The soundtrack from the controversial Australian TV series, Underbelly was released on 29 March 2008. It features some of the songs from various artists that played in episodes, and includes elements of the score by Burkhard Dallwitz.-CD Release:...
was released on 29 March 2008, both as a CD and online. It features elements of the score by Burkhard Dallwitz
Burkhard Dallwitz
Burkhard von Dallwitz is a German-born composer based in Melbourne, Australia. He was born near Frankfurt and began ten years of classical piano training at the age of eight. By thirteen he was writing songs and music, and from fifteen, Burkhard wrote, arranged and performed for various musical...
in addition to tracks that were featured in the series. Underbelly was released on Blu-ray on 5 August 2010.
See also
- List of Australian television series
- Melbourne gangland killingsMelbourne gangland killingsThe 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...
- Underbelly: A Tale of Two CitiesUnderbelly: A Tale of Two CitiesUnderbelly: 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...
External links
- Underbelly at the Australian Television Information Archive
- Underbelly at The TV IV
- Mediasearch at the Underbelly launch in February 2008
- Underbelly on IMDB
- UnderBelly The online Australian Crime Game