ABC in Oz picks up Lingo Pictures, Luminous Beast’s NZ crime drama After the Party

After The Party was commissioned by TVNZ in New Zealand

Australia’s ABC TV has acquired New Zealand-set drama series After the Party, a coproduction from Lingo Pictures and Luminous Beast.

The award-winning, six-part series made its debut on Kiwi broadcaster TVNZ in 2023 as an original commission and was produced in Wellington by Australia’s Lingo Pictures and New Zealand’s Luminous Beast.

Channel 4 acquired the UK rights to the series last month from international distributor ITV Studios.

The crime drama stars Robyn Malcolm (Upper Middle Bogan, Harrow, Top of the Lake), who recently secured the best actress award at Series Mania for her role in the series, and Peter Mullan (Ozark, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power).

The drama follows the aftermath of teacher and activist Penny Wilding accusing her husband of committing an unwitnessed sex crime against her daughter’s teenage friend.

It will air on ABC TV from April 28, with the entire series available for streaming on ABC’s streaming platform iview.

The series was produced by Lingo Pictures’ Helen Bowden, Liz DiFiore and Peter Salmon, with Lingo Pictures’ Jason Stephens, co-creator and writer Dianne Taylor and Malcolm serving as executive producers.