Australia’s Stan, Nine Network premiere original crime drama Scrublands

Jay Ryan as Byron Swift in Scrublands (photo: Sarah Enticknap)

Australian streamer Stan and its parent free-to-air broadcaster Nine Network will premiere Scrublands, a four-part original series from local production house Easy Tiger, on November 16.

Last month, the BBC announced that it had acquired the Australian crime drama for BBC Four and BBC iPlayer from Abacus Media Rights, which holds international distribution rights for the series.

The crime drama is based on a novel written by Australian author Chris Hammer, and set in a struggling country town in rural Victoria, where charismatic young priest Byron Swift (Jay Ryan – Top of the Lake) opens fire on his congregation, killing five parishioners. One year later, investigative journalist Martin Scarsden (Luke Arnold) arrives in the town to write a simple feature story on the anniversary of the tragedy but gets embroiled in an explosive investigation in pursuit of the truth.

The cast also includes Robert Taylor (The Newsreader), Adam Zwar (Squinters), Zane Ciarma (Neighbours) and Victoria Thaine (Nowhere Boys).

Scrublands marks the second co-commission between 9Network and Stan following the Stan Original Series Bali 2002.

The Stan Original Series is directed by Greg McLean, written by Felicity Packard, Kelsey Munro and Jock Serong and produced by Ian Collie, Rob Gibson, David Redman and Felicity Packard for Easy Tiger Productions, with executive producer Michael Healy and Andy Ryan from the 9Network and Cailah Scobie and Amanda Duthie for Stan.