Stan orders Aussie-UK drama Careless from Easy Tiger, with Channel 4 pre-buying

Easy Tiger’s Careless centres on a mysterious backbacker in Sydney

Australian streamer Stan has commissioned Careless, a four-part drama set between Sydney and Glasgow, with Channel 4 pre-buying the series for the UK.

Produced by Easy Tiger Productions (Colin From Accounts) and Synchronicity Films (The Cry), the series comes from creators Helen Fitzgerald, author of The Cry, and Louise Fox (Glitch). Australia’s Nine Network is also on board the show, which is further backed by distributor All3Media International, Screen Scotland and Screen NSW.

The plot follows a Scottish backpacker who finds himself in Sydney and is determined to become a live-in carer for a notorious rock ’n’ roll legend who has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. After successfully securing the job, it soon becomes clear there’s something in the backpacker’s past that could put the musician and his wife in serious danger.

The series is written by Fox (episodes one, two, four) and Christian White (episode three), produced by Angela Littlejohn and directed by Stevie Cruz-Martin (Safe Home).

The executive produces are Ian Collie and Rob Gibson for Easy Tiger; Claire Mundell and Deanne Cunningham for Synchronicity; Michael Healy and Andy Ryan for Stan; and Kieran Hannigan for Screen Scotland, as well as Fox and Adrian Burns.

Polly Scates, head of acquisitions at Channel 4, has pre-bought the series for the UK pubcaster.

She said: “Careless has all the ingredients of a great psychological thriller – a pacy script, layered characters and plenty of menace and intrigue. But it also shines a light on how people can be failed by the very systems meant to protect them, and I think this combination will appeal to our viewers.”