"Underbelly" (2008) TV series

Seasons:

1 | 2

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot Keywords:

Female Nudity | Murder

Awards:

11 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Caroline Craig	...	Jacqui James / ... (26 episodes, 2008-2009)
Rodger Corser	...	Steve Owen (13 episodes, 2008)
Gyton Grantley	...	Carl Williams (13 episodes, 2008)
Kat Stewart	...	Roberta Williams (13 episodes, 2008)
Frankie J. Holden	...	Garry Butterworth (13 episodes, 2008)
Roy Billing	...	Aussie Bob Trimbole (13 episodes, 2009)
Anna Hutchison	...	Alison Dine (13 episodes, 2009)
Asher Keddie	...	Liz Cruickshank (13 episodes, 2009)
Matthew Newton	...	Terry 'Mr Asia' Clark (13 episodes, 2009)
Peter Phelps	...	Joe Messina (13 episodes, 2009)
Martin Sacks	...	Mario Condello (11 episodes, 2008)
Jamie Cohen	...	Adam Rith (11 episodes, 2008)
Peter O'Brien	...	George Freeman (11 episodes, 2009)

Also Known As:

Underbelly Uncut (Australia) (rerun title)
Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities (Australia) (second season title)
Underbelly: The Golden Mile (Australia) (third season title)
Underbelly: The Mr Asia Story (New Zealand: English title) (second season title)

Runtime:

Australia:60 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:M (some episodes) | Australia:MA (some episodes) | New Zealand:R16 (season 1) | UK:18 | New Zealand:R18 (Season 2)

Filming Locations:

Australian Technology Park, Eveleigh, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC)

Trivia:

Just days before its debut, a judge ordered the first series not be aired in the Australian state of Victoria, saying it would likely influence potential Melbourne jurors in Evangelos Goussis' trial over the murder of Lewis Moran. The DVDs of the series were released on May 8, 2008 (the day after the last episode aired) and were not allowed to be sold in Victoria for the same reason. Though Goussis' trial ended on May 30, 2008, Tony Mokbel has returned to Australia and faces trial on several charges, so the ban continues in Victoria. In September 2008, Channel 9 was allowed to air only the first five episodes of the series in Victoria, but blurred the face of Tony Mokbel's character, suppressed his name, and edited several scenes related to the character and crimes. The full first series and its DVDs will likely not be released in Victoria until Mokbel's trial is complete.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Modern cars and license plates feature in some of the first episodes that were set in the mid-1990s.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Top Gear Australia: Premiere (#1.1)" (2008)

Loving Wednesday nights!

I had to write a review after last night's episode, which was fantastic.

Underbelly was a bit over-hyped at first, called better than 'Blue Murder', and the 'Australian Sopranos'. Well, I watched Blue Murder again recently and it's directed just beautifully, in another class really, and the Sopranos took TV to another level, with its psychological and mystery elements. Underbelly doesn't match those classics.

Having said that, it's bloody great, and each episode gets better and better. The writing and directing were superb last night, and how good was Alex Dimitriades? Like a tightly wound psychopathic watch! It's rare to see acting and writing of that calibre in Australian TV. A lot of these actors - the guy who plays Benji, Kat Stewart, and Frankie J Holden in particular - are brilliant, I love watching them every week.

Thinking about why this is so much better than most Australia TV I reckon it's because it's based on real characters - and on dialogue which was recorded by police. Most Australian TV characters seem to come come out of writer's clichéd view of life rather than any reality (hello, East of Everything).

And then Underbelly cast really well, rather than just going for the usual suspects.

Also fantastic to see real (and often funny) sex scenes, unabashed. Combined with the tension created by the next potential hit... Wednesday nights have become so much fun.