"Underbelly" The Black Prince (2008)

Director:

Tony Tilse

Writers:

John Silvester (book) &
Andrew Rule (book) ...

TV Series:

"Underbelly" (2008)

Original Air Date:

13 February 2008 (Season 1, Episode 1)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Female Nudity | Murder

Cast

Rodger Corser	...	Steve Owen
Caroline Craig	...	Jacqui James
Gyton Grantley	...	Carl Williams
Kat Stewart	...	Roberta Williams (credit only)
Vince Colosimo	...	Alphonse Gangitano
Les Hill	...	Jason Moran
Charlotte Gregg	...	Taylor Rigby
Laura Gordon	...	Ella Rigby
Giuseppe Maugeri	...	Friend 1 (as Giuseppe Mauceri)
Kelly Downey	...	Friend 2
Lliam Amor	...	Greg Workman
Jane Harber	...	Susie Money
Frankie J. Holden	...	Garry Butterworth (as Frankie J Holden)
Beatrice Bradley	...	Gangitano Daughter 1
Portia Bradley	...	Gangitano Daughter 2

Runtime:

Netherlands:55 min (including commercials)

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Netherlands:16

Company:

Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC)

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Alphonse is emptying the pockets of his blood-stained pants, he pulls out a current day $50 note. That style of note was not issued until 4th October 1995, when the episode was set in February 1995.

Terrible start to a hyped-up series

Although sceptical of what Channel 9 would do to the story of Melbourne's "Gangland" killings, I was anticipating this series with an eagerness that rivalled, say, each episode of RAN. I was expecting (in my folly, as it turns out) some sort of Victorian version of BLUE MURDER, which was similarly banned in its home state when it was first shown on the ABC around the country. What I got, however, was little more than a ho-hum seventh-series episode of BLUE HEELERS (complete with much of its cast, incidentally): a woefully unsubtle script which wasted what would otherwise have been one of the most stellar casts in an Australian television production since the Kennedy-Miller miniseries of the 1980s; bland production values (reflecting, perhaps, the decision to spend the budget dollars on personnel); and a "soundtrack" as tacky as any third-rate BBC crime filler this side of 9/11. Actually I'm being harsh on the seventh season of BLUE HEELERS: at least it came sans soundtrack. I'm prepared to go a few episodes yet before reverting to the ABC's Wednesday night lineup, but instead of a captivating and suspenseful examination of the motives of these warlords and/or the psychological effects of their crimes (on themselves AND on those close to them), all I got from Episode 1 was Colosimo as any badly-drawn psychopath from a hundred CSI instalments. How incredibly disappointing, should the series not improve: either viewers lap it up (something I find unlikely), which'll mean that UNDERBELLY becomes the new standard for local commercial drama; or the producers at 9 will conclude that there's no audience for Australian drama and will can everything else in development. Gosh, CITY HOMICIDE looks like LANTANA compared to this.