First fruits of ABC’s $50m funding injection announced
Bananas in Pyjamas is returning to the ABC
The ABC has made good on its promise during the Senate estimates that a slew of new Australian drama and children’s content would be coming soon, with four new shows announced.
These new programs are due to the Federal Government’s three-year, $50m funding injection announced last year.
The funding is the result of a side deal struck between the Greens and Labor in late November to assure an easy passage through parliament for the Australian content requirement for online streaming services bill.
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Last week, the national broadcaster announced it would be reviving popular children’s show Bananas in Pyjamas, with a live-action reboot being produced in South Australia by Windmill Productions, the team behind Beep and Mort.
The original series ran from 1992 until 2001, inspired by a 1969 song that had featured on Play School accompanied by a short animation for decades prior. A less successful computer-animated version ran from 2011 to 2013.
The ABC is also bringing back 2015 mockumentary Little Lunch, for a series that follows a brand-new group of students as they navigate the 15-minute minefield that is recess.
The show is a co-commission between the ABC, the BBC, and the Australian Children’s Television Foundation, and will be produced by Gristmill, who has made a number of much-loved ABC titles over the years, including Upper Middle Bogan, Summer Love, and The Librarians. Heidi Arena returns as teacher Mrs Gonsha.
The ABC has also commissioned two new crime dramas.
Pilli Sisters PI is a six-part scripted drama created, written by, and starring Tasma Walton, and will be a co-production between Lingo Pictures, Third Act Stories, and Meeniyan Stories. It will be shot across Western Australia.
Tasma Walton created Pilli Sisters PI for the ABC
The show is set in Fremantle and follows two Indigenous sisters and private investigators who are looking into a series of baffling crimes. Walton said in an announcement the show will be “an Indigenous-lensed show whose heroines not only solve puzzling mysteries, but also celebrate community and sisterhood in all their glorious complexity.”
Fortitude Valley is a six-part scripted crime thriller set in Brisbane, starring Hunter-Page Lochard from The Newsreader, and The Offspring’s Kat Stewart.
An ABC synopsis said the show is “a suspenseful crime thriller set in the sunshine and shadow of Queensland’s capital city, exploring family secrets, the corrupting force of power, and the complicated truths behind the lies we tell.”
Kat Stewart will star in crime thriller Fortitude Valley, set to begin filming in April
“It comes at an important time,” Marks said of this funding, when asked his plans for the money during Senate estimates earlier this month.
“We have probably unlimited demand from content makers to access funding to make a high range of really quality programs. And, obviously we’ve been limited in budget. We’re finding, at the same time, that a number of other broadcasters are dropping out of the market, particularly in drama.
“We are now probably the only commissioner of premium children’s product in Australia.”
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