Crownies

Crownies is an Australian television drama series which was originally broadcast on ABC1 from 14 July until 1 December 2011. The series revolves around a group of solicitors fresh from law school, working with Crown Prosecutors, who are the public prosecutors in the legal system of Australia, working for the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

Crownies
GenreLegal drama
Dramedy
StarringTodd Lasance
Hamish Michael
Ella Scott Lynch
Andrea Demetriades
Indiana Evans
Marta Dusseldorp
Theme music composerLanie Lane
Opening themeWhat Do I Do
Composer(s)Sonar Music
Antony Partos
Country of originAustralia
Original language(s)English
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes22[1] (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)Carole Sklan
Des Monaghan
Greg Haddrick
David Ogilvy
Producer(s)Karl Zwicky
Jane Allen
Lisa Scott
Production location(s)Sydney[1]
CinematographyBruce Young
Editor(s)Marcus D'Arcy
Running time55 mins approx
Production company(s)Screentime Australia[1]
DistributorTarget Entertainment[1]
Release
Original networkABC1
Picture format1080i/25
Audio formatStereo
Original release14 July (2011-07-14) –
1 December 2011 (2011-12-01)
External links
Website

Production

ABC1 ordered Crownies for a twenty-two-episode run and it was produced by Karl Zwicky.[2] It was the first long-form drama format to be commissioned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation since 2005's MDA.[3] Filming began in January 2011.[3] The location chosen for filming was Sydney, New South Wales. Many scenes were filmed in the business district Parramatta, more predominantly around the Parramatta Justice Precinct for the low financial cost and its accessibility.[2] Alongside the Parramatta river shops, churches and streets were used for location shoots. Every twelve days a Brazilian restaurant located on Church Street would be converted into the set of "Gar's Bar", which served as the "legal hangout" for the characters.[2] To cut costs, scenes requiring countryside settings were filmed a mere fifteen-minute drive away from Parramatta.[2] The series finished filming in September 2011.[4]

It is written by Greg Haddrick, Jane Allen, Kylie Needham, Tamara Asmar, Blake Ayshford, Chris Hawkshaw, Justine Gillmer, Pete McTighe, Stuart Page & Sam Miekle. It is directed by Tony Tilse, Chris Noonan, Cherie Nowlan,[3] Grant Brown, Lynn Hegarty, Garth Maxwell and Jet Wilkinson.

On 24 January 2011, Greg Hassall from The Sydney Morning Herald announced the casting of Todd Lasance, Hamish Michael, Marta Dusseldorp and Jerome Ehlers.[3]

Episodes
Main article: List of Crownies episodes

Cast

Main cast

Recurring
  • Chantelle Jamieson as Julie Rousseau
  • Christopher Morris as Andy Campbell
  • Daniel Lissing as Conrad De Groot
  • Marcus Graham as Danny Novak
  • Aimee Pedersen as Ashleigh Larsson
  • Ritchie Singer as The Honourable Mr Justice Rosenberg
  • Paul Moxey as Harry
  • Elias Joukhdar as Tariq Badir
  • Petra Yared as Paula Corvini

Spin-off series
Main article: Janet King (TV series)

Before the series finale of Crownies had broadcast, ABC1 Channel Controller Brendan Dahill revealed that he sought the creation of a spin-off and singled out Dusseldorp and Michael for their portrayals. He believed that there were many successful aspects of Crownies to build on and expressed his surprise that the show was not as popular as he had envisioned.[5] On 20 August 2012, ABC TV confirmed that it had commissioned an "8-part legal and political thriller" titled Janet King.[6] The spin-off went into production in early 2013 and featured various cast members from Crownies.[7][8] The first episode aired on 27 February 2014.[9][10]

Home media

Crownies was initially released on region 4 DVD in two separate parts. The first eleven episodes were released on 6 October 2011.[11] The remaining episodes were released on 1 December 2011.[12] The two box-sets were later released for region 2.[13][14]

Reception

Critical analysis

Doug Anderson from The Sydney Morning Herald liked the show for the cast, "fresh" writing and good relationship between character. He believed anyone with intelligence could relate to the show. He praised the character of Tatum Novak for being the modern girl and branded the rest as fairly conventional characters, with personal issues blended in with cases.[15] But his colleague Craig Mathieson criticised the show stating "The show is struggling to find an even tone and at various times it's flirtatiously sexy, coolly cynical and blazingly emotional. The problem is that these diverse moods jarringly occur one after the other. It's somewhat messy."[15]

Awards and nominations
Award Date of ceremony Category Recipients and nominees Result
Equity Awards[16] 29 March 2012 Most Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Crownies Nominated
Logie Award[17] 15 April 2012 Most Outstanding New Talent Hamish Michael Nominated
Australian Directors' Guild Awards[18] 11 May 2012 Best Direction in a TV Drama Series Jet Wilkinson Nominated
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References
  1. Rosser, Michael (8 March 2011). "Target acquires Crownies". Broadcast. ISSN 0040-2788. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  2. Olding, Rachel (25 June 2011). "Lights, camera, action: Parrawood takes centre stage". The Sydney Morning Herald (First ed.). p. 14. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  3. Hassall, Greg (24 January 2011). "ABC takes law into own hands". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  4. Blake, Elissa (25 September 2011). "Motherhood out on a limb". The Sun-Herald. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  5. Knox, David (25 November 2011). "ABC considers Crownies spin-off". TV Tonight. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  6. Darren (20 August 2012). "ABC TV's Crownies Spin-off To Be A Political Thriller". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 21 January 2013. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  7. Meade, Amanda (20 August 2012). "Crownies spawns Dusseldorp spin-off". The Australian. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  8. Knox, David (22 January 2013). "Cast confirmed for ABC's Janet King". TV Tonight. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  9. Vickery, Colin (16 December 2013). "Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries under a cloud as ABC tries to broaden audience". news.com.au. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  10. Knox, David. "Janet King". TV Tonight. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  11. "Crownies - Season 1: Part 1 (3 Disc Set) (DVD)". ezydvd.com.au. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  12. "Crownies: Season 1 - Part 2 (DVD)". ezydvd.com.au. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  13. "Crownies (Season 1 - Part 1) - 3-DVD Set ( Crownies - Season One Part One (Episodes 1-11) )". Amazon.com. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  14. "Crownies - Season 1 - Part 2 - 3-DVD Set ( Crownies - Season One - Part Two )". Amazon.com. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  15. Mathieson, Craig (1 September 2011). "Craig Mathieson finds ABC's young prosecutors guilty of overseeing an uneven, lightweight mess". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  16. "The 2012 Equity Awards". Equity Awards. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  17. Byrnes, Holly (18 March 2012). "Karl Stefanovic nominated to win back-to-back Gold Logies as Australian television awards announced". Herald Sun. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
  18. Knox, David (16 April 2012). "Australian Directors Guild Awards: Nominees". TV Tonight. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
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