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Filed under: Bikies, Bikiewars, Channel Ten, Crime, Gangs, Television

88 comments

So the people who produced Underbelly have now unleashed Overbelly, a drama mostly about women removing their shirts and bras and bouncing their boobs about, with a trivial side plot focusing on bikies.

A rare Bikiewars moment with a cast member wearing a shirt

Bikiewars: Brothers in Arms premiered on Channel Ten last night and it was fine television, if by fine television you mean yet another drama glamourising the absolute dregs of Australian society.

It was also an excellent showcase for some talented Australian actors, if by talented Australian actors you mean women with a bra size in high alphabet letters who were willing to leave said garments at home on shooting days.

In truth, the first of six instalments of Bikiewars last night wasn’t bad. The reviewocracy today is of the opinion it was too slow, but that’s being picky. Granted, Bikiewars was a little meandering. But the lack of plot propulsion set the scene and tone for a culture unfamiliar to today’s 20- and 30-somethings, most of whom would understand bikies only as meth-fuelled lunatics in gangsta gold chains.

They weren’t always that. In the 1970s, outlaw bikie gangs were a new thing in Australia. Mostly they consisted of boozehounds and dropouts who were looking for kinship, belonging and a fridge which was always guaranteed to be stocked with cold beer. Drug riches and the really sophisticated organised crime that went with it came later.

What bikies did do lots in the ‘70s was bash each other senseless. They were as gun happy then as they are now, with the exception of the nights they had to stay home and watch Dallas. The 1984 Milperra Massacre proves that. It’s the climactic bit of Bikiewars – if you don’t include all the climaxes involving the topless ladies.

Anyway, so Bikiewars was actually pretty entertaining and well made and all that. But after sitting through an hour of it while simultaneously following the conversation on Twitter, the following occurred to me: why can’t we make more Australian dramas about people who aren’t murderous thugs? Have we really no other stories worth telling?

What next: a show that shows the sensitive, caring aside of the Ibrahim family? At least that show would have a good name. You could call it Belly Laugh.

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- paul mac says:
  
  10:27pm | 12/06/12
  
  i used to hang around with robert foggy lane back in the early 70s he lived at redcliff and was in the merchant navy i lived in rochdale we had a lot of adventures together and did a few bad things on the gold coast he got caught i didnt i lost contact with foggy when i went to victoria and i ended up in the army it wasnt untill milpera that i learned what had happened to him
  
  Reply
- Aussie bogan says:
  
  08:30pm | 17/05/12
  
  Geez what a bunch of boring killjoys. For me the show (like underbelly) is a tick in every box:
  - Australian
  -True story
  -Violence/action
  -Nudity/sex
  
  Can’t ask for much more than that, already calling that I’ll be buying the box set
  
  Reply
- Scotchfinger says:
  
  04:48pm | 17/05/12
  
  I can imagine the sequel, set in an airport lounge with broken CCTV cameras. Probably with topless air hostesses from Virgin Blue. *waits expectantly*`
  
  Reply
- pete says:
  
  03:19pm | 17/05/12
  
  You mean I missed boobs on TV! Couldn’t you have watched a screener and gave me this review before it went to air!
  
  Give a pervert a sporting chance!
  
  Reply
- Steve Smith says:
  
  02:53pm | 17/05/12
  
  This was made solely due to the success of Sons of Anarchy. SoA needs to raise the bar now in my opinion. Tits out within 4 minutes, as well as more slo-mo acting scenes with music blaring over the top would see SoA once again set the standard for good outlaw bikie television
  
  Reply
- Bruno says:
  
  12:58pm | 17/05/12
  
  promo for the show during the news hour ‘they are just like us’, now back to the news ‘another bikie shooting’
  
  Reply
- Pandabater says:
  
  12:14pm | 17/05/12
  
  There was a large error in Episode 1.
  When the bikies were leaving the pub
  with their new best friend, the next 25
  minutes should have been taken up
  by trying to get the bikes started.
  Is the Pope Catholic?
  Does a bear sh!t in the woods?
  Do they sell Loctite at Harley shops?
  
  Reply
- Traxster says:
  
  11:31am | 17/05/12
  
  Oh deary me,what with all of this shooting and killing and ‘what have you’ on TV,
  it’s all becoming so very American, don’t you think ?
  
  Reply
- cambo mate says:
  
  10:15am | 17/05/12
  
  Some of you have missed a rather large point about the whole show; It is meant to be an actual recount of what happened leading up to The Milperra Massacre. I saw a doco on the making of this series a few years ago, the Bikies wouldn’t commit to giving any recount of what happened unless it was portrayed factually. Therefore I presume the show is about as it happened, its pretty hard to write a different script about an event if it is based on historical fact. And the actor playing Jock Ross is doing a pretty good job of representing the real Jock Ross, its a credit to him.
  Anyway, normal Aussie suburbia is quite cringe worthy, see Sylvania Waters.
  The reality is you don’t really want to know whats going on in our suburbs its rather sad.
  Thuggery is one of the few things we are good at.
  
  Reply
Murphs says:

10:26pm | 23/05/12

Did the actor playing Jock use Shrek as his template for his Scottish accent? That was horrible…....
- DavidM says:
  
  09:36am | 17/05/12
  
  What do you expect in a country that (as someone pointed out) sees a cop-killing bushranger as a national hero. The unoffical national anthem “Waltzing Matilda” is a song about a sheep-thief who kills himself rather than face justice for his crime.
  I love my country, but it confuses the hell out of me sometimes.
  
  Reply
- Ronnie says:
  
  08:50am | 17/05/12
  
  Why glorify Bike Gangs in a TV series? It’s pathetic!
  
  Reply
- Victoria says:
  
  07:56am | 17/05/12
  
  Why does Australia always make such tedious, thoughtless television shows? The calibre of Australian tv has declined from amusingly bad, to just plain embarrassing. Producers need to stop underestimating their audience.
  
  Reply
- Get Real says:
  
  07:20am | 17/05/12
  
  “why can’t we make more Australian dramas about people who aren’t murderous thugs?”
  
  Ok, how about a TV show about the daily lives of the majority (yes the majority) of patch clubs full of blue collar hard working Aussie blokes who love their families, work hard to pay their mortgage, do right by those around them, live with integrity, love riding and working on their bikes, actually wash their hair every day, have no criminal records and DON’T behave at all like these guys? We never hear about that side of the coin do we? Or that fact that MOST clubhouses are safer places to be than almost any nightclub or pub on a weekend? That’s just not that exciting is it? It’s easy to demonize and sensationalize a lifestyle based on the bad actions of a few when coming from a place of total ignorance.
  
  Reply
Victoria says:

08:00am | 17/05/12

Of course, there is a third option of making a television show, a fiction with some kind of imagination and plot.
- SZF says:
  
  12:06am | 17/05/12
  
  Entertaining? Only if the boobs distracted you from the Home and Away scripting and acting chops. Not even close to the quality of Paper Giants.
  
  Callan Mulvey and Matthew Nable aren’t exactly Charlie Hunnam and Ron Perlman…
  
  Reply
- thatmosis says:
  
  09:53pm | 16/05/12
  
  Its finally got to the point where the only thing I watch on free to air now is the local news and thats before the sport comes on then its back to pay tv where at least one is allowed the priviledge of watching shows that are entertaining and enlightening.
  Its either that or back to the computer and into the lessons again.
  
  Reply
- Peter Dellaplane says:
  
  09:18pm | 16/05/12
  
  “why can’t we make more Australian dramas about people who aren’t murderous thugs? Have we really no other stories worth telling?”
  
  No, we don’t. This is Australia, and when you take off your patriot-coloured glasses you will see that we really don’t have that much to celebrate. Even our military commemorations are about us getting slaughtered rather than victories.
  
  Reply
Supanatural says:

08:33am | 17/05/12

Maybe that’s because you commemorate losses and disasters, while you celebrate victories. Go buy a dictionary.
- Shelly Stone says:
  
  06:34pm | 16/05/12
  
  I liked Bikie Wars. I liked making fun of the dirty skanks that were swapping roots for rides, and the James Dean dudes, rebelling against nothing in particular. It was fun. The paranoia of the gang leader, and his need to build numbers to fight of enemies they didn’t have, the swastika motif drifting in the background, aligning the chaos between parties and the unfounded violence. Nice telly. Me likey.
  
  Reply
- Harley Bundy says:
  
  05:07pm | 16/05/12
  
  Have look at the options - Masterchef, My Kitchen Rules, The Block, Celebrity Apprentice etc etc - at least there seemed to be more reality in Bikie Wars !
  
  Reply
- Frank says:
  
  05:01pm | 16/05/12
  
  I thought the show was well made. Pretty close on the ways things were back in the late 70s early 80s. I hope the coppers are going to be portrayed as things were back then as well
  The show before was a joke. The senior sergeant was spot on about what the bikies were doing in the cross, nothing.
  Let’s hope that civil liberties are not eroded for the broader community or freedom to speak our minds is taken away by laws for the criminal minority that exists in all levels of society. Sensationalism encouraged by muck raking journalists, fueling wimp politicians who jump on misguided ideas is the last thing we need, althought I personally think most people just role their eyes these days.
  
  Reply
- stephen says:
  
  04:44pm | 16/05/12
  
  You’re right about the slow plot, but I thought that the script was archaic, too, ( ‘give me a ride and I’ll give you a root’ ... now come on, not even The Greens would sanction that one),but you know what, perhaps the producers wanted it that way, to give it a lot of old-fashioned and simple camera work, no fancy double entendres, lots of bare belly, and even the colour looked a bit washed out.
  And how many immaculate HQ’s are there left in Oz ?
  
  Nevertheless, the 2 male leads were terrific, (had to look up Callan Mulvey in Wiki ... appears he suffered a bad car accident in ‘03.)
  He plays his part very well, but the real find has to be ‘Ross’.
  He’s an ex League star ?
  I think he was excellent in the role and much scarier than campbell, the so-called tough, who looks like the fat kid next door who can never get his blue-ray working.
  Apparently, from next week’s credits, the 2 leads are on opposing sides, which started the Milperra Bikie Massacre.
  Let’s wait and see.
  
  Reply
- Cat says:
  
  04:30pm | 16/05/12
  
  Oh and yeah that so called documentary on before hand got turned off within 10 seconds - the definition of an Outlaw Motorcycle Gang has nothing to do whether they are criminals or not, it has to do with the American rules on motorcycle clubs. Anyone with access to Wikipedia can tell you that.
  
  Reply
- Cat says:
  
  04:29pm | 16/05/12
  
  I thought it was pretty average. I thought it would be more about the clubs and criminal element, which was mostly glossed over. Too much about the Snoddy love story. Found it dis-jointed and a bit boring. Maybe next week will be better.
  
  Reply
- S.L says:
  
  04:22pm | 16/05/12
  
  The show that gave me the pips was the Bikie show beforehand. The only real bikie interviewed was Snake Campbell. The Vietnam Vet guys aren’t Outlaws as such and other lot who were classing themselves as Bikies are the Nike Bikies who 30 years ago wouldn’t have been game to drive past the front gate of a clubhouse let alone join the club!
  Part of the old guard was white anglo supremecy now you’d be hard pressed to find a white face!
  
  Reply
- Roll Up! Roll Up! says:
  
  04:19pm | 16/05/12
  
  The boobs in almost every scene, are there to distract the catatonic viewers from the atrocious “acting” and contrived “script”. They seem to work.
  
  Juliar Blowhard is currently shopping around for whatever sideshow will suffice to distract voters, police, and various agencies and enquiries from the sight and stench of A.L.P./ union corruption, Craig Thomson, Slippery Pete, etc.
  
  Do you think that flashing the boobs as frequently as she said “moving forward” would do the trick? Maybe Wayne Swan could also flash the “man-boobs” to take people’s minds off his comical “surplus”. It would certainly make the eyes bulge, if nothing else!
  
  Reply
Andrew says:

07:05pm | 16/05/12

FFS Rollup, I have enough trouble sleeping as it is without you putting images of Julia and Wayne flashing in my mind.
- Bane says:
  
  04:11pm | 16/05/12
  
  Ant do you really want another Packed to Rafters, Tricky businees, Offspring type? Or cop/detective show?
  Not being a big TV watcher I’m not really fussed what’s on, saves me from getting hooked and having no life.
  Although I am partial to The Big Bang Theory
  
  Reply
- Rhys says:
  
  03:49pm | 16/05/12
  
  I didnt mind it. But the amount of commercials was ridiculous.
  
  Reply
Granvillian says:

07:12am | 17/05/12

“I find it relatively bizarre how Australia turns low life scum behaviour into something to aspire to.
Then again we do have Gillard for a prime minister.”

RyaN, I find it relatively bizarre how you manage to turn every thread on the Punch into an anti-Gillard rant. Global warming? Julia Gillard. Mother’s Day? Julia Gillard. I wouldn’t be surprised if somewhere on the ANZAC Day threads there could be found a post from you blaming the cockup in the Dardanelles on Gillard.

Give it a rest, bro. Not everything has to be massaged around to your dislike of Gillard.
RyaN says:

04:58pm | 16/05/12

I started watching it but when the 15minutes of commercials came on I started flicking and forgot it was on.
It was THAT good.

I find it relatively bizarre how Australia turns low life scum behaviour into something to aspire to.
Then again we do have Gillard for a prime minister.
- Oy Vey! says:
  
  03:40pm | 16/05/12
  
  I understand that the program has been banned by every Rabbi and Imam in the nation.
  
  Apparently the wanton consumption of THAT much ham in one sitting, is against the teachings of BOTH religions!
  
  Reply
- Mark says:
  
  03:40pm | 16/05/12
  
  I’d like to congratulate the wig that Gary Sweet wore in ‘Blue Murder’, the only thing to have been working non-stop for the last 20 years in the Australian entertainment industry The industry might be struggling, but at least Gazza’s old wig is goin’ hard!
  
  (Old bum parts never die. They just get recast….BOOM TISH!)
  
  Reply
Economist says:

04:05pm | 16/05/12

+1 genius
- Meph says:
  
  03:25pm | 16/05/12
  
  “why can’t we make more Australian dramas about people who aren’t murderous thugs?”
  
  Perhaps because one of our most celebrated national heroes was a bushranger with a bright idea
  
  Reply
- Scotchfinger says:
  
  03:21pm | 16/05/12
  
  Couldn’t be worse than that Razor rubbish. Was that the most pathetic drama series ever filmed in this country? I genuinely considered expatriating myself after sitting through half an hour of that vile, over-acted, self-important show that needed constant exposure of breasts and hyper-violence to keep the audience awake. Take me back to the seventies, please.
  
  Reply
M says:

03:32pm | 16/05/12

I thought breasts and hyperviolence were staples of the 70’s?

I gotta say, it may be a poorly filmed/produced series, but it is miles better than the plethora of cooking shows, karaoke shows and wildebeast at the gym shows that seem to dominate the airwaves these days.
che says:

03:30pm | 16/05/12

Yeah Razor was a shame, could have been good since it was an intersting subject and the book wasn’t too bad. Not great though.
- Tyr says:
  
  03:10pm | 16/05/12
  
  Mum and I watched it together last night. When Jock claimed he had to watch Dallas on Wednesday, she called bullshit! Apparently, Dallas was on a Tuesday night… She remembers because it was on the night she went into labour with me!
  
  Reply
- AFR says:
  
  03:09pm | 16/05/12
  
  There was enough boobs to keep me interested.
  
  Reply
- Brimstone says:
  
  03:08pm | 16/05/12
  
  Yeah, it would be impossible to make a show about bikies that’s actually a retelling of Hamlet. Oh wait… the Yanks did. You can’t.
  
  Reply
- simonfromLakemba says:
  
  03:09pm | 16/05/12
  
  Nice everyday people are boring, thats why you don’t see to much of it on the screens.
  
  I watched it and thought it was OK. Was funny seeing it was filmed near where I live and seeing the Canterbury Bowls Club.
  
  Reply
- SydneyTang86 says:
  
  03:07pm | 16/05/12
  
  Thank you Inky. My sentiments exactly. Life isn’t all peach and cream - let’s at least make some entertainment of it. I thought it was great Aussie drama.
  
  Reply
PW says:

12:34am | 17/05/12

Does anyone remember The Great Bookie Robbery, from the mid-80’s? Cops and robbers, certainly, but not a mammary in sight, and not much in the way of violence either. Just gripping drama about real people and fine Aussie acting. The perpetrators are neither glorified nor vilified (even Mad Dog Cox is sympathetically portrayed without making a hero of him), but you do find yourself rooting for them, mainly because the cops are such creeps and the job was so brazen and brilliantly carried out by experts in the field, without a single shot being fired.

Unfortunately, things like this don’t catch on around this place, so what you get these days is Underbelly and its imitators.
Inky says:

04:06pm | 16/05/12

I’m not sure you caught my point, or rather, I fear you’re running with it in an unintended direction. I was simply pointing out that drama that didn’t involve the seedy criminal element did exist. It just wasn’t called a “drama”. This is all I was saying.
- adam says:
  
  03:05pm | 16/05/12
  
  Escapeism, suspension of disbelief, dramatisation for entertainment?
  
  meh, you don’t like it odn’t watch.
  
  Seventh Heaven, Touched by an Angel etc were pretty boring tele imho
  
  Reply
- Shane says:
  
  02:59pm | 16/05/12
  
  “why can’t we make more Australian dramas about people who aren’t murderous thugs?”
  
  They did, Packed to the Rafters. And it bored most of Australia absolutely shitless.
  
  I didn’t watch this show though. I have zero interest in being educated further in the events that happened, or seeing the misleading false over dramatisation that the Underbelly cretins are known for.
  
  Reply
Jason says:

03:42pm | 16/05/12

I’m assuming he means historical dramas like we used to make (see earlier post for examples).
- Christine A says:
  
  02:57pm | 16/05/12
  
  The ten minutes I managed to sit still for was tedious. Good grief - five more hours of it!
  
  Reply
- Rick says:
  
  02:56pm | 16/05/12
  
  See every other Australian drama other than these two. Don’t like it don’t watch it. Perhaps packed to the rafters is more your style.
  
  Reply
- M says:
  
  02:56pm | 16/05/12
  
  Because thugs are cool.
  
  Reply
- ibast says:
  
  02:56pm | 16/05/12
  
  You could tell it wasn’t going to be good by the shear amount of lead up advertising. Shame because of all the underbelly franchise, this was the one that held the most interest to me.
  
  Reply
- Zeta says:
  
  02:47pm | 16/05/12
  
  I’m a big fan of the book, I reckon Sandra Harvey and Lindsay Simpson were two of Australia’s best writers, and that’s an accolade I find myself rarely giving to female writers at all. Let alone any Australian writer, who are nearly universally shit.
  
  I don’t watch Australian television because it is universally shit, and Bikie Wars was no exception.
  
  Good thing I had Game of Thrones downloaded last night.
  
  Reply
SydneyGirl says:

04:56pm | 16/05/12

I always judge people who read Ayn Rand, its served me well

I did get past the covers - only to be disappointed.

Simon, you are welcome (ahlan-wasalahan?)
Steve says:

04:51pm | 16/05/12

Didn’t watch BikieWars because it’s Australian-made - which is a pretty good guide to being crap, so saving me time and annoyance.

If it turns out to be any good, I’ll hear about it and reconsider.

GoT is far better made, and has better characters.
Inky says:

04:31pm | 16/05/12

“But you are a young I presume, why do you care about the opinions of the over 30s?! Surely young girls must hang on to whatever it is that you read/watch?! “

I stand by being able to read whatever interests one’s self without being judged. Amusingly, I find myself warning against judging a book by it’s cover.
SydneyGirl says:

04:16pm | 16/05/12

Inky gentlemanly not manly.

Every gentleman must have a library that has several dozen hard bound books that smell strongly of tobacco, whisky and leather. The Boys Own books should be Homeric classics or sea tales-Aubrey-Maturin scores more marks with SydneyGirl than GoT. A few Nobel Prize winners won’t go amiss in demonstrarting that the gentleman is au courant with but not an affected slave to literary genius/pretensions. And definitely no Hunter Thompson, Bkukowski which scream I am Gen X. And so on.

But you are a young I presume, why do you care about the opinions of the over 30s?! Surely young girls must hang on to whatever it is that you read/watch?!

Also the aesthetics of the fantasy genre - the book covers, the TV sets - gives me a blinding headache.
simonfromLakemba says:

03:57pm | 16/05/12

@SydneyGirl

Shokran

Been around, just brewing as I don’t comment on the political or gay marriage articles ( apart from the Obama one )
Steve Perry says:

03:44pm | 16/05/12

Are you saying Matthew Reilly is shit? I love his books. He writes great action…

P.S. How good is GoT?! You read the books?
Inky says:

03:42pm | 16/05/12

@SydneyGirl

I guess we’re just not manly enough for you anymore. What exactly is wrong with the fantasy genre? And what on earth should we be reading?
SydneyGirl says:

03:30pm | 16/05/12

Zeta now and then I contemplate coming over at 2 am for a chat but am always deterred by your terribly questionable tastes in literature. A Game of Thrones download..hmm…makes me long for the days when a man’s reading and viewing didn’t constitute sexed up fantasy/ childhood fables!

PS: The Corinna Chapman books are not my kind of book - I just left one unread - but I just want to say at 70 you will be Dionysius Monk, albeit way more dissolute

PPS: Bikie Wars was OK, no better or no worse than most. Also apart from the unclad girls, I have a girlfriend who is strangely attracted to the bloke in the picture so it seems to be keeping everyone happy.

PPS: Simon of L, think you haven’t been around, if so good to see you back.
Barx says:

03:24pm | 16/05/12

+1 to GoT
- Alan says:
  
  02:46pm | 16/05/12
  
  Got about half way through the first episode and turned off. Much as liked the boobs, the poor storyline, the ridiculous dialogue and the atrocious acting was too much to put up with.
  
  Reply
- Sanchez says:
  
  02:42pm | 16/05/12
  
  Bikiewars was excellent. And yeah, I can see how peopel might focus on a little toplessness - look, none of them were pnematically enhanced, and bikie culture did (does) have a bit of the topless girlie element to it - it’s part of accurate portrayal. These guys know what the public likes. Great show!!
  
  I would rather watch a show about criminals that the reality rubbish going around at the moment. But there have been some great dramas about non criminals - Paper Giants was excellent….
  
  Reply
- Brimstoe says:
  
  02:40pm | 16/05/12
  
  Attitudes like this are why Australian TV is shit. You’d attack Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, or Sons of Anarchy (which this show rips off) for not being ‘uplifting’ or ‘inspiring’ enough. Drama comes from conflict, not happy suburban shitheads deciding whether to fuck Jayden or Turramurra.
  
  Reply
- Gladys says:
  
  02:40pm | 16/05/12
  
  Oh good. I thought I was being an old prude.
  
  That was a funny line though. About not being able to bash someone because Dallas was on.
  
  Reply
- Ironside says:
  
  02:37pm | 16/05/12
  
  It’s a fundamental flaw in the Australian psyche and probably has something to do with misplaced pride in a convict heritage. But when one of our ‘greatest’ historical national ‘heros’ is a police murdering thief and we glorify his exploits you cant really expect much more from an organisation like channel 10.
  
  Bikie wars isn’t going to encourage people to break the law or join bikie clubs or any of that hysterical crap, its just b grade Australian actors struggling with C grade writing in an effort to represent the scum of Australian society. Not particularly engaging viewing but not really harmful either.
  
  Reply
M says:

04:45pm | 16/05/12

Nah man, it’s cause crminals are cool.

Scarface.
The Godfather
Pulp Fiction
The bank job, to name a few.

Everyone loves people who stick it to the man.
Vince says:

03:59pm | 16/05/12

...but it’s got BOOBS!
Martin says:

03:45pm | 16/05/12

@Ironside

It’s known as the ‘Ned Kelly Syndrome’.

Apparently it’s an Irish perculiarity.
- AdamC says:
  
  02:19pm | 16/05/12
  
  I have never liked TV shows or films based on mobsters or criminals. I just don’t care what happens to the scumbag lead characters, which takes away much of the dramatic impact.
  
  Reply
DS says:

06:03pm | 17/05/12

Barzx: scum, eradicate. These people are human beings!
Hannah says:

11:55am | 17/05/12

@Emma, whilst your point is admirable itself, it wouldn’t make good tv.
Emma says:

08:34am | 17/05/12

Inky and Arnold

Leaving all the glory of the stories of Robin Hood and Ned Kelly aside I dont think they were characters to admire.

I dont understand why people who dont have their lives together are admired. Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse etc etc. Maybe they were talented but how can you admire someone that had no happy life and nothing under control? What is there to aspire to? I prefer “normal” invisible people like my parents or some teachers I had. I admire people that lead a more or less satisfied life and positively influence people. Putting themselves second behind their families or communities. And not demanding acknowledgement.
Arnold says:

04:56pm | 16/05/12

Ned Kelly?
AdamC says:

04:01pm | 16/05/12

Barx, yeah, the Sons of Anarchy comparison occurred to me too.

Inky, I quite like the Errol Flynn film version. But Robin Hood is more romantic folk tale than real-life historical outlaw.
Inky says:

02:34pm | 16/05/12

Not a fan of Robin Hood then?
Barx says:

02:31pm | 16/05/12

Sensationalist crap. Sons of Anarchy-lite. Either way it’s glorifying the scum the police are working hard to eradicate.
- Inky says:
  
  02:14pm | 16/05/12
  
  “why can’t we make more Australian dramas about people who aren’t murderous thugs?”
  
  I thought that was all of those reality and contest shows, where every contestant has a dramatic and uplifting personal challenge and they’ve overcome adversity to be here tonight etc.
  
  At least, that’s my somewhat second hand impression.
  
  Reply
Fiddler says:

07:01pm | 16/05/12

more to the point how come NZ can do better than we can. Spartacus shits all over anything Australia has made in living memory
Steve says:

04:39pm | 16/05/12

What are you complaining about? I thought Australians wanted to see Australian stories told in Australian accents.

Most ‘Australian’ drama could just as easily be set in the UK/Canada/USA without losing its narrative values. A HIlls Hoist in the background does not make Australian stories somehow unique.
Inky says:

04:12pm | 16/05/12

Fair statement and good sentiment. Alas, producers just go where the perceived money is. Someone took a risk on Underbelly, it was popular, now meet it’s 100 spinoff siblings. And as long as people tune it, as long as it pulls advertising revenue, why bother changing it? Hence why we constantly have these reality contest shows, people keep getting sucked in.

Sad but true.
Jason says:

03:36pm | 16/05/12

I guess his point is we used to make historical drama series about people like Sir Charles Kingsford Smith (A Thousand Skies), Aussie war heroes (ANZAC’s) and the Don (Bodyline).

I’d much rather watch a mini-series about Kokoda or Nancy Wake (ie real heroes and inspirational people other than criminals or reality tv contestants).
- Luthien Nienna says:
  
  02:14pm | 16/05/12
  
  I quite enjoyed Bikie Wars last night. The first episode covered a lot of time and introduced us to quite a few interesting characters. Looking forward to how the rest of the mini-series turns out.
  
  I was not a fan of any of the Underbelly franchise, so will be interesting to see who else enjoyed last nights premier.
  
  Reply
HALO says:

03:15pm | 16/05/12

I can’t say I’m with you, twas underbelly on bikes from what I seen, and last night’s bore was just a meet and greet episode….yawn
- Cienfuegos says:
  
  02:09pm | 16/05/12
  
  That bloke looks like Martin Bryant
  
  Reply
PW says:

12:10am | 17/05/12

I’d say Martin Bryant one year into a methamphetamine addiction, just before the scabs start appearing on his face.

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