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WIN pulls Underbelly ads

WIN TV drops promos for Underbelly 2 after complaints by the son of the late Donald McKay who calls them "pure fiction."

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WIN Television has dumped an advertisement for its upcoming Underbelly prequel following a complaint from Don Mackay’s son that it featured events he considered “pure fiction”.

A two-minute teaser for Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities shows the late Don Mackay, played by Andrew McFarlane, at an anti-drugs rally in Griffith angrily confronting Bob Trimbole.

But no rally ever took place in Griffith and Paul Mackay said his father had never met Trimbole, to be played by actor Roy Billing.

Mr Mackay approached WIN Griffith management on Friday and the offending ad was immediately pulled from local screens.

“I was extremely concerned that my father and family were being portrayed so inaccurately,” Mr Mackay said.

“In the 32 years since Dad died, I’ve seen so many headlines and stories that it takes a fair bit to upset me.

“But seeing this ad came as a real shock.

“This is a program which is being presented as a docu-drama and it shouldn’t have such errors and exaggerations in it.

“People who aren’t intimate with the events in Griffith of the early 70s will take it as fact, just like most of us did when the first Underbelly ran.” Mr Mackay said he was grateful for the swift response from the local station.

WIN general manager Greg Murphy said the station was reviewing its promotional material for Underbelly and was “mindful of the need for sensitivity”.

No one has ever been charged with the murder but Bazley, who was released from prison in 2001, was convicted of conspiracy to murder.

“I noticed on the shorts that they had an image of James Bazley loading a gun so it looks like they’re going to finger who was responsible for Dad’s murder,” he said.

Source: Area News

14 Responses

  1. How can the writers make such mistakes or poor decisions as that? Viewers don’t like to be mislead as much as the people concerned don’t want their real lives misprotrayed. Writers/producers should make it fiction or non-fiction – confuse the two and you lose all credibility.

  2. bindi, it is perfectly fine to have a non-accurate re-enactment just not under true-story staus. nine is keeping the true story status on their own account which i guess is the most respectable way to go, but gee it is causing them a lot of grief.

    they should just let it go.

  3. well i guess it is just me then but when i see a show like underbelly i do not expect to see an historically accurate re-enactment, plenty of movies purport to be true stories while being inaccurate in many respects. the real names does complicate it a bit but they have disclaimers at the end of things like this to try and protect them from defamation cases. but i guess if some people do actually expect it to be totally correct then the victorian ban of the first one was completely justified and essential if so many are willing to believe what they see on tv. perhaps they should place underbelly in the documentary section of any awards nominations rather than the drama category as it seems that is what some people believe it to be.

  5. jeez, grow up WIN and who ever complained.
    WIN should not have pulled the add but then again they ruined channel nine perth and care about petty things like covering up every single nine logo while Prime couldnt care less.
    WIN needs a kick up the arse.

  6. bindi, as far as “dramatic licencing” goes, when a real name is used the writers are walking on eggshells because if the slightest thing is taken the wrong way they will have deformation cases coming out their ears. so yes it does have to very accurate especially if it is labelled as “a true story” like underbelly. there would have been more flexibility if it was just “based on true events”.

    i will be dissapointed if more of this happens because if it doesn’t get the 2mil that 9 are looking for they now have an excuse when we all know that there will be little impact.

    i am also surprised that it is coming in Feb especially as it will be so rushed and 9’s 2nd half is looking soo baron.

  7. Ding ding ding… alarm bells. While I get the dramatic licence bit, I fear the race to get these things out will see more shortcuts being taken and the quality deteriotating. The fact that they will still be shooting Underbelly2 stuff when the series is due to start in a few weeks makes me wonder if Nine are rushing this to their detriment.

  9. it is called dramatic licence, it is not a documentary it does not have to be totally accurate, was he ever interviewed by the writers? or was his family? if they were did they give them their side of the story and they chose to simply ignore it? if not how can they be expected to be mind readers, perhaps this is the information they recieved from someone else who was wrong, or perhaps they didn’t bother trying to get it right at all and thought they would just make most of it up for dramatic and story tellling purposes. pleny of “true stories” or “based on real events” are highly fictionalised, all they often do is take a few snippets so they can put that label on coz people tend to watch if they think it is real but they end up creating most of it from nothing. and just coz win removed the ads doesn’t mean it has been removed from the show.

  12. It is probably going to be hard for the familiy, bringing up old memories.

    Especially if there is as much hype as the first series. Not everyone is going to enjoy the fame in the same way as Roberta Williams or the ex gangsters.

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