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Nine confirms Underbelly: Badness

Jonathan LaPaglia will star as underworld figure Anthony Perish in the next Underbelly season.

Filming has begun on the fifth installment in Nine’s crime series, Underbelly: Badness.

Shot on location in Sydney and set from 2001 – 2011, Underbelly: Badness stars Jonathan LaPaglia as underworld figure Anthony Perish.

A Press Release indicates “Perish maintained an almost non-existent public profile, which was only revealed when his connection to the murder of Terry Falconer, a former inmate of Sydney’s Silverwater jail, brought him to the attention of Strike Force Tuno, formed to find Falconer’s killers.

“Strike Force Tuno spent ten years gathering the evidence that would finally see Perish brought to justice.”

Matt Nable stars as Detective Inspector Jubelin with Josh Quong Tart, Ben Winspear, Leeanna Walsman and Jodi Gordon all appearing. Aaron Jeffery will feature in his second Underbelly instalment.

Underbelly: Badness is an eight-part mini-series, directed by Tony Tilse, David Caesar and Ian Watson, with scripts written by Peter Gawler, Felicity Packard, Jeff Truman and Niki Aken.

Nine Drama execsJo Rooney and Andy Ryan said, “Underbelly: Badness is a riveting and compelling story of a modern underworld figure that merged into the fabric of our community completely under the radar, and we are very proud to shine a light on this story and bring it to Australian audiences”

Screentime’s Des Monaghan and Greg Haddrick will return as Executive Producers, along Peter Gawler and Elisa Argenzio. The Nine Network’s Drama Executive’s, Jo Rooney and Andy Ryan will also serve as Executive Producers.

“This, the fifth series of Underbelly, is the most contemporary yet and is in marked contrast to Underbelly: Razor,” said Monaghan, Executive Chairman of Screentime. “Whilst on the face of it they couldn’t be more different, they do both share the Underbelly DNA, namely police versus organised crime, the dramatisation of actual events, real names wherever legally possible, and an honest attempt to get to the essence of what really happened.”

Corrected.

11 Responses

  1. What they could’ve done, is a 5th series covering unresolved and additional stories from the 1st series. There’s more than what’s below, but they’re enough.
    – It could’ve started in 2005 with Mick Gatto’s
    acquittal.
    – Mario Condello’s 2006 trial and assassination.
    – Carl Williams trial, 35 year 2007 sentencing and his 2010 murder.
    – Tony Mokbel’s 2007 fleeing to Greece and later extradition back to Australia and his 2011 trial.
    – Des Moran’s 2009 assassination and Judy Moran’s 2010 trial for his murder.

  2. Underbelly is a great title for a series of true crime books written by John Silvester and Andrew Rule. “Badness” pretty much sums up what’s happened to the series. Screentime have milked the original “Underbelly” title for long enough. Time to move on.

  3. “Badness” is a really weak title. They may as well have called it “Underbelly: Naughtiness” or “Mischievous”. It also sets them up for mocking puns using the word “bad”.

  4. Nothing can beat the original Underbelly Series. Hopefully, this series will be a good one.

    Despite living in Sydney, I haven’t really heard of this underworld figure Anthony Perish bloke. I wonder if this series will have any tie-ins to Underbelly 3: The Golden Mile?

  5. That picture is Jonathan LaPaglia…

    Underbelly is the most overated show. Season 1 had woeful scripts, which meant poor acting, and dodgy directing, and yet was heralded as the best show in a long time. And from what people have said it’s only gotten worse, so why are people watching?

  6. The ‘Underbelly DNA’ – in other words, there will be endless slow-mo sequences set to music (because we dont know how to make it dramatic otherwise) and heaps of bare flesh. Underbelly isn’t drama it’s glamour.

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