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Catching Milat

Seven's true crime miniseries takes us back to the 90s as police track down a serial killer.

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The challenge for crime dramas is that the bar has lifted so high of late.

UK dramas such as The Fall and The Missing are dark psychological portraits of flawed characters, with dense plots full of gripping twists and turns. But they are also works of fiction. Set against these, true crime drama has its work cut out: how do you meet audience expectations without amplifying the story so much as to be recreating it entirely?

Catching Milat is Seven’s two part miniseries on the chase to catch a serial killer responsible for 7 heinous murders in the Belanglo State Forest in the 1990s. It was a case that gripped the nation and, due to its backpacker victims, attracted international headlines.

Written by Dalton Dartmouth, this Shine Australia drama is based on the book “Sins of the Brother” by Mark Whittaker and Les Kennedy.

Mal Kennard portrays Ivan Milat, a gruff, blue collar son from a bogan family drawn to beer, smoking, and lotto. He has a creepy relationship with his sister Shirley (Leeanna Walsman) and there are brothers David (Ben Geurens), Alex (Alan Flower) and matriarch Margaret (the wonderful Carol Skinner).

Milat’s existence is mundane, consisting of shooting rifles, working out on a home gym, driving and a council job. The action begins in 1990 when he pulls a gun on a male British backpacker, Paul Onions (Alex Hayes) in the middle of the bush, but the young man manages to escape.

It will be another 2 years before 2 young women backpacking from Sydney become his victims, bringing what will become a very long case to the attention of Det. Paul Gordon (Richard Cawthorne). When more bodies are found, police realise there is a serial killer at work and set up Task Force Air, headed by Superintendent Clive Small (Geoff Morrell) and including Det. Neil Birse (David Field).

But Gordon, with his ‘old school’ methodology locks horns with Small’s approach to modern approach of entering every detail into a new computer system.

“It’s not going to find anything, we are,” Gordon insists.

As more bodies are found, media warns of dangers to the tourism industry, and journalist Ruth Kilmarten (Lizzie Schebesta) takes a closer interest in police progress. Watch for file footage of Real Life with Stan Grant and Roger Climpson reading Seven News.

In the hands of director Peter Andrikidis, Part 1 of this saga leads police to suspect Milat, but without especially offering much in the way of surprises. While it is consistently performed, notably by its male leads, it offers a straightforward construct of good vs. evil. It isn’t until Part 2 that as television drama we get beneath the skin of Det. Gordon, due to his obsession with the killer. Small will even accuse him of jeopardising the case.

Kennard and Cawthorne both step up in lead roles, despite being kept apart for the majority of this tale, but I would have liked to have seen more flaws from Cawthorne as Det. Gordon. to help justify this in 2 parts rather than a perfectly good telemovie tale. Kennard is suitably evil as Milat, in a role that borrows somewhat from Wolf Creek‘s fictional backpack killer.

While it should be pointed out some characters are fictional, it was good to see less-recognisable faces used in lead and supporting roles.

Sadly whilst cat and mouse plots may make other dramas more dense, truth is stranger than fiction for viewers wanting to relive a dark chapter of modern history.

Catching Milat airs 8:45pm Sunday on Seven and concludes on May 24th.

One Response

  1. Looking forward to this. Although I am disgusted at these types of crimes, somehow I’m drawn to reading books and watching shows about them. If nothing else, this show may remind backpackers and other hitchhikers to be more vigilant.

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