Fighting Season, new local drama for Foxtel.

A new local drama series, Fighting Season, has been commissioned by Foxtel to air in 2018.

The six part drama from Goalpost Pictures is a character-driven drama about Australian soldiers returning from Afghanistan. It is written by Blake Ayshford (Nowhere Boys, The Devil’s Playground, Barracuda).

The series centres on the invisible men and women who fight for our country, what they bring home and what of themselves they leave behind, and the secrets that must remain hidden. It is described as a compelling mystery regarding a possible cover-up where the lines between killer and family man, between hero and victim, between truth and imagination, are constantly shifting.

Foxtel Head of Drama Penny Win said: “Fighting Season will be a powerful and provocative addition to Foxtel’s drama slate of great Australian storytelling. The drama explores a masculine world, unpicking the mythology surrounding ‘The Diggers’ and the reality of being a modern soldier, as they try to live up to the heroic expectations placed on them by society, and themselves. Their transition from a high-adrenaline existence to being loving husbands and partners is both fascinating and incredibly moving.

“Fighting Season will be Foxtel’s first drama production with Goalpost Pictures and we are very pleased to be working together with Kylie du Fresne and writer Blake Ayshford to bring to life this very timely story.”

Goalpost Pictures’ Kylie du Fresne said: “We are thrilled to be partnering with Foxtel. This series tackles an issue being faced by communities across the globe and it’s a subject that has yet to be tackled in any depth in Australian television drama. At Goalpost we were intrigued by the notion of ‘good soldier, bad citizen’ and we believe Blake and his writing team have created characters that are complex and fascinating.”

Fighting Season has production investment from Screen Australia and Screen NSW, with Broken Hill to be one of the key locations.

Sky Vision, the distribution and production arm of Sky, is handling distribution outside of Australia / NZ.

Across the Foxtel platform, the upcoming Australian drama line-up is a diverse mix of original and iconic stories envisioned for discerning, contemporary audiences: Fighting Season, Wentworth, A Place to Call Home and Picnic at Hanging Rock for showcase, Top of the Lake for BBC First and the movie Australia Day which will have a cinema release ahead of showing on Foxtel Movies.