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Airdate: The Informant

A World Premiere telemovie starring William McInnes gets a Friday night timeslot from TEN.

A new Australian telemovie, The Informant, starring William McInnes is coming to Network TEN next month.

Written by Greg Haddrick (Underbelly, Society Murders, MDA) the mystery drama also features Colin Friels, Matt Day, Stephen Curry, Leanna Walsman and Anita Hegh.

McInnes plays a suburban dad who works as a police informant for a federal investigative agency. The character’s background is shrouded in mystery, with intelligence officers seeking to uncover the truth about his past by working with him.

But TEN has slated the movie on one of its weakest nights -Fridays. It will air at 8:30pm Friday November 14.

This is a curious decision by TEN given the strong cast and the fact that it is a World Premiere drama. Screenwriter Greg Haddrick was also nominated for an AFI Awards today. Earlier this year it planned to screen its world premiere of Emerald Falls out of ratings on Good Friday. Eventually it settled on Easter Sunday.

While the Friday screening for The Informant may reek of “dud film” that isn’t the view of the FOX Network which has acquired remake rights to the story.

To be adapted by US writer Tom Szentgyorgyi, “It’s a blend of a spy undercover procedural and a family story about his life at home.”

TEN also didn’t announce the telemovie on its second-half slate for 2008.

The film is set to follow Ice Road Truckers, moved to 7:30pm following the demise of Download.

12 Responses

  1. I was very (positively) surprised with the story – to the point that I saw it twice in a row! Being a Brazilian it was difficult to understand the Australian English, but all the pieces are well in place and the final ‘strip’ scene is extraodinary. How this guy comes out of it is a masterstrike. It was the first time I saw a Australian movie and I am very impressed, I must say. Congratulations!

  2. I thought it was a good drama that could be turned into a good series. Leave the lineup of Australian actors. William McInnes does a great job in this.
    Don’t send it off overseas. this is great Australian humour

  3. Was anyone as confsued by the ending as I was? Did the Feds purposely let the bloke with the gun go and dob him in to the gang by pretending he worked with them? If so, how did the others know? It looked like a pilot for a series to me but I enjoyed it right till the confused ending. Except, of course, for Ch 10’s outrageous placing of an ad every few minutes towards the end.

  4. I thought this was great – great characters, smart dialogue and a nice sting in the tail.

    If this is an Australian telemovie I think we should invest much more in our own talent rather spending it on American ‘stuff’ (I’m being polite).

    People will have their own opinions on Australian dramas but looking at the talent we’ve got I believe this can go a long way.

    Thanks for a great production.

  5. I really enjoyed this. Great story and great actors. Some familiar faces and some not so familiar, which was refreshing to see. Well done Ten.

    I think another screening mid week is a good idea.

    Anyone know if we could make a request?

  6. A most enjoyable Australia production. Channel 10 should reschedule another viewing mid week. . We have the best actors in the world ,and with stories like this the Australian script writers are finally getting it right

  7. The Informant was meant to go ahead as far as a series was concerned, but the producer Sue Masters left Ch.Ten for SBS soon after filming had ended, so it was placed on the shelf. Whoever replaced her brought with them Rush, and it was rushed into production.

    As far as the time slot goes (not that I am comparing this to a HBO series) but blame the general public for a stations decision when to air shows regardless of the standard – remember what time slot The Sopranos aired everyweek… it must reflect on the number of viewers.

    Would a show like The Wire or Oz ever reach Australian TV?

    Why is quality in a minority?

  8. coops, I think Ten are actually doing the smart thing by airing a double episode of Life next week. It allows us to catch up a bit further to the US, as we’re a few episodes behind.

  9. Surely if it was any good a logical timeslot would have been to air in House’s timeslot next week, since a new ep isn’t available….?? I’m going with the dud theory for this one.

  10. I was put off by telemovies by channel nine, when i taped scorched, and the end cut off (i wonder why?). Lucky i checked whether the whole thing taped, as i almost watched it.

    As for this one, it looks alright from the description.

  11. Although there’s not really any other place to schedule it, Friday night is still a bit of a bad choice.

    Didn’t Ten schedule another Aussie telemovie on a Friday late last year or early this year, only to move it to a Sunday after people complained? I think it starred Claudia Carvan, possibly something about opening a B&B….

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