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Key cast announced for ‘Underbelly 2’

Nine has officially announced some of the cast members for its Underbelly prequel, to be subtitled "A Tale of Two Cities."

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Channel Nine has officially announced key cast members for its Underbelly prequel, to be subtitled “A Tale of Two Cities.”

As expected the series will take place before the first series, during an era of illegal drugs becoming the centre of gang warfare in Sydney.

With filming to take place in regional New South Wales, Sydney and Melbourne, at the heart of the story is crime boss Robert Trimbole, to be played by Roy Billing -who currently appears on Packed to the Rafters as the boss of Rebecca Gibney (pictured).

Matthew Newton will play Terry “Mr. Asia” Clark, while Andrew McFarlane plays anti-drugs campaigner Donald McKay and Peter O’Brien is to portray George Freeman.

“Nine is thrilled to be bringing Underbelly- A Tale of Two Cities to the small screen in 2009,” said Nine Drama Exec Jo Horsburgh. “Scripts and casting are well underway and the series is proving to be as rich and exciting as the first series. I think the audience will love it.”

The series will film in Sydney and Melbourne from now until March 2009.

Press Release:

The Nine Network and Screentime today announced production of the second series of their controversial Australian drama series, UNDERBELLY – A TALE OF TWO CITIES.

UNDERBELLY – A TALE OF TWO CITIES follows the Australian criminal landscape that changed forever in the mid 1970s when the illegal drug industry took hold. In the decade between ’76 and ‘86 the marijuana and heroin business expanded exponentially. Crooks with enough nerve, brains and imagination stood to make millions. Two of the biggest crooks of all were “Aussie Bob” Trimbole and Terry “Mr Asia” Clark. This is their story.

This is also the story of the nascent Federal Police, their efforts to understand the nature and extent of organised crime in Australia, and their fight against the pernicious heroin trade.

Key cast for the production includes Roy Billing as Robert Trimbole; Andrew McFarlane as Donald Mackay; Matthew Newton as Terry Clark; Peter O’Brien as George Freeman with further cast and characters to be announced soon.

Head of Drama for the Nine Network, Jo Horsburgh, said, “Nine is thrilled to be bringing UNDERBELLY – A TALE OF TWO CITIES to the small screen in 2009. Scripts and casting are well underway and the series is proving to be as rich and exciting as the first series. I think the audience will love it”.

Executive Producer, Des Monaghan, said, “Screentime is very proud to be in partnership again with Nine. We are very excited about Underbelly – A Tale of Two Cities – which promises to be even bigger and better than the first series”.

The UNDERBELLY – A TALE OF TWO CITIES cast will be filming in Sydney and Melbourne from now until March 2009.

43 Responses

  1. in my opinion he is a bad actor and the part should have gone to someone else more capable of their acting abilities and the understanding of the darker side of the human soul, that is the very least i can say about the actor playing terry clark

  3. the negatives re matty newtnn very gifted person and
    deserves the opportunites
    that come his way and he will not look back good luck to
    him’¡
    Ken
    fitzroy
    vic

  4. I really liked the first Underbelly – and hope the second one is just as good.
    I am dissapointed Mathew Newton is cast in the film. I think Australia has alot of good actors and actresses still to be discovered.

  5. I just want to add a lot of people are discussing Mathew Newton so i’ll say this it dosn’t matter to me who plays the characters as long as they’re good at playing them.

  6. I only watched the original Underbelly last year because of the incredible cast and enjoyed it and can’t wait til the new Underbelly. I think it will be better because it won’t have Carl Williams in it who I couldn’t stand. But I did like Alphonse Gangitano and would of liked to see more of him so maybe he could be included in this one.

  7. Who cares what he did, the point is that he’s an actor, working in a great tv series. She’s obviously moved on from the incident, and so has he. His personal life shouldn’t interfere with his working life…. if he’s good enough to be cast as an actor then let him be the great character he was cast as.

  10. Again we need to stick to the facts as recorded in court. Newton pleaded guilty to one charge of common assault and was put on a 12 month good behaviour bond. The conviction was later overturned.

    Nobody says anyone has to watch what he is in before or after these incidents.

  11. You people are unbelievable. The man beat up his girlfriend, admitted it and got away with it because a conviction would hurt his chances of a career in the US. But hey, he’s a wonderful actor so all is ok! The victim in this was Brooke, but the sympathy seems to be with Newton. I mean the poor thing was going through a tough time! I agree with you Ali & Vixen808 I won’t be watching anything this man is in.

  12. Matt will be great!!! For those of you who have a problem with him – He is human, he made a mistake, he has had to live with that. Don’t you think the way the media crucified him was enough punishment? When does the punishment end? He is a wonderful actor, i can’t wait to see the second series!!

  13. They’ve been filming for this in the main street of Richmond, NSW today. Apparently there’s going to be a murder scene shot in a bank carpark here tonight as well.

  15. Everyone goes through times in which they make bad calls. Including celeb’s. They are after all, regular people, just doing a job that many watch. I can’t wait to see what Underbelly 2 is all about and I’m sure Matt will be fantastic.

  16. I haven’t made any judgement about whether it’s right or wrong, guilty or innocent. All I’ve done is supply the facts. He pleaded guilty to one charge of common assault, with police dropping the other charges. At the end of the day the conviction was overturned.

    I’ve republished your comments because I think it’s relevant to know how people view our various actors, but we also need to be mindful of the laws of defamation. Aside from Underbelly, Newton is currently in Stupid, Stupid Man on the ABC.

    You can say what you want about our court system (and I might even agree with you), but that’s where the case was left.

  17. I’m sorry David, what does that mean? Because he is the son of rich Tv Semi-Celebrity and had no conviction recorded its okay to beat a woman?
    We don’t “reward” people in society like this. That’s Elitist.

    If you hear about a everyday guy on the news hitting a woman or a child we wouldn’t say its okay for them to become role models for other people on TV.

    I think you may have a little of the “give the celebrity a break” syndrome. What if it was your daughter, sister, mother etc?

  19. I think you should give the guy a break, he was obiviously didn’t know how to control himself when he was with her, but I do believe in second chances, and the guy should be given one, regardless of how much I dislike people like that.

    In regards to the story, where do big shots like Lenny McPherson and the other top crooks like them fit into this saga? They were just as big as Trimbole and Mr Asia. In fact he usually had contact with them and was closely associated with them, alongside Abe Saffron. Wow, if they include these guys, then it will be quite compelling.

  23. Matthew Newton is a good actor, conceded, but I think its a shame that what he did to Brooke Satchwell has just been conveniently forgotten. Its incredible what famous people get away with.

  24. I’m sorry, Matthew Newton shouldn’t be given a shot at anything, I couldn’t care less how good an actor you “might” be but his abuse towards women is unforgivable and un-acceptable. Same with Carey, you cant hit women and police and get a free walk.
    Wont be watching, same old awful actors, same old junk.

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