Offspring
Nina Proudman is prone to daydreaming, wishful thinking and fantasy escapes, accomplished in work but a klutz in her personal life.
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under Programming, Reviews
Let’s hear it for the girls.
Offspring scores one for the ladies, and in a landscape that has dominated by males telling our stories that’s not an altogether bad thing. This drama propels its female characters to the fore with a romantic, light tone in a series written by a female (Debra Oswald), directed by a female (Kate Dennis) and co-produced by yet another (Imogen Banks).
As a result it aims its barrel at the female audience too. This is what is commonly known as “a chick flick.”
While Seven has found success with the nuclear family that is Packed to the Rafters, now TEN again looks beyond the crime / police genre with this Melbourne-based series (that’s three on air from the southern city for TEN).
It retains a medical backdrop of sorts, but unlike traditional medico-dramas, it doesn’t drive the story engine. This is a relationship drama centering around an adult family, the Proudmans. They are more abrasive than the clan Rafter, more competitive and more neurotic. They also prefer an inner city lifestyle than the security of the suburbs. All of these are welcome traits.
Nina Proudman (Asher Keddie) is our central character, an obstetrician who is accomplished in her city hospital role, but an absolute klutz when it comes to romance. She’s buggered up her last relationship, and her jealous ex-husband is still hanging around creating havoc in the Pilot telemovie.
Nina is prone to daydreaming, wishful thinking, fantasy escapes and visualising a better future -and preferably a calmer one than that which kickstarts the series. Trying to dissolve herself of her ex is proving a lost cause while she is distracted by the arrival of paediatrician Chris (Don Hany), a single father with his own complications.
Kat Stewart plays Billie, Nina’s wilder sister, who works in real estate. She has a thing for labourer and talented muso Mick (Eddie Perfect). Other principal roles include her womanising father Darcy (John Waters), separated from her mother Geraldine (Linda Cropper), plus brother Jimmy (Richard Davies) and friend and nurse Cherie (Deborah Mailman).
This ensemble is certainly a talented bunch. Hany slips into the reluctant object of affection with ease -doomed to become a hearthrob for many female viewers in ways that East West 101 could never have achieved (or desired). Eddie Perfect has a role that ‘perfectly’ displays his acting and musical prowess (he wrote the songs he performs). As always Deborah Mailman simply lights up the screen.
With its bright hues, this telemovie embraces a playful tone. We see the visions of Nina’s imagination. Words are scribbled across the screen. Moments are played in rewind. Together with a voice-over -yes another TV voice-over- they add a kind of Ally McBeal flavour to the storytelling.
Everything will depend on an audience buying into Asher Keddie’s character, and whether her scattered outlook on life is a point of recognition for some or too unhinged from reality for others.
Without any big inciting incidents in the telemovie, there will no doubt be many who want to sample more of the Proudmans before deciding whether they are a troupe they wish to spend more time with.
Co-produced by prolific producer John Edwards, Offspring is a warm, rather girly, play for your heart. And there’s nothing so wrong with that.
Offspring premieres 8:30pm Sunday on TEN.
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- Tagged with Ally McBeal, East West 101, Offspring, Packed to the Rafters
30 Responses
I love this show. Nothing like a crazy family drama with a romantic twist , plenty of humour and some real sticky life issues. I love the main character , shes opening expresses her uncertainty in life that so many of us hide under layers of attitude , makeup and bull.
I love the frantic zany family too , that is typically what a close family experiences , although most would rather die than admit it !
We are all lost crazies looking for our place in the universe !
Enjoy , I never miss an episode…
I’m absolutely hooked on this show. Can’t get enough! Haven’t seen quality like this since Secret Life of Us, Something in the Air or Seachange
disappointing. admittedly asher keddie was growing on me, but kat stewart, eddie perfect and richard davies are three of the most annoying actors on tv. (kat, go to your grave on the back of roberta williams, please.)
it’s too outlandish, too surreal, too silly and i don’t buy the fact that an apparently capable obstetrician would be such a klutz.
one dimensional characters, too far-fetched, ridiculous. and with that as a foundation, it makes it next to impossible for an audience to take any “normal” moments in the script seriously or believe/care about the characters.
sorry…i had high hopes.
Too much orange and teal – I refuse to watch it.
Watched 2 full episodes, gave it a chance, and so disappointed. Really bad. Was hoping for true quality Australian material.
Voice-overs havently we had enough! They just tell us what we already know . This lame attempt at a lighted hearted drama shows where we’re at in OZ. Why can’t we produce something that can hit the viewer rite between the eyes with some edgy drama. Instead of being followers of recent mundane dramas .
Our producers need to OD on HBO to see the light .
Loved! Loved! Loved!
I watched the pilot ep on ch 10 website before it was shown on tv and then i watched it again on tv.
loved it so much!! it is the best new show on tv in my opinion and i’m a guy!!!
Just suffered through the excruciatingly painful pilot. Ugh. Some moments of real humanity buried in there somewhere, underneath the two-dimensional characters, laboured script and bad ideas – I mean, a comedy-drama whose female lead is being stalked by her psychotic ex-husband? That’s a subject for real drama, not this flippant retake on ‘Secret Life of Us’. I watched the pilot because it was filmed in my street, but I can’t see myself watching future episodes…
Interesting. Offspring starts this coming Sunday yet you can download the episode (free) via iTunes right now.
@DC,
I was saying it tongue in cheek. You’re fight about all dramas other than Rafters.
BTW, I’m not from Sydney.
@ducko….I dont think location has much to do with it really or impact ratings. Sydney based dramas aren’t doing that great either besides Packed to the Rafterrs.
Id hardly call the fact that its Melbourne based a reason for its potential doom!
@John: I’m with you. I enjoyed both Seachange and Secret Life of Us and it would be great if this is in the same vein.
@Beckala: I read somewhere that Mailman’s character’s secret is slowly revealed over time but that each little answer throws up two new questions and at the end the cast all meet up in Heaven. I may have got that a bit wrong 😉
Beckala – if you really want to know the SMH TV Guide gives it away anyway!
I guess Ten decided to make another Melbourne based drama because Melbourne based dramas are rating so well at the moment!!
Surely it couldn’t be any more painful than the ads. Admittingly, I am male but this has lemon written all over it. I give it 3 months – slightly longer than CrashBurn – that other dud where the ads were annoying.
I’ve seen the pilot and loved it! It’s a bit Bridget Jones’ Diary, a bit Secret Life… and a bit addictive! Can’t wait to see more.
Beckala: think they are referring to somthing in the Pilot yes. I wouldn’t get too worked up about it.
For some reason I thought this was going to be on Thursday nights. I don’t mind the voice over, It’s worked for the Rafters and a number of other shows. Can’t wait for this to start.
A female skewing drama against a female skewing Dancing with the stars? Who will win out?
Oh no, not another “dramedy” and to make things worse it’s a “romantic” one. What happened to real drama in this country? This would sure as hell only have very limited appeal and will go down the same way as all of Channel Ten’s other dramas of the past few years… and that is down the gurgler.
i cant wait for this!
David – just wondering – in the ads they claim Mailman’s character has a “big secret”. I don’t want to know what it is, but do they reveal that in the pilot? Or is this something we’re going to have to watch for weeks before they tell us what is happening?
It sounds like a hybrid of Ally McBeal and Grey’s Anatomy, with a slight pinch of Sex and The City. Asher Keddie = amalgam of Meredith Grey/Ally McBeal/Carrie Bradshaw, Don Hany = McDreamy/Big.
Haven’t sought a preview – just can’t wait to see this one on screen!! I often find Rafters a bit sacchrine – looking forward to this a lot!
I sure hope this works.I really wish for a program in the “quirky” vein of Seachange/Always Greener/Secret Life…just something different.It really depends on the cast though.All the shows mentioned above had great ensemble casts,although for me it was the last couple of years when Secret came into it’s own where as Seachange needed a Seachange by the end.