Australian Story: Sept 26

Monday night’s episode of Australian Story looks at an unlikely friendship between a television drama legend and three young men who grew up as part of the notorious ‘Bra Boys’ from the Sydney suburb of Maroubra.

It features television producer, writer and Drama exec Sue Masters, whose CV includes SeaChange, Brides of Christ, The Secret Life of Us and many more.

The episode is introduced by Daniel MacPherson.

Masters had never visited Maroubra — ‘I had only ever read bad press’ — but now she’s teamed up with ‘Bra Boys’ Macario de Souza and his friends Mark Matthews and Richie Vas to work on a big screen documentary feature about big wave surfing, alcohol-fuelled violence and the sequence of events that finally frightened the boys into cleaning up their lives.

On the surface, the award-winning television producer and the three young men are worlds apart, but as the story unfolds unlikely common ground emerges.

Matthews and Vas were serious binge drinkers. Matthews ended up with 70 stitches in his face as a result of an alcohol induced glassing. Both, at one point, faced heavy jail sentences.

Now they are both elite athletes. Matthews is one of the world’s top five big wave surfers. Vas has achieved world class status in the rapidly growing sport of cage fighting.

Documentary director, De Souza is a former star soccer player turned successful musician. He destroyed his burgeoning international soccer career when he damaged his Achilles heel in a drunken incident on the beach.

Sue Masters says ‘This film is about young men trying to stop their best friend from ruining their life and doing everything in their power to harness their talents, focus on their fitness, and keep them out of the pubs and out of trouble.’

Maccario de Souza says ‘There’s just a lost sense of a what a male is supposed to be…you’re either trying to bash someone … or you’re wearing your sister’s jeans with male makeup.’

8pm Monday on ABC1