Wild Boys
They shoot, they drink, they ride horses, they blow stuff up and kiss the girls - pin-up bushrangers celebrate folklore in Seven's family-friendly drama.
- Published by David Knox
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- Filed under Programming, Reviews
In the 1970s Seven had a love affair with colonial television: Against the Wind, Cash and Company, Tandarra -all of them rather wonderful valentines to our rich and occasionally flawed history.
But it’s been a long time since we’ve had a prime time period series as the setting of their new Wild Boys.
And as a commissioning move for 2011 it is just about as bold as they come. This is the year of the period drama: Underbelly: Razor, Downton Abbey, Paper Giants, Cloudstreet -if nothing else Seven’s timing is pretty good.
Produced by Sarah Smith and Julie McGauran (Rescue Special Ops), the setting for this tale is 1860s Australia. We’re out of the convict era and smack bang in the middle of the gold rush. It’s a time of Mad Dog Morgan, Ben Hall, Captain Thunderbolt and not long before Ned Kelly. Flouting the law was an attractive pastime, and if you were robbing from the rich to help the poor it was practically a redeeming quality. Wasn’t it?
In Wild Boys the bad boys are good and the good boys, the police troopers, are bad.
The four boys are Jack (Daniel MacPherson), Dan (Michael Dorman), Conrad (Alexander England) and Captain Gunpowder (David Field). Jack is a pin-up bushranger, with dimples, perfect teeth and derierre-hugging britches, who’s complaining? Dan brings a hint of comedy (but not too much) and is a balladeer. Conrad is a strapping lad and Captain Gunpowder, as his name suggests, is an older loose cannon.
The troopers are led by Francis Fuller (Jeremy Sims) who has a vendetta against these law breakers and his 2IC, Mick Scanlon (Nathaniel Dean). In the opening episode it’s pretty clear that they will have all the fun as villains we are supposed to love to hate. Newcomer Alexander England is also one to watch.
Publican Mary Barrett (Zoe Ventoura) is the object of Jack’s affection, and gossip reports their on-screen chemistry runs deep. She’s a woman with a bar, a brothel, a kid. Anna Hutchison plays Emilia Fife, the sweet girl being wooed by Conrad. She’s also the daughter of the local mayor.
But this show is really all about the blokes. They shoot, they drink, they ride horses, they blow stuff up, and they get caught with their pants down. In between gunfights they’re stealing kisses from the ladies and defending the weak. Their moral compass is pretty skewed. It’s fine to rob stagecoaches with rich folk, but they won’t stand for an old Chinese man being taunted in the pub.
If you’re making a period drama like this then you’d better have good production values, and Wild Boys does. The sets, costumes, locations and photography all impress. The credits list is chockful of horse masters, wranglers, grips, construction foreman, stunts, armourers, and foley artists. Assuming these will actually run on air, the list resembles a moderately sizes film crew.
But the script paints with very broad brushstrokes and the dialogue is littered with cliches:
“This coach isn’t going to rob itself.”
“Righto people. You know how it goes. Cash, coin, jewellery.”
“There’s a new Superintendent in town. Things are going to be a lot different around here.”
“Okay Jack, let’s talk turkey.”
There was the obligatory “Let’s get outta here.”
There’s even a shot of Daniel MacPherson through the legs of Zoe Ventoura -a visual cliche perhaps?
Rather than necessarily giving us an insight into the era, Wild Boys celebrates the romance that has emerged through folklore.
In a PG timeslot this aims for the widest possible audience, and it may very well get it. Deadwood this isn’t. But there have been plenty of similar backdrops that have attracted populist audiences: The Man from Snowy River, All the Rivers Run, Five Mile Creek. There would be nothing shameful about joining that posse.
Ultimately, this is a show that happily aims for a family audience. On that front it hits its mark. It’s entertaining, dashing and so darned different from the pack that it’s worth going along for a ride.
Wild Boys airs 7:30pm Sunday on Seven.
44 Responses
Daria: There was no disrespect implied or otherwise, because as I noted earlier your assumption was incorrect anyway. Sorry!
@ rusty – yeah thought the use of the steppenwolf song was an odd choice. I too liked the idea of the show but Dan Mac,no thanks. David Field is a quality actor though so he could make it worthwhile,but captain gunpowder?? And it’s almost criminal to group this with against the wind a bonafide classic from the 70’s.
I am sure that Seven is on another winner here … so much better than endless sport or unreality shows or American carbon copy Cop shows.
Born To Be Wild – maybe they can update the lyrics?
“Get ya horse running, head out on the track”….
@ Paul: all that we read – even on entertainment websites – influences the way we think in more serious situations.
@ Allie: you’re most welcome; I aim to please. I too am sure David meant no disrespect.
These are interesting reactions though, as everyone seems to love historical shows, but no one actually wants to engage with history itself. Anyway, the lesson is over, back to the entertainment. 🙂
@Rusty, yeah, the song used in the promos, Born To Be Wild, is the Hells Angels theme song. I’ll be disappointed if it is the theme song for the series, as it would be completely out of context, considering cars and motorcycles were still several decades away from being invented in 1860.
Australian bushrangers, gold rush, 1800s.
“Get ya motor rawnin, head out on the highway”….
Hello???
Hopefully David Field can rescue this.
now theyre spinning this as family friendly, after showing us countless promos of the cast getting off with each other?
good idea for a show, poor choice in dan mac (he’s annoying) and zoe (bland).
I’m with Bob. I had high hopes for this show when I heard the pitch and loved it. Sounded original and something different to whats on tv. Then i heard the casting of Daniel Macpherson, saw the previews, then the 7.30 timeslot, then the PG rating and any excitement about this show has gone. I’ll record it and watch Your Gen instead. Yeah i’ll reserve my judgment after watching, but not keen anymore.
So unrealistic, won;t be watching it
Saw a review and some clips of it the other day and it looked so bad!
I’ve seen enough thanks…
family friendly means i wont be watching
Come on guys anything has got to be better than more realty shows and its not a cop show or no hospitals in sight that’s got to be good.
Benji’s bang on – a romanticised view of our past, altho’ I’m sure that it’s intended as a bit of a fun ride rather than a historically accurate representation. I have no doubt that it’ll be popular with the chattering classes but I think this will be so full of itself that I’ll be reaching for the bucket.
I had high hopes for this and now i find out its a family show.
Daniel MacPherson’s horse acts him off the screen.
@Beckala, Zoe Ventoura pains me as well. Her acting on PTTR was consistently terrible and I have a feeling she’s going to be the weakest link on WB.
@Darla, thanks for the history lesson. Yes, Australia’s colonisation was often brutal and was a disaster for the indigenous. We all get that. However, I don’t think the author of this piece meant any disrespect.
From the looks of it, WB looks like it is going to pay homage to an aspect of 19th century folklore, it is not meant to be text book accurate. I’m sure plenty of artistic license will be taken. Seven have the master’s touch with local drama at the moment, so I’m sure it will do well.
Funny you should mentiion ‘Deadwood’ David, because that western set the bar so high that it has spoiled all others for me.
But even though I fear the worst, I’ll give this one an initial look, if only for the joy of trying to spot wristwatches in the foreground and jet planes in the background!
Plus, your ‘review’ has the unmistakeable tang of approval.
Hey, lighten up Daria. This is an entertainment site
Good dental hygiene, great laundry faciltities (including irons), freshly painted interior walls and well maintained bush tracks along which our heroes can steal from the rich.
History at its richest.
Pass.
The reason why deadwood was so fantastic was that it gritty, violent and real. A reason that razor also works. I hardly beleive that this period was PG friendly, if they spent the money on production value they better have the themes to match.
Rush was the best colonial series. This is cute though.
I’m hoping in the context of the show it’s better, but in the extended ad I saw Zoe Ventoura’s acting was Woeful!
Unless you were being ironic, David (were you?), I’m not sure that “occasionnally flawed” is a particularly felicitous phrase to describe Australian history, considering that the ‘settlement’ of the country occurred at the expense of thousands of Aborigines who were massacred or, later, deported… sometimes euphemisms are better left aside. 😉
Daria: nope.
I guess Seven will be hoping the same audience that has been so faithful to PTTR will do the same to Wild Boys. It will be interesting to see if it gets anywhere near the UB: Razor premiere figures. I’ll definitely give it a go as I really enjoy the work of David Field.