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Offspring: Why we killed off Patrick

Producers spill on their shock storyline, TEN's promo & admit we haven't seen the last of Patrick.

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2013-08-08_0012Why did Patrick have to be killed off? Did Matthew Le Nevez want to leave?  Won’t Nina ever be happy? And what was the deal with those promos?

Just some of the questions that were raging on social media last night after TEN’s Offspring killed off a favourite character played by actor Matthew Le Nevez.

TV Tonight spoke to producers John Edwards and Imogen Banks about why he was written out, along with an angry response to network promos.

It was a powerful episode in which a seemingly minor accident involving Patrick raised all sorts of questions about getting checked immediately, organ donation and mortality.

I couldn’t help but wonder if actor Matthew Le Nevez wanted out of the hit show?

“Not as specifically as that,” says Banks. “There was a lot of pressure on him from his US representation, for him to be over there because he’s a hot property.

“So it was more that we knew there would come a point where we would have to let him go. So we were thinking about the future and because we knew we had two series (S4 & S5) we were in a position where we had to think long-term. So we knew we had to consider a future without him. We debated a lot about what that exit would be.”

Earlier this year I had also interviewed Le Nevez, where he spoke about his desire for US opportunities. If only I’d known then…

So given he was on borrowed time, why the need to give him such a dramatic exit? Could he not have been written out, leaving the door open for a return?

According to the producers, Nina and Patrick were now so committed to one another, that him leaving her was neither logical nor original.

“Given the nature of the relationship between Nina and Patrick and the amount of times they’d broken up, we couldn’t do that again,” says Banks.

“One of the things we’d set ourselves when we started Offspring was that we would always keep the stories moving forward and never repeat the same things. That’s the danger in a romantic comedy. Once you start repeating things they lose their life very quickly,” Edwards insists.

“It was conventional wisdom that you could never have somebody be pregnant in a series but we went ahead and did it anyway because we were determined to keep the story going forward.

“One of the things you face when you’re doing a series about family life and love is ‘What happens when somebody falls off the mortal coil?’ It’s just something you’ve got to deal with eventually.”

How did Le Nevez take the news he was being written out?

“He was shocked initially,” says Banks. “We’d spoken to him a lot about the future. When he found out, and this is both with Matt and with Asher, they were quite emotional about it, but very much on board and recognised what a great story it was.”

As promos have shown, next week Nina attends Patrick’s funeral. With up to 90 people involved in those scenes, I couldn’t help but be impressed with how well the secret had been kept under wraps.

“That’s what I’m most proud of. It’s a testament to everyone involved in the show, that we just asked everyone to keep the secret and respect the story and everyone has. From extras, cast and crew –there were so many people involved, and we were really in everybody’s hands. You can’t really enforce that sort of secret,” Banks remarks.

“So we were a little upset when the promos looked like being in danger of giving it away. The cast and crew have been fabulous at keeping it secret. And the press too, I have to say.”

“With so many scripts floating around it really is a testament to everybody’s integrity,” Edwards adds.

Ironically, while those directly involved with the show kept its secrets, it was the network that took the opposite view, with promos teasing the death of either Patrick, Billie or Jimmy, all central characters to Nina’s world. The network has been eager to capitalise on such a key turning point, calling the scenes ‘ground-breaking’ and supposedly leaving us talking “for years to come.”  But it denied them the chance to surprise the audience for maximum impact.

“It’s unfortunate,” notes Edwards.

“This kind of subject has been dealt with in series in my case 6 times and 5 times the networks chose to let the natural story tell its own case and didn’t promo it.

“I don’t think you should use it as a promo but that’s my own personal view. It’s a shame that people will watch the show through that prism. But it’s happened.”

Those 5 were Love My Way, Police Rescue, The Secret Life of Us, Rush and Tangle.

“It’s spilled milk (now) but I think it’s an error. I think it’s wrong and sad strategically and dodgy morally, but that’s my view.”

Banks also isn’t a fan of promos revealing too much.

“I don’t like promos showing the final beat of an episode in a promo. It’s like prematurely reading the last page of a book. But that’s a general move in promos across film and television that I don’t like,” she says.

Such is the popularity of the show she had first hand knowledge of hearing theories from viewers, as a direct result of the promo.

“I was sitting in a café on Saturday morning reading the first three scripts of the next season and suddenly tuned into the conversation beside me with three women talking about how it was definitely Billie,” she recalls.

“So I had to quickly cover the scripts and pretend I wasn’t there!

“It’s happened a lot. (Writer) Michael Lucas has been sitting in cafes writing scripts listening to people talk about what’s going to happen next.”

Next week’s season finale, also directed by Emma Freeman, promises more emotion for fans with Nina facing both birth and death.

“Season 5 is being plotted at the moment and there’s definitely an upswing because it was plotted with that in mind,” promises Banks.

I can’t help but ask if there’s any possibility of returning Don Hany as Dr. Chris, Nina’s first love in Season One?

“He’s not in our present thoughts,” Edwards replies.

Never say never I guess.

And what about Patrick? Offspring is a show with fantasy moments. Is Matthew Le Nevez contracted in any way for Season 5?

Banks is coy but reluctantly admits, “Yes. A little bit. He’s back in Season 5.”

Offspring finale airs 8:30pm Wednesday on TEN.

34 Responses

  1. If the ratings suffer as a result of his death they can always do what Dallas did. Have one of the characters wake up and declare that everything that happened was just a dream and then bring back Patrick.

  2. Ten have copped backlash for the promos but perhaps the promos are what drew in over 1 million viewers. I’m an avid watcher but I have friends and family who tuned in just to see who died.

    It’s a catch 22 situation.

  3. There was still so much that the character of Patrick could have done. It was also tragic that he had previously lost a child and then he was killed before his next child was born. I think they could have kept him alive for this season and if they really had to, they could have waited to kill off the character in season 5.

    I only saw Love My Way’s first season and the death there really took me by surprise. Patrick’s had the potential for that but ten ruend it. Also this weeks TV Week cover gave it away for me.

  5. City Homicide got the big death promos right. it was promoted as a massive, huge event, no specific mention of a death, managed to get the ratings and leave the viewers shocked when noni’s son was killed, still completely unexpected.

  6. You know what’ll happen next? Nina will fall in love with a man that accepted Patrick’s heart!!!!! That would happen, if Offspring was a soap lol.

  7. @David Knox, I agree . Ten’s use of hyperbole and key moments in their promos is a major bugbear of mine. They constantly oversell their shows to the point where it becomes teethgrindingly annoying. They did give away far too much in their promos for last night’s Offspring. I don’t blame the producers for their dismay with the station.

  9. Offspring trended worldwide on Twitter, generating huge buzz. The show gained 200k viewers from last week and it’s highest rating of the season. Clearly some of this audience flowed into This Week Live which also gained 200k viewers from last week. So surely the promos worked as more people tuned in. Which is, after all, the commercial reality of TV.

  10. Without the promotion Ten wouldn’t have been able to raise the audience by 300k viewers over the last fortnight and got massive social media buzz about the show. That is just FTA commercial TV. Totally ruined the story though.

    A romantic comedy wouldn’t work with Nina in a stable relationship with kid anyway — it would just be Up All Night. The fact that Nina and Patrick were only in couple’s therapy and thinking about breaking up was as stable as Nina gets.

    Apart from Le Nevez’s looks I didn’t see much acting ability in Offspring. Though his character was written largely something for Nina to obsess about.

    Since actors aren’t signed for 6 years (pilot, development + 5 seasons) as in the US talking about going to Hollywood may leave with him unemployed with a cv where two seasons as one of Nina’s many romantic interests is the highlight.

  12. I too enjoyed the I credible acting! It is a well scripted show with a great cast! I think the show will survive but so e viewers may be lost, I don’t think it will gain any new viewers!
    As for promos I concur that networks need to manage these better. I try to avoid adverts as I enjoy the journey and surprise! They could have still promoted an emotional and ground breaking episode with no mention of death and that would have had people on the edge if their seats anyway. With so any characters in turmoil it could have been anything with such a teaser…
    In my opinion networks need to lift their game and respect viewers in so many ways, this is just another point of contention!

  13. Very interesting article. It’s a shame about the promotion, it made it easy to guess who it was and took me out of the moment.

    Off topic, but who was the shock death on Secret Life of Us? I watched that show, but cannot remember it.

  14. Maybe we need to get back to the concept that just because an actor wants out, it doesn’t mean the character goes too. They can do it in movies, so I don’t know why TV shows can’t.

  15. I think watching tv is different now to what it was 10 or 20 years ago, now it’s all about social media and getting a conversation going via the internet. I can’t help but think that the reason TEN promoted it the way they did was to get a conversation going, which in turn would ensure that as many people as possible watched the episode. Having a look at Twitter last night during the episode (have to say, it didn’t add anything to my tv viewing other than make it a little less emotional for me) I noticed many people saying they were tuning in for the first time to see what that fuss was about. Nevertheless, it was a great episode and kind of freaked me out to a point that I want my kids to wear stackhats at all times in case they fall and hit their head on something.

  16. It reminds me of when Mel died on PTTR.

    In todays world of social media that was kept a secret as well.

    Its true though you couldn’t split them up again so I can see why they killed Patrick off.

  17. Do we know if Ido Drent is contracted for season 5?
    Can’t help but think that Nina will require some one on one counselling after Patrick’s death and then maybe her earlier fantasy’s with the psych will become reality?

  18. I’m still a little disappointed with this storyline. So it was partly because they knew Matthew wasn’t going to be on the show for long. I would have liked them to end it at season 5 with him still contracted but alas that’s not to be.

    I don’t think it’ll be the same without him though.

  19. Patrick’s back in season 5?

    Don’t tell me – Nina wakes up one morning and discovers Patrick having a shower… and it was all just a dream…

  20. I agree with the producers that Ten stuffed up with the promos for this particular episode by showing key moments from the episode within the promo. It is not necessary to do that, nor is it necessary for the shrieking hyperbole about best drama ever, brilliance of acting, you’ll talk about it till doomsday etc. On the other hand, I’m pleased with myself for guessing that it was Patrick being written out. I wonder if they took their inspiration for his demise from the shock death of Liam Neeson’s wife, who died from a brain bleed after sustaining a seemingly minor knock to the head after a skiing mishap.

  21. It strikes me as odd that a producer as seasoned as John Edwards with one of the network’s golden eggs did not have more or seemingly any say on how the climactic episodes of his hit show were to be promoted. I recall Kath and Kim’s producers steering ABC promo producers quite clearly as to what they could and could not promote, and that was a comedy! 10 want ratings, and so would any show’s creators and producers. In the pecking order creatives trump mere functionaries, as i witnessed first hand. Maybe nobody is running the network with that revolving door of executives.

  22. Thanks for posting David. A very moving episode. The acting brilliant as always.

    In regards to the spoilers & the writers view, perhaps Ten are just desperate for viewers given their slip in the ratings. With MC not rating this is all they have. But I do prefer a surprise. When Grace died in Rush I was in complete shock! As with Secret Life of Us, Tangle & Love My Way all of which took me by surprise. Having said that knowing something was going to happen last night kept my friends & I on our toes as we texted each other trying to work out who was leaving.

    Patrick will be missed & am sad for Nina. Well done to the script writers once again for amazing television.

  23. Game of Thrones ‘Red Wedding’ – gut wrenching but once you take a step back you take your hat off to the writers for such a great manoeuvre. Offspring continues to make itself one of the best productions in this country. Well Done 🙂

  24. Agree with the logic, just not with the timing. Did they keep Matthew as long as they possibly could have, or pre-empt his move? If they could have kept him longer, they should have. Offspring is a good show but it’s not strong enough to lose one of its leads, if it possibly can be avoided.

  25. I had seen interviews with Le Nevez where he was looking at the US so when I saw the promos it kind of sealed it that it was Patrick.
    That is why Ten are doing so bad at the moment.

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