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Stephen Curry stars in ABC comedy Timothy

Exclusive: Stephen Curry will star in a new comedy for ABC Mental As... week.

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EXCLUSIVE: Stephen Curry will star in a new comedy special, Timothy, set to screen as part of ABC Mental As.. week in October.

He will be joined by Peter Rowsthorn and Denise Scott for the comedy produced by Quail Television.

Curry will play the 35 year old son of Melinda (Denise Scott) and Colin Garrett (Peter Rowsthorn) who has returned to Wollongong following bankruptcy as a corporate high-flyer in Hong Kong.

But he hides a mental breakdown with a long road to recovery that is paved with relapses.

The script is written by Tristram Baumber, whose self-funded comedy series The Cleanists has aired in the UK and Ireland on Showcase. It will be directed by Erin White (It’s a Date, At Home with Julia) and produced by Michelle Hardy (7 Days Later).

ABC Mental As… is a week long initiative in support of Mental Health Week, which will include comedy, documentary, and entertainment programming and will culminate in a two-hour, live, TV fundraising event.

Ambassadors for Mental As… week include Rove McManus, Deborah Mailman, Todd Sampson, Jeremy Fernandez, Emma Alberici, Justine Clarke, Adam Hills, Kayne Tremills and Waleed Aly.

10 Responses

  1. @Ronnie agree with your there, mixing mental health issues with comedy is always a bit of double edged sword. Its gives exposure to the topic & persuades people to watch something on a subject matter they might not normally, ie if it was a drama about someone with mental health issues.

    But it also runs the risk of trivializing the issues. I watched United States of Tara & still can’t decide if they got that one right, i’m a little biased seeing as i have close relatives & friends with serious mental illnesses. Lets hope the ABC does get it right with Timothy, i would probably watch anything with such a great cast mix.

  2. My alarm bells are ringing and comparisons to Mother and Son don’t help. The genius team of Geoffrey Atherton, Gary Marshall and Ruth Cracknell were dealing with Alztheimers – which is not a mental health issue – it’s an age related terminal illness. A high-flying exec, returning home to live with his parents, having a breakdown (and relapses – suggests substance abuse) after a bankruptcy doesn’t sound like a mental health issue either – and I agree could great comedy. However real mental health issues such as schizophrenia and depression are not inherently funny – but once again I understand it’s all about the execution. Just saying – it’s supposed to be Mental Health Week – shining a light on mental health issues and there will be a lot of stakeholders watching and the ABC needs to be mindful of the sensitivities.

  3. The thing about mother and son was you weren’t alway sure when the mother was genuinely ill or playing a role to get what she wanted. It was so well done and walked the line perfectly. It interesting that you brought that show up, I must track down the DVDs

    I agree there’s nothing inherently offensive about what is in the blurb. I believe there is also a project by Felicity Ward screening the same week on ABC2. I believe these projects may be the first commissioned by ABC’s head of comedy to be aired.

  4. Oh dear God, no. Time for Mark Scott to arrange a Fiction intervention before this goes any further and offends absolutely everyone for no good reason.

  5. Rick finally got his mental institute project up then?

    I saw him at a TV talks and he was talking about this project but he said it was extremely offensive, so im thinking its a watered down version?

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