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Doctor Doctor new drama coming to Nine

Updated: A prodigal Sydney surgeon returning to his rural NSW home is the setting for a new $11m drama series for Nine.

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A major new television drama series is on the way, from Essential Media (Rake, Jack Irish, The Principal, The Broken Shore).

Doctor Doctor is an $11.6m series that will generate 800 jobs filming in Sydney and Mudgee.

Updated: The series, coming to Nine, is one of several projects to receive funding from Screen NSW.

According to a press release, the synopsis indicates, “When he is knocked off his pedestal and on to the Impaired Registrants Program, prodigal Sydney surgeon and party boy Hugh Knight must return to his family home in rural Whyhope where he might learn to swallow his pride and mend his ways – or not.”

Amongst the other funding announcements are a second season for ABC comedy Soul Mates, factual series Miracle Hospital and Indigenous series Scaredy Blaks.

Deputy Premier and Minister for the Arts Troy Grant said, “Our Government is proud to support this diverse range of high quality productions to be filmed across our state, providing highly skilled jobs and investment in local economies.”

TV funded projects (plus one film related title) are:

Television Drama

Title: Doctor Doctor
Company: Essential Media
Locations: Sydney, Mudgee
Screen NSW support: $200,000 from Production Finance Fund and $100,000 from the Regional Filming Fund.
Jobs and production investment: 800 NSW jobs and NSW production spend of $11,644,183
Synopsis: When he is knocked off his pedestal and on to the Impaired Registrants Program, prodigal Sydney surgeon and party boy Hugh Knight must return to his family home in rural Whyhope where he might learn to swallow his pride and mend his ways – or not.

Title: Secret City
Company: Secret City Productions Pty Ltd
Locations: Strathfield, St Ives, Bankstown, Parramatta, Haberfield, Darling Harbour, Rozelle, Pymble, Haberfield, Warrawee, Edgecliff, Moorebank, Gordon
Screen NSW support: $180,000 from Production Finance Fund
Jobs and production investment: 364 NSW jobs and NSW production spend of $5,661,627
Synopsis: The frontier between east and west shifts to the nation’s capital when a body is found in Lake Burley Griffin. International intrigue and political bastardry combine in The Marmalade Files, a sardonic political thriller that shows Canberra as it has never been known.

Title: Soul Mates Series 2
Company: Soul Mates S2 TV Pty Ltd
Locations: Wahroonga, Bondi, Lilyfield, Sydney Metro
Screen NSW support: $49,820 from Production Finance Fund
Jobs and production investment: 162 NSW jobs and NSW production spend of $2,282,223
Synopsis: Twin souls trapped in a bromance across the ages return for another season of comedy and the contemplation of existence.

Television Factual

Series
Title: Miracle Hospital
Company: The Feds P/L
Locations: Sydney, Melbourne
Screen NSW support: $68,000 from Production Finance Fund
Jobs and production investment: 55 NSW jobs and NSW production spend of $1,166,143
Synopsis: A factual series that goes behind the scenes into the extraordinary world of St Vincent’s Hospital where elite medical teams are on the frontier of medical science, using the latest cutting-edge technology and innovation to save lives every day.

Title: Scaredy Blaks
Company: Wild Bear Entertainment Pty Ltd
Locations: Fitzroy Crossing, WA, Winton, WA, Murray Bridge, SA, Raukkan, SA, Middleton, SA, Boulia, QLD, Darwin, NT
Screen NSW support: $31,000 from Production Finance Fund
Jobs and production investment: 3 NSW jobs and NSW production spend of $467,392
Synopsis: Scaredy Blaks bravely go where no Blackfella has gone before…spirit chasing!

Title: Stop Laughing. This is Serious. Series 2
Company: Screentime Pty Ltd
Locations: Sydney, Melbourne, Los Angeles, London
Screen NSW support: $50,000 from Production Finance Fund
Jobs and production investment: 19 NSW jobs and NSW production spend of $1,381,217
Synopsis: A three-part documentary series that continues the story of Australian comedy, delving into the defining moments that have helped to shape our comedic voice of today.

Single
Title: The Shadowland
Company: Bunya Treehouse Productions Pty Ltd
Locations: Gosford, Byron Bay, Federal, Mullumbimby, Newcastle, Ballina
Screen NSW support: $34,000 from Production Finance Fund and $30,000 from the Regional Filming Fund
Jobs and production investment: 53 NSW jobs and NSW production spend of $386,250
Synopsis: The Shadowland explores how an asylum seeker, a refugee advocate and an Anglican priest refuse to let fear get in the way of compassion.

Title: Missing
Company: Evershine
Locations: Katoomba, Sydney, Western Suburbs
Screen NSW support: $44,000 from Production Finance Fund
Jobs and production investment: 31 NSW jobs and NSW production spend of $514,718
Synopsis: Missing is a feature documentary that forensically examines a missing person case. In doing so, it tells the story of the hundreds of men, women and children who go missing in Australia every year.

Television Children

Title: Bushwhacked! Bugs
Company: Mint Pictures Pty Ltd
Locations: Sydney and surrounds
Screen NSW support: $20,000 from Production Finance Fund
Jobs and production investment: 17 NSW jobs and NSW production spend of $195,000
Synopsis: Kamil Ellis uncovers the extraordinary bugs living under the noses of 10 cool kids in NSW, right in their backyards!

Title: My Life
Company: Air Pig Productions Pty Ltd
Locations: Sydney, Broken Hill
Screen NSW support: $20,000 from Production Finance Fund
Jobs and production investment: 25 NSW jobs and NSW production spend of $237,266
Synopsis: My Life showcases kids aged 9–14 in a mere five-minute TV morsel in a series of 22. A bite of life shared candidly, each with a little drama, humour, adventure and energy or wonder and poeticism. 22 episodes about 22 amazing kids – a snapshot of Australian childhoods in 2016.

Title: Splashdance
Company: Kirkland-Morris Management Pty Ltd
Locations: Sydney
Screen NSW support: $15,000 from Production Finance Fund
Jobs and production investment: 12 NSW jobs and NSW production spend of $175,000
Synopsis: Two SplashDancing presenters ‘splash on’ colours and fun elements to create a unique and wonderfully special dance studio for each one of their pop- infused dance songs.

Feature Films

Title: Dance Academy The Comeback
Company: Werner Film Productions Pty Ltd
Locations: Sydney
Screen NSW support: $200,000 from Production Finance Fund
Jobs and production investment: 651 NSW jobs and NSW production spend of $3,181,017
Synopsis: Former ballet student Tara Webster needs to find the courage to return from a crippling injury in order to fulfil her destiny as a star ballerina.

8 Responses

    1. Doctor Doctor is fish-out-of-water-in-a-small-town-drama with a homecoming twist. Nine’s response to the failures of Gallipoli, Tricky Business, Winter, Party Games and the success of 800 Words.

      The dramas will have been commissioned by networks. Some of the doco could be individually funded projects, the ABC or SBS sometimes buy some of them.

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