Cameras roll on new ABC comedy Frayed

ABC has announced a new comedy series, Frayed, starring Australian comedian Sarah Kendall.

The six part bittersweet comedy / drama marks the first scripted co-commission between ABC and Sky (UK) and is now filming in Newcastle (NSW), Sydney & London.

Set in 1989, Frayed follows the journey of Sammy Cooper (Sarah Kendall), a fabulously wealthy London housewife who is forced to return to the town in Australia she grew up in. In coming home, Sammy must revisit her past and the events that led her to flee as a teenager years ago.

The series is described as “painfully funny and sometimes dark” and at its heart a journey of one flawed family confronting their secrets and trying to find a way back. Further cast are yet to be announced.

Sarah Kendall says: “I just wanted to visit my family in Newcastle but I ended up shooting a 6 part comedy here for the ABC and Sky. I’m incredibly excited to be given this opportunity. And I also love free flights.”

Sky’s Head of Comedy Jon Mountague says: “We can all relate in some way to complex family drama, which is at the heart of this ingeniously written comedy. Sarah Kendall is an exceptional lead and I’m excited to add Frayed to Sky’s line-up of original British comedy in 2019.”

ABC Head of Comedy Rick Kalowski says: “Frayed is among the funniest, but also most moving, pieces I’ve ever had the pleasure to work on. I’d been a fan of Sarah Kendall’s standup for years and am delighted to be collaborating with Sky, Sharon Horgan and Clelia Mountford’s Merman, and Kevin Whyte’s Guesswork to bring Frayed to Australian and worldwide audiences next year.”

Frayed will air on ABC in 2019.

Frayed is created and written by star Kendall and produced by Merman Television (Motherland/BBC, There She Goes/BBC, Women on the Verge/UKTV, Catastrophe C4/Amazon), the production company founded and run by award-winning duo Sharon Horgan and Clelia Mountford, in association with Australia’s Guesswork Television (ABC’s Rosehaven, Get Krack!n, Please Like Me). 

Production Credits: A Merman production in association with Guesswork Television for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Sky in association with Create NSW. Produced by Nicole O’Donohue. Merman Executive Producers Clelia Mountford and Sharon Horgan. Guesswork Television Executive Producer Kevin Whyte. Commissioned by Sky’s Executive Producer Morwenna Gordon. ABC Executive Producers Rick Kalowski and Que Minh Luu.