WEBVTT - CELEBRATE THE FINAL EPISODE OF WENTWORTH 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:01.720 It's in the news today, but it was actually on 0:00:01.800 --> 0:00:03.640 TV Reload the podcast last week. 0:00:03.640 --> 0:00:06.880 I'm right, how would I describe a television set. 0:00:07.320 --> 0:00:10.360 Oh Man from a headline grabbing point. 0:00:10.119 --> 0:00:13.000 Of view, the hack producer from me says one hundred 0:00:13.000 --> 0:00:13.720 percent put him in. 0:00:15.000 --> 0:00:18.400 Welcome back guys to TV Reload. My name's Benjamin Norris, 0:00:18.400 --> 0:00:21.079 and on this podcast I go behind the scenes with 0:00:21.200 --> 0:00:22.720 the biggest players in television. 0:00:23.040 --> 0:00:23.919 Yeah, great questions. 0:00:23.920 --> 0:00:26.279 The show's about the game. There's a lot of great 0:00:26.320 --> 0:00:28.400 television out there in Australia. 0:00:28.440 --> 0:00:31.000 But I've also got to go behind the scenes with writers. 0:00:31.120 --> 0:00:33.280 The truth is, when I started writing it, it wasn't 0:00:33.360 --> 0:00:36.560 had nothing to do with the news and casting agents they. 0:00:36.479 --> 0:00:39.000 Know from a casting point of view what they need. 0:00:38.720 --> 0:00:41.320 And editors because that's what we do as editors where 0:00:41.760 --> 0:00:45.919 storytellers them. Not to forget some incredible executive producers who 0:00:45.920 --> 0:00:48.959 are making some of the best TV content in Australia. 0:00:49.040 --> 0:00:51.400 I have been on the program since the beginning and 0:00:51.440 --> 0:00:53.440 it's kind of in my DNA. 0:00:53.640 --> 0:00:56.080 So thanks for joining me each week and I hope 0:00:56.080 --> 0:00:59.360 the podcast continues to give you real insight into the 0:00:59.400 --> 0:01:03.160 magic of television today. On the podcast, I have Kevin Carlin, 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:06.320 who has had an amazing career in television with directing 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:10.280 some of Australia's most iconic scripted drama and comedy, but 0:01:10.360 --> 0:01:13.960 also recently he has just finished the last two episodes 0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:18.759 of the iconic television series Wentworth on Foxtel. Today, we'll 0:01:18.760 --> 0:01:21.840 find out how we got started in Australian television. We'll 0:01:21.880 --> 0:01:24.960 go behind the scenes for the very last time on Wentworth, 0:01:25.120 --> 0:01:28.240 which has its series finale on Tuesday at eight point 0:01:28.240 --> 0:01:31.240 thirty on Foxtel. Fans of the show will delight in 0:01:31.400 --> 0:01:33.959 all the exclusive stories with some of the actors and 0:01:34.120 --> 0:01:37.520 characters who we will bid farewell for the last time 0:01:37.600 --> 0:01:40.800 this week, including reminiscing over some of the actors and 0:01:41.000 --> 0:01:44.399 character stories like b Smith, who in my world is 0:01:44.440 --> 0:01:47.640 one of the most iconic characters in the series, played 0:01:47.680 --> 0:01:51.680 by Daniel Kormack. Kevin Carlin might not be a household 0:01:51.760 --> 0:01:54.560 name like some of the actors that he has directed, 0:01:54.720 --> 0:01:57.480 but with a resume as long as his, I guarantee 0:01:57.520 --> 0:02:00.760 you you've seen more shows that he's directed that even 0:02:00.880 --> 0:02:05.960 James Cameron and possibly Steven Spielberg think blue heelers, grasses greener, 0:02:06.080 --> 0:02:09.560 packed to the rafters, winners and losers Sea Change, But 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:12.520 what was more exciting to me was his work back 0:02:12.560 --> 0:02:14.520 in the day on shows like Big Girls, Blouse and 0:02:14.560 --> 0:02:19.080 Fast Forward. I absolutely love Kevin's ideas on storytelling and 0:02:19.120 --> 0:02:22.560 his passion for Australian content being made in this country. 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:25.160 And if you like a good story told, well then 0:02:25.200 --> 0:02:28.880 today you will love this chat. However, let's get started 0:02:28.880 --> 0:02:32.200 with today's episode. I'd like to welcome Kevin Carlin to 0:02:32.360 --> 0:02:33.800 this week's TV reload. 0:02:34.520 --> 0:02:37.080 It's about the gathering of shots and who's done, what 0:02:37.200 --> 0:02:40.079 we're and how it's going to come together. Were Worth 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:43.520 the new season. We weren't slave to the idea of 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:46.800 remaking Prisoner. If I'm such a monster, why didn't you 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:50.160 stop me? The basis was reimagining it. 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:54.480 This is Queen Bee kif top on now. 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:57.320 Where she went to, what she did with that character 0:02:57.480 --> 0:03:01.680 is just historic television. Up this show, it's his baby 0:03:01.680 --> 0:03:04.280 in a lot of ways. That is the joy of 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:07.519 doing what I do is a up close front seat 0:03:07.720 --> 0:03:09.640 to these amazing actors. 0:03:10.080 --> 0:03:11.040 Hi, Kevin, how are. 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:12.959 You very well? Thank you Ben Well. 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:17.560 Congratulations on the success of Wentworth. What an iconic show 0:03:17.680 --> 0:03:19.480 to be a part of for so long. Yeah. 0:03:19.560 --> 0:03:22.720 Look, had you told me at the start in twenty 0:03:22.880 --> 0:03:25.079 twelve that this is where we'd end up, I would 0:03:25.120 --> 0:03:27.400 have taken that every day of the week. It's just 0:03:27.520 --> 0:03:29.200 been an incredible. 0:03:28.720 --> 0:03:32.480 Right absolutely, I mean, and it's resonated with Australian audiences 0:03:32.800 --> 0:03:33.600 so clearly. 0:03:33.919 --> 0:03:36.760 And I don't think when we started back in twenty 0:03:36.800 --> 0:03:39.080 twelve would ever imagine that we would have captured the 0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:41.920 imagination of so many people away that we have. But 0:03:41.960 --> 0:03:45.400 here we are, now looking, here we are Episode one hundred. 0:03:45.520 --> 0:03:46.600 What a nice way to finish. 0:03:46.880 --> 0:03:49.720 How did you get started working in television. 0:03:49.280 --> 0:03:51.720 When I was a teenager? Made of mine? Well earlier 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:54.680 he'd been left a Super eight camera and sort of 0:03:54.720 --> 0:03:56.880 grew up in a area where there was no expectations 0:03:56.920 --> 0:04:00.440 that that would necessarily follow through to any sort of career. Well, 0:04:00.600 --> 0:04:02.960 he from about nine to ten started making little films 0:04:03.160 --> 0:04:05.320 and during our teen years we made them and then 0:04:05.560 --> 0:04:07.800 we rushed down to the chemist and put the film 0:04:07.840 --> 0:04:09.640 into the chemist and get it out and have a 0:04:09.680 --> 0:04:12.160 look at it. He ended up going to work for 0:04:12.280 --> 0:04:16.280 Channel seven when he was nineteen or twenty. He sat 0:04:16.360 --> 0:04:19.240 for a video assistant sort of role. He got that. 0:04:19.640 --> 0:04:22.560 I think he was one of hundreds of applicants and 0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:25.800 I was out of work. We wanted to get one 0:04:25.800 --> 0:04:28.120 of our Super eight films out of the chemist. I 0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:30.560 had no money. I went across to see him who 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:33.080 was working that day, and someone said, do you know 0:04:33.160 --> 0:04:34.960 anyone that wants to work? And he pointed to the moon. 0:04:35.040 --> 0:04:40.080 He said him so because I owed him money. And 0:04:40.160 --> 0:04:42.640 so I ended up pulling in sets at Channel seven 0:04:43.040 --> 0:04:46.320 in nineteen seventy five, I think it was, yeah, And 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:48.960 so look, it was just by accident that I started 0:04:49.000 --> 0:04:52.360 working there. I left, came back a few years later, 0:04:52.400 --> 0:04:54.800 and I was actually going to enroll to go to 0:04:55.200 --> 0:04:58.000 the do media studies out at Rusden, but I got 0:04:58.000 --> 0:05:00.440 a job as a stage hand atanels them at that 0:05:00.560 --> 0:05:03.840 stage and just work through the renks very quickly, so 0:05:03.960 --> 0:05:05.400 I never got to do that. Course. 0:05:05.680 --> 0:05:07.560 I like the fact that your mate wanted the cash 0:05:07.839 --> 0:05:09.200 and needed to put your work. 0:05:11.839 --> 0:05:14.120 He was sick of lending me money. Yeah, so he 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:16.880 got me some casual labor that actually led into careers. 0:05:16.920 --> 0:05:19.000 So I'm internally thankful to Tim. 0:05:19.320 --> 0:05:21.160 Well, we might get back into your career as we 0:05:21.200 --> 0:05:23.720 go into the interview a little bit further, but can 0:05:23.760 --> 0:05:27.240 you go back and tell me how and when wentworth 0:05:27.440 --> 0:05:29.680 How this project came across your desk. 0:05:29.880 --> 0:05:31.960 I think see I was over see, I was in 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:34.080 Malaysia and we're just holidaying and I've got a phone 0:05:34.120 --> 0:05:37.120 call from Joe Porter saying that there's a show that 0:05:37.160 --> 0:05:40.159 they've got which is the reimagining of Prisoner, and would 0:05:40.200 --> 0:05:42.520 I be interested in being the setup director? And I 0:05:42.600 --> 0:05:46.720 knew Prisoner and you just know that is an idea. 0:05:47.080 --> 0:05:50.760 Is a really strong idea because you've got the capacity 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:55.239 to investigate so many things about life, death, survival, freedom, liberty. 0:05:55.360 --> 0:05:57.880 So the stakes are very high on the platform in 0:05:57.960 --> 0:06:00.640 that idea, there was no brain for me to say, 0:06:00.920 --> 0:06:02.880 I'd love to talk Joe when we get back. And 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:04.760 of course the chance to work with Joe Porter, who 0:06:04.760 --> 0:06:07.120 I'd worked with before on All Saints and set up 0:06:07.120 --> 0:06:08.039 always greener with it. 0:06:08.160 --> 0:06:10.880 Put a great relationship to have. I mean, she has 0:06:10.920 --> 0:06:14.000 one of the best reputations in the business. People love 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:16.240 to work with her, and she has worked on just 0:06:16.279 --> 0:06:18.799 as many iconic shows as as you. Pretty much. 0:06:19.120 --> 0:06:21.240 The other thing is she's a mate working with a 0:06:21.240 --> 0:06:24.320 really creative person. But also it's a great environment that 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:25.000 you're working in. 0:06:25.160 --> 0:06:27.800 You know, that's the most common thing about the opportunity 0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:31.440 to talk to people like yourself is talking about this industry, 0:06:32.080 --> 0:06:34.880 and that is it always comes back to having a 0:06:34.920 --> 0:06:39.039 genuine friendship with your collaborators. And all these shows that 0:06:39.080 --> 0:06:42.320 are very successful, I think the root of it comes 0:06:42.360 --> 0:06:46.760 from a very strong relationship between the content creators. 0:06:47.279 --> 0:06:50.120 I think you're absolutely right, Ben, because it's this massive 0:06:50.200 --> 0:06:53.400 jigsaw puzzle that you're putting together, and you know, you 0:06:53.520 --> 0:06:56.320 get one or two of the elements out of whack 0:06:56.600 --> 0:06:59.360 and it'll sink. You get a few of them that work, 0:06:59.600 --> 0:07:02.200 and I think that that's when you get your successes. 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:05.799 And also just you're working in such a heated environment 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:08.360 or a stressful environment a lot of the time and 0:07:08.640 --> 0:07:11.840 for long, long hours. If you're butting heads with someone 0:07:11.960 --> 0:07:13.800 or you're not seeing the world as they see it 0:07:14.080 --> 0:07:16.520 and you don't like them, you know, twelve hours a 0:07:16.600 --> 0:07:17.480 day is a long time. 0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:22.000 It's pretty painful. What was your relationship with the source material? 0:07:22.280 --> 0:07:24.640 How did you feel about Prisoner? Did you watch it? 0:07:24.680 --> 0:07:27.239 To tell you the truth, I wasn't a watcher of Prisoner, 0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:30.280 probably just when it was made and where I was 0:07:30.320 --> 0:07:33.560 at in life and time. I wasn't its target audience. 0:07:33.920 --> 0:07:37.040 So The only thing is, like most people, it was 0:07:37.080 --> 0:07:39.440 a phenomenon and I was aware of it, but I 0:07:39.480 --> 0:07:41.480 hadn't watched an episode of it. I think. 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:46.440 Now, Francesca, I do run this prison, and nobody, especially you, 0:07:46.680 --> 0:07:48.120 challenges me and gets away with it. 0:07:48.520 --> 0:07:53.239 There's three ways that can end. Someone gets released, backs down, 0:07:55.160 --> 0:07:55.720 nds up dead. 0:07:57.680 --> 0:08:00.120 In making this, which is sort of liberating in a 0:08:00.160 --> 0:08:02.200 way that I wasn't, one of the things is we 0:08:02.200 --> 0:08:05.840 weren't slave to the idea of remaking prisoner was the 0:08:05.880 --> 0:08:08.920 basis was reimagining it and so a group of women 0:08:08.960 --> 0:08:11.840 in a modern context thrown into jail, what's it like? 0:08:12.080 --> 0:08:15.920 And that's why it was just so compelling an idea 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:19.400 that first episode that we did, which was wanted to 0:08:19.440 --> 0:08:22.480 actually see it through the eyes of a hairdresser, which 0:08:22.520 --> 0:08:25.600 is sort of emblematic of anyone going into jail for 0:08:25.640 --> 0:08:28.600 the first time and the experience of that. One of 0:08:28.640 --> 0:08:31.360 the things is absolutely wanted to see it through Bee 0:08:31.440 --> 0:08:34.719 Smith's eyes and just oppressive with the camera and oppressive 0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:38.320 with just the environment. So the Menuchi I that stood 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:41.600 out to her was trying to access a world that 0:08:41.679 --> 0:08:44.200 she is seeing for the first time, trying to make 0:08:44.320 --> 0:08:46.360 an audience member feel as though that they're going into 0:08:46.400 --> 0:08:48.760 prison for the first time, and so as an idea 0:08:48.920 --> 0:08:51.480 that's sort of compelling, what would happen to me? What 0:08:51.520 --> 0:08:54.480 would I do? And also the bigger things that you're 0:08:54.559 --> 0:08:58.640 left to investigate prison, the nature of power, the corrosive 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:02.240 nature of power farm sort of I deer to it. 0:09:02.440 --> 0:09:04.800 There's also for me. It was built on a few 0:09:04.840 --> 0:09:07.920 thematic pillars, that being one of them. The other what 0:09:07.960 --> 0:09:10.720 we do to survive in a harsh environment as humans? 0:09:10.760 --> 0:09:12.640 You know, what will we do and the things that 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:15.440 we do that force us us to survive, how it 0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:18.960 incrementally changes us over time? And that was an idea 0:09:19.040 --> 0:09:21.080 that you know, we really wanted to play with. And 0:09:21.120 --> 0:09:24.920 I thought that what happens if you do you incrementally change? 0:09:24.960 --> 0:09:27.320 And do you ever cross the rubicon and that you 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:29.680 can never go back? Do you become a different person? 0:09:29.880 --> 0:09:33.280 And the third and probably the most fundamental pillar, thematic 0:09:33.360 --> 0:09:35.520 pillar that sort of tracked all the way through as 0:09:35.520 --> 0:09:38.240 the others do also, but was the nature of family 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:41.640 and our ability or our want and our need to 0:09:41.679 --> 0:09:44.920 create family wherever we go. And so that is rit 0:09:45.040 --> 0:09:47.240 large in Wentworth and you know, we get to the 0:09:47.240 --> 0:09:50.640 final episode and still, you know, the family, it's all 0:09:50.679 --> 0:09:54.800 it's wacky manifestations, is still incredibly solid and the thing 0:09:54.840 --> 0:09:56.120 that drives us through to the end. 0:09:56.400 --> 0:09:58.920 I just think, has there ever been a show that 0:09:59.000 --> 0:10:02.599 has continued to be just as successful with the reshuffling 0:10:02.720 --> 0:10:05.600 of a cast. Writers were really clever about the way 0:10:05.640 --> 0:10:08.040 in which characters came and went, And I think it 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:11.960 comes down to something you just explained. These characters were 0:10:11.960 --> 0:10:15.680 intertwined in a way that it was forever evolving, like 0:10:15.760 --> 0:10:17.839 we all are with our need and desire to be 0:10:17.880 --> 0:10:18.679 a part of family. 0:10:18.760 --> 0:10:20.680 I think you spot on there, and I think that 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:23.760 what you've also said there in relation to the writing 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:26.880 department in a massy gardner who's a script producer. But 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:30.960 John Ridley and people tyed just what they brought to 0:10:31.040 --> 0:10:33.600 the table all the time, the way that they were 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:36.560 able to regenerate the show. As you say, you know, 0:10:36.640 --> 0:10:39.440 it's losing key characters, you know, I know when it 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:44.040 was decided that we exhausted all the avenues that the 0:10:44.200 --> 0:10:47.480 Smith could go down and she'd reached she'd dust, don't 0:10:47.520 --> 0:10:52.920 it all? You know Daniel cormack Man just where she 0:10:53.000 --> 0:10:55.280 went to what she did with that character is just 0:10:55.720 --> 0:10:59.720 historic television. Getting back to your point about the writers 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:03.600 and being able to regenerate story with new characters and 0:11:03.640 --> 0:11:07.000 people still tuning in. I think one of the gifts 0:11:07.240 --> 0:11:09.840 that the writers have actually given the show is the 0:11:09.920 --> 0:11:12.560 quality of writing. I thought you can always judge a 0:11:12.600 --> 0:11:15.640 show by the quality of actors that attracts. And you 0:11:15.920 --> 0:11:18.720 just look at the list of people who have been 0:11:18.760 --> 0:11:22.120 through Wentworth and it's the who's who were acting in Australia. 0:11:22.120 --> 0:11:23.160 Well, Sigrid Thornton. 0:11:23.640 --> 0:11:26.480 You know when you see sitting at one table, Pamela 0:11:26.600 --> 0:11:31.440 Rade as he brought a leopurcell, Katrina Molosovich, k to Atkinson, 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:35.160 you know secret you just you go man, and you know. 0:11:35.240 --> 0:11:37.440 In the early days, that first cast that we had, 0:11:37.520 --> 0:11:40.360 I think that that was one of the main reasons 0:11:40.360 --> 0:11:42.800 for the success of the show was the casting of 0:11:42.840 --> 0:11:45.520 that first episode, and it was terrific that they weren't 0:11:45.559 --> 0:11:49.640 necessarily Foxtel or Free Mental, weren't after names, are after 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:52.160 great character act That's what we landed. And I think 0:11:52.200 --> 0:11:54.800 it was the force of that cast that allowed us 0:11:54.800 --> 0:11:55.680 to go where we went. 0:11:56.080 --> 0:11:57.960 And it's there for us as an audience. You know, 0:11:58.120 --> 0:12:01.920 it's oh so digestive. It's so addictive. I mean, I 0:12:01.960 --> 0:12:04.960 remember introducing the series to my mother in law and 0:12:04.960 --> 0:12:06.640 we still to this day, we still go as she's 0:12:06.640 --> 0:12:08.760 in Bendigot We go to Bendigo and she says, have 0:12:08.840 --> 0:12:10.080 you brought the Wentworth? 0:12:11.240 --> 0:12:15.280 So the violence and the sex and didn't freak her out. 0:12:15.160 --> 0:12:17.760 Not at all. My mum wouldn't have watched a single moment. 0:12:18.200 --> 0:12:20.560 That's funny talking about Danielle and talking about one of 0:12:20.600 --> 0:12:23.320 those themes that I was touched on before, which was 0:12:23.480 --> 0:12:25.880 what we do to survive and the things that we 0:12:26.000 --> 0:12:29.960 do is it irrevocably changes. And I don't know whether 0:12:29.960 --> 0:12:34.040 you saw season two where she shot Brayden, which I 0:12:34.120 --> 0:12:36.920 remember going across to her place over two days of 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:39.680 a weekend. We must have spent twelve hours just workshopping 0:12:39.720 --> 0:12:43.520 that six minute scene. It wasn't about the nuts and bolts. 0:12:43.559 --> 0:12:46.920 It was about the psychology of what she was doing. 0:12:47.480 --> 0:12:50.640 And in that moment, could the hairdresser that went into 0:12:50.760 --> 0:12:54.040 jail pull that trigger and blow Jaden away? And if 0:12:54.080 --> 0:12:56.480 she could, who did she become in that moment? And 0:12:56.559 --> 0:12:59.560 that forever changed the character of v Smith in Wentworth. 0:13:00.120 --> 0:13:03.040 She pulled that trigger just there's so many moments. I 0:13:03.080 --> 0:13:08.280 think for her, what was your fondest memory from working 0:13:08.360 --> 0:13:10.360 on the very first series of the show. 0:13:10.800 --> 0:13:13.240 There's a couple of things that stand out. One is there, 0:13:13.679 --> 0:13:17.040 and it's because it's captured a photograph of kad Atkinson 0:13:17.360 --> 0:13:21.000 and myself standing there holding the first slate, and to 0:13:21.080 --> 0:13:23.839 now look back on that, we never imagined where we're 0:13:23.880 --> 0:13:27.440 going to go. I think what's interesting about this is 0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:30.959 that you know, Moser character is a female, and we get. 0:13:30.720 --> 0:13:34.040 To do a lot of stuff that would be traditionally 0:13:34.080 --> 0:13:35.200 a male role. 0:13:35.520 --> 0:13:38.520 So it's really exciting to be able to do that, 0:13:38.800 --> 0:13:41.560 and to have a whole group of women of all 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:47.280 ages and sizes and ethnicity together that have such. 0:13:47.120 --> 0:13:52.120 Great stories to tell. It's interesting. I remember I hadn't 0:13:52.120 --> 0:13:55.240 worked with Susie Porter before and she came into my 0:13:55.320 --> 0:13:57.640 office and with just to speak a little bit about 0:13:58.040 --> 0:14:01.000 you know, basically was a meeting et and talk, and 0:14:01.040 --> 0:14:04.160 I just said to her, we haven't worked together before, 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:06.360 what do you like from a director? And she said, 0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:08.600 I've never been asked that question before. But I suppose 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:11.800 I don't need to be loaded up with backstory. I 0:14:11.840 --> 0:14:14.120 don't need to know that I was traumatized as a kid. 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:18.880 What I want is basically too much, too little, too Hollywood, 0:14:19.360 --> 0:14:21.360 and what the essence of the scene is about. And 0:14:21.400 --> 0:14:23.920 I think each actor works in a different way and 0:14:24.040 --> 0:14:26.240 process is in a different way, and it's just the 0:14:26.280 --> 0:14:29.360 ability to tap into that and you provide the support 0:14:29.400 --> 0:14:32.520 for them. It's nothing special, it's just common sense. 0:14:32.840 --> 0:14:35.320 Well, without giving anything away, I just watched the second 0:14:35.400 --> 0:14:40.080 last episode last night, and Susie was so amazing in 0:14:40.120 --> 0:14:43.720 this episode. I just am in awe of that ability 0:14:43.760 --> 0:14:46.520 to tap into a character like that. I've met Susie before, 0:14:46.560 --> 0:14:49.680 She's not that character at all, but just an amazing 0:14:49.720 --> 0:14:51.800 And you've got to direct that second last episode. 0:14:51.960 --> 0:14:54.840 That is the joy ben of doing what I do 0:14:55.040 --> 0:14:59.200 is that up close front seat to these amazing actors 0:14:59.200 --> 0:15:03.520 that do things wildly beyond your expectations. And Susie's one 0:15:03.520 --> 0:15:06.120 of those actors that does it. And the extraordinary thing 0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:10.320 it's seemingly effortless with her craft and ability that the 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:13.360 way that she actually gets to where she needs to go, 0:15:13.680 --> 0:15:15.760 it's it's quite incredible. You know. 0:15:15.800 --> 0:15:19.080 The series change from using a very significant color grade 0:15:19.080 --> 0:15:22.800 of teal, almost a very gritty green that was there 0:15:22.880 --> 0:15:25.760 for the first few seasons. What was the decision or 0:15:25.800 --> 0:15:27.760 why why did you choose to lose that? 0:15:28.360 --> 0:15:32.320 Look, it was about just refreshing. There wasn't because the 0:15:32.400 --> 0:15:37.200 show was, you know, changing, and you know, principal characters 0:15:37.200 --> 0:15:42.200 were changing, just to just psychologically inform the audience that 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:45.000 we've taken in a slightly different direction so that they're 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:47.320 not necessarily looking at the same show that as they 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:50.480 were in the past. But it's it's nothing more than that. 0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:53.200 Right, And then the series nearly wrapped up a few 0:15:53.240 --> 0:15:56.760 seasons back. Do you think that the series finale that 0:15:56.920 --> 0:16:00.360 may have been might have looked very different if that 0:16:00.520 --> 0:16:03.200 had been in fact the series finale? I mean I 0:16:03.280 --> 0:16:07.600 wondered whether or not you added Joan Ferguson's reveal later 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:10.200 down post production once the show had been greenlit again. 0:16:11.000 --> 0:16:14.000 Yeah, Look, it would have been a totally totally different 0:16:14.080 --> 0:16:17.600 ending had we finished it when it was first anticipated 0:16:17.240 --> 0:16:22.160 that it would. And yet there was always discussion about 0:16:22.320 --> 0:16:24.760 where Joan Ferguson sat in that landscape. 0:16:24.840 --> 0:16:26.840 Can you remember anything that we didn't get to see 0:16:26.840 --> 0:16:28.440 that may have happened in that finale? 0:16:28.960 --> 0:16:31.920 One of the things was is they'll still be smarting 0:16:31.920 --> 0:16:34.760 over this? We had a couple of the prisoner women, 0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:38.680 the old prisoner women, waving goodbye from the yard to 0:16:38.800 --> 0:16:42.000 Ruby as she walked down, which we actually filmed three 0:16:42.120 --> 0:16:46.400 characters from the original Prisoner we put it in prison Wow, 0:16:46.960 --> 0:16:51.600 and they waved goodbye to Ruby walking down the cage 0:16:51.680 --> 0:16:52.960 corridor to freedom. 0:16:53.120 --> 0:16:55.520 You're right, Okay, I guess this is going to be 0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:59.000 a really difficult question for you, But do you have 0:16:59.040 --> 0:17:02.480 a favorite character looking back at the series retrospectively? Now? 0:17:02.840 --> 0:17:05.960 You know, obviously, you know from the very start what 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:10.040 Daniel Kormack did was amazing. And I'm sure Nicole won't 0:17:10.040 --> 0:17:12.520 mind me saying this. Nicole and I in that first 0:17:12.560 --> 0:17:15.159 episode we didn't hit it off. We've butted heads a 0:17:15.160 --> 0:17:17.359 couple of times. And when I was about to do 0:17:17.480 --> 0:17:19.800 episode nine and ten of that, Nicole came to me. 0:17:20.040 --> 0:17:22.400 She said she was the adult in this. She said, 0:17:22.880 --> 0:17:24.800 we didn't get along too well in that first one. 0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:27.520 Did we we get along fine outside of work? And 0:17:27.560 --> 0:17:29.919 I said, no, you're absolutely right, and she said we 0:17:30.080 --> 0:17:32.280 both agreed, let's put it behind us and start again. 0:17:32.600 --> 0:17:34.159 I misread it. And the thing is, I was the 0:17:34.200 --> 0:17:36.520 one that was at faulton sort of put up a 0:17:36.520 --> 0:17:39.880 Wall just said basically, I remember the day that can 0:17:39.920 --> 0:17:42.440 you just do it? That was the note because we're 0:17:42.480 --> 0:17:45.240 having discussion about it, and she just did it, and 0:17:45.280 --> 0:17:48.080 there was tension between us, but not overt but she 0:17:48.280 --> 0:17:50.080 was the adult in the room that came back to 0:17:50.119 --> 0:17:52.199 me and just said that didn't go too well, did it. 0:17:52.280 --> 0:17:52.720 I said, no. 0:17:54.200 --> 0:17:58.480 My name's Kate Atkinson and I play Deputy Governor via 0:17:58.560 --> 0:18:02.800 ben it Vera in all seriousness, is a woman who 0:18:02.880 --> 0:18:05.720 has always felt alone. 0:18:06.560 --> 0:18:09.680 Kate Atkinson. I remember saying to her after the first 0:18:09.720 --> 0:18:12.240 episode that just I could run a camera on her 0:18:12.240 --> 0:18:14.399 face and she could give me tell me what the 0:18:14.440 --> 0:18:16.160 scene was about without saying a word. 0:18:16.480 --> 0:18:19.639 I can honestly say she would have to be Australia's 0:18:19.720 --> 0:18:24.439 most iconic and most brilliant character actors of all time. 0:18:24.720 --> 0:18:28.080 And the nuances that Kate has on her face are 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:29.480 just unbelievable. 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:32.760 You know, every moment of every scene she's invested in 0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:34.800 and she gives you a read on what it is. 0:18:35.200 --> 0:18:37.480 But her Facebook is all differently as well, Like you 0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:39.600 could see that she I don't know how she'll do it, 0:18:39.640 --> 0:18:43.320 but like you know, sometimes just the flickering lip, yeah, 0:18:43.400 --> 0:18:47.159 just the lip or even the wins, just anything. The 0:18:47.280 --> 0:18:50.640 nuances to that she manages to articulate by just doing 0:18:50.800 --> 0:18:53.520 very small and very subtle things, allows you as an 0:18:53.520 --> 0:18:56.359 audience to feel exactly what that character is going through. 0:18:56.560 --> 0:18:59.359 She will interrogate every moment of every scene too, so 0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:01.360 that's not so well. 0:19:01.400 --> 0:19:04.760 I'd spoken to Katrina on TV Reload a few weeks back, 0:19:05.040 --> 0:19:08.119 and she mentioned that you reached out to her in 0:19:08.160 --> 0:19:11.040 the very early days about the possibility of being in 0:19:11.080 --> 0:19:14.240 the show before casting it even happened. Did you ever 0:19:14.320 --> 0:19:17.679 imagine that Boomer would go on to become one of 0:19:17.680 --> 0:19:20.400 the most loved legacy characters of the series. 0:19:20.800 --> 0:19:23.560 Well, yes, I did imagine that. It doesn't surprise me. 0:19:24.000 --> 0:19:25.920 Cat and I go back and I just I love 0:19:25.960 --> 0:19:28.520 her work and I love what she brings. The thing 0:19:28.640 --> 0:19:32.040 is to bring so much humanity into an environment that 0:19:32.119 --> 0:19:35.359 lacks so much humanity was one of the conduits that 0:19:35.520 --> 0:19:38.800 her character was able to achieve. But the thing is, yes, 0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:41.960 I did say to her, there's this small part, I 0:19:41.960 --> 0:19:44.720 would love you to audition for it. Because she wasn't 0:19:44.760 --> 0:19:47.240 part of the main cast in that first series. She 0:19:47.359 --> 0:19:50.840 was regarded as guest cast who were not guest casting. 0:19:51.280 --> 0:19:54.960 But she became main cast in the second series, which 0:19:55.000 --> 0:19:57.800 didn't surprise me at all because, as I say that, 0:19:58.119 --> 0:20:02.639 she's such a fine actress. Also, she's incredibly brave with 0:20:02.920 --> 0:20:06.320 her emotions and she you know, she puts it all 0:20:06.359 --> 0:20:11.160