Deadloch | TV Tonight
What do a naked body, a giant fur seal, Princess Mary and “I Touch Myself” all have in common?
The answer is Deadloch a quirky new mystery drama -or is that mystery comedy- screening on Prime Video.
The 8 part series is the work of the two talented “Kates”, Kate McLennan and Kate McCartney (Get Krack!n, The Katering Show, Bleak), now taking a leap into premium drama.
Set in the fictional town of Deadloch, Tasmania, this mystery unfolds when three teens discover a man’s naked body washed up on the beach. It becomes the job of local senior sergeant Dulcie Collins (Kate Box) to protect the crime scene from inquisitive, leering locals in a town where everybody knows each other. But maintaining order until detectives arrive does not come easily, especially when the force includes overeager junior constable Abby (Nina Oyama) and the hapless, very laid-back constable Sven (Tom Ballard).
There’s colourful cast of locals: a mayor Aleyna (Susie Youssef), Dulcie’s doey-eyed girlfriend Cath (Alicia Gardiner), newly-widowed mum Vanessa (Katie Robinson), the victim’s brother Gavin (Jackson Tozer), a forensic pathologist James (Nick Simpson-Deeks) -but these only scratch the surface of the massive cast. You can expect to see Pamela Rabe, Kris McQuade, Duncan Fellows and more.
While our hero Dulcie begins to piece together evidence, her life is upended by the arrival of a loud, foul-mouthed detective sent from Darwin to oversee the case. Dressed in tropical shirt, Sgt. Eddie Redcliffe (Madeleine Sami) rushes in like a bull in a f***in’ china shop, discarding all of Dulcie’s good work, in the hope of arriving at a quick conclusion to get it over with. In Dulcie’s town, she is both ignorant and unwelcome.
Deadloch is also hosting a Festival of Food and Wine amid the local scandal, which adds to the very believable village backdrop created by director Ben Chessell. You really get the feeling this town has many strands, all of which help set up plenty of killer red herrings and suspects.
The Kates also pepper their mystery with some trademark one-liners, with a great ear for the Australian idiom and laconic social observation…. even having the temerity to have a First Nations character deliver a most cynical Acknowledgment of Country. Love it.
But the thick plottens when the body count begins to rise… as the writers chart a more dense series arc.
Kate Box is terrific as the voice of reason in this wobbly coastal town, navigating truth as she is tested by a brash outsider and a clinging girlfriend, the latter cheerfully portrayed by Alicia Gardiner.
Amid all this rich nuance, why the decision to let Madeleine Sami seemingly channel another genre altogether for the irritating Eddie Redcliffe? It’s a cartoon performance, not at all convincing, and, if the intent is to be ‘funny man’ to Box’s ‘straight man,’ a fail for me. It was a disappointing turn in what had otherwise been set up as a quirky, satisfying world…. amounting to an uneven viewing experience.
It’s challenging to enjoy the riches of Deadloch‘s fertile community, when a deal-breaker of a character barges onto screen.
But then the Kates have been known to be risk-takers, challenging traditions, as they did so bravely in Get Krack!n‘s episode with Indigenous guest hosts.
I guess on this occasion there are three Kates -McLennan, McCartney and Box- to thank for the gems in a town where almost everybody is a friendly face and a whodunnit suspect.
Deadloch airs Friday 2 June on Prime Video.
