The eagerly awaited two-part mini-series about iconic Australian rockers The Easybeats will form part of ABC's slate of original drama programming set to air in 2017, it has been announced.
The mini-series was announced as part of the ABC's recently unveiled slate of highlights for the upcoming year, which, as TV Tonight reports, also includes new drama Pulse, about a "high-flying financial analyst [who] had it all before a failing kidney landed her at death's door", as well as a new Brian Cox program (Stargazing Live In Australia), War On Waste (from The Chaser's Craig Reucassel), something for Todd Sampson to do post-advertising career (Todd Sampson's Life On The Line), Hannah Gadsby's Nude and more.
Originally unveiled under the working title Friday On My Mind — so-called for the group's best-known, most successful track — late last year, The Easybeats will chart the band's journey from immigrant unknowns to internationally celebrated hit-makers. Although they were only together for five years — from 1964 to 1969 — they left an undeniable mark on Australian music history, helping to usher in a new era of blossoming counterculture and earning antipodean comparisons to the likes of The Beatles by becoming the first Australian band to generate an international hit.
(Incidentally, we mentioned The Easybeats as being among the acts we'd like to see get the biopic treatment back in 2014. Still waiting on the 'Kylie & Jason' dream though.)
According to the promotional material, the mini-series kicks off in 1964, "when five young newly arrived immigrants met in a Sydney migrant hostel and formed a band called The Easybeats".
"No one could have guessed they'd take Australian rock'n'roll from Villawood in Sydney to London and the world, creating Australia's first truly international rock group," the summary explains.
"Interwoven with a killer soundtrack, this two-part mini-series touches on themes of celebrity, damnation and redemption. It was a wild ride being rock stars in the swinging '60s. And in their pursuit of success the members of the band each struggled with their own sense of self and the loss of identity that comes with overwhelming fame. But in the end they came to understand that, though they were all from different countries, the sum of the musical parts was quintessentially Australian."
The Easybeats' frontman, Stevie Wright, passed away in December 2015, generating an outpouring of tributes from around the country and the world.
The Easybeats, from Playmaker Media, is directed by Shaw Seet and written by Christopher Lee. Sally Riley and Kym Goldsworthy serve as the show's executive producers, with Dianne Haddon, David Maher and David Taylor on-board as producers.
Beyond the fact that it will screen on ABC this year, an airdate has not yet been announced, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for further updates — including cast announcements and more — in the coming months.
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