''SeaChange'' is an Australian

television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, e ...

that ran from 1998 to 2000 on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

and in 2019 on the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

. It was created by Andrew Knight and

Deborah Cox Deborah Cox (born July 13, 1974) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Born and raised in Toronto, she began performing on television commercials at age 12, and entered various talent shows in her teenage years before ...

and starred

Sigrid Thornton Sigrid Madeline Thornton (born 12 February 1959) is an Australian film and television actress. Her television work includes ''Prisoner'' (1979–80), ''All the Rivers Run'' (1983), ''SeaChange'' (1998–2019) and ''Wentworth'' (2016–2018). S ...

David Wenham David Wenham (born 21 September 1965) is an Australian actor who has appeared in film, television and theatre. He is known for his roles as Faramir in ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy, Friar Carl in ''Van Helsing'', Dilios in ''300'' and ...

William McInnes Daryl William Mathew Gabriel McInnes (born 10 September 1963) is an Australian film and television actor and writer. He portrayed the role of Matt Tivolli in '' The Time of Our Lives''. He is best known for his roles as Senior Constable Nick S ...

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...

, Tom Long, Kevin Harrington, and

Kerry Armstrong Kerry Michelle Armstrong (born 12 September 1958) is an Australian actress and author. She is one of only two actresses to win two Australian Film Institute Awards in the same year, winning Best Actress in a Leading Role for ''Lantana'' and B ...

. The director was Michael Carson.

Premise

Laura Gibson (Sigrid Thornton), a high-flying city lawyer, is prompted to undergo a 'seachange' with her children Miranda and Rupert after her husband is arrested for fraud and is found to have had an affair with her sister. Laura becomes the magistrate for the small coastal town of Pearl Bay. The town is isolated from the rest of the world since the local bridge was destroyed in one of the natural disasters common to Pearl Bay. Although they initially miss the city, the family comes to love the town and its many colourful characters, and they also enjoy having more quality time with each other.

Cast

Main *

- Laura Gibson *

Cassandra Magrath Cassandra Magrath (born 1981) is an Australian actress. She played Miranda Gibson in the Australian ABC 1998–2000 television series ''SeaChange'' and Liz Hunter in the 2005 Australian horror film ''Wolf Creek''. Acting career Magrath began ...

- Miranda Gibson ''(Season 1-3)'' *

- Daniel Della Bosca ('Diver Dan') ''(Season 1-2)'' *

- Max Connors *

- Bob Jelly *

- Heather Jelly * Kevin Harrington - Kevin Findlay *

Kate Atkinson Kate Atkinson may refer to: * Kate Atkinson (actress) (born 1972), Australian actress * Kate Atkinson (writer) Kate Atkinson (born 20 December 1951) is an English writer of novels, plays and short stories. She is known for creating the Jac ...

- Karen Miller ''(Season 1-3)'' * Tom Long - Angus Kabiri ''(Season 1-3)'' *

Brooke Satchwell Brooke Kerith Satchwell (born 1980) is an Australian actress, model and environmental spokesperson. Early life Satchwell lived in Teesdale, Victoria, for most of her life and has one sibling. She attended Toorak College. Career Satchwell start ...

- Miranda Gibson ''(Season 4)'' *

Dan Wyllie Daniel Wyllie (born 1970) is an Australian stage, film and television actor. Wyllie began acting in theatre. Early life Wyllie grew up on Sydney's North Shore. He attended North Sydney Boys High School and the University of New South Wales, whe ...

- Ben Russo ''(Season 4)'' *

Darren McMullen Darren McMullen (born 10 February 1982) is a Scottish-Australian television and radio presenter and personality, music journalist and music critic. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and immigrated with his family to Australia at the age of 12. H ...

- Findlay Knox ''(Season 4)'' *

Katrina Milosevic Katrina Milosevic (born 25 April 1976) is an Australian actress who has appeared in many television programs and theatre productions, including a starring role in the prison drama series ''Wentworth''. Biography Katrina Milosevic was born in ...

- Sergeant Anna Kazan ''(Season 4)'' *

Kate Lister Kate name may refer to: People and fictional characters * Kate (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Gyula Káté (born 1982), Hungarian amateur boxer * Lauren Kate (born 1981), American autho ...

- Lillian Liano ''(Season 4)'' * Alex Tarrant - Zac Bell ''(Season 4)'' * Wayne Blair - Riley Bolt ''(Season 4)'' *

Kamil Ellis Kamil Ellis is an Australian actor. He has appeared on TV in ''Cleverman'', ''Nowhere Boys,'' ''Bushwhacked!'', and ''SeaChange''. He was an original cast member of the stage play ''The Secret River''. He is of Wiradjuri Aboriginal descent. Tog ...

- Stone Bolt ''(Season 4)'' Recurring * Bruce Alexander - Sergeant Graham Grey ''(Season 1-3)'' *

Jill Forster Jill Forster (born 1936), is an English Australian actress who came to Australia as a model in 1964 and appeared in the Crawford Production series ''Hunter''. She is well known for appearance's in TV series, but has also appeared in made for TV ...

- Meredith Monahan ''(Season 1-3)'' *

Alan Cassell Alan Louis Cassell (16 February 1932 – 30 August 2017) was an English Australian actor, on stage, film and television. Personal life Alan Cassell was born in Manchester, England but grew up in Birmingham. Cassell was of a young age when his m ...

- Harold Fitzwalter ''(Season 1-3)'' * Paul English - Jack Gibson ''(Season 1)'' *Patrick Dickson - Jack Gibson ''(Season 2-3)'' *

Alice Garner Alice Miriam Olivia Garner is an Australian actor, author, musician, teacher and historian. She is the daughter of Australian novelist and screenwriter Helen Garner and playwright, historian and actor Bill Garner. Acting life and career Garn ...

- Carmen 'Lois Lane' Blake ''(Season 1-3)'' *Kane McNay - Rupert Gibson ''(Season 1-3)'' *Christopher Lyons - Trevor Findlay ''(Season 1-3)'' *

Georgina Naidu Georgina Naidu is an Australian actress, stage writer and university lecturer. From Melbourne, she began acting from an early age and completed her professional training with the Victorian College of the Arts in 1994. She began her film career tak ...

- Phrani Gupta *Cameron Nugent - Craig Jelly ''(Season 1-3)'' *Bryony Price - Jules Jelly ''(Season 1-3)'' *Emily Wiseman - Jules Jelly ''(Season 4)'' * Brett Swain - Griff ''(Season 1-3)'' *Ella Newton - Stella Connors ''(Season 4)''

Series overview

Season 1 In the opening episode, "Something Rich and Strange", we are introduced to Laura Gibson, a high-flying corporate lawyer. In one day, her life falls apart: she loses out on a partnership at work, and discovers that her husband has been arrested for fraud and that her sister Trudi (

Fiona Corke Fiona Corke (born 24 September 1961) is an Australian actress best known for her role as Gail Robinson on the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours''. Career Corke began her career with a minor role in the film 'I Live with Me Dad.' Corke appear ...

) is having an affair with him. On a whim, she takes a job as a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

in the small seaside town of Pearl Bay, where she once had a holiday with her family during happier times. In Pearl Bay, she meets a cast of colourful characters: Meredith Monahan, the woman who can remember every single event that has happened in town during her lifetime; Meredith's longtime lover and town lawyer/drunk, Harold; strapping surfer and court clerk Angus; his girlfriend (and would-be fiancee), police officer Karen; her superior Sergeant Grey; unsophisticated caravan park manager and handyman, Kevin; Kevin's son Trevor; clever Indian shop-keeper Phrani, later to be Kevin's lover; local layabout Griff; Meredith's niece, the wandering Carmen; corrupt and scheming real estate agent and shire president Bob Jelly; his loyal trophy wife Heather; and their children Craig and Jules. While Laura's children, Rupert and Miranda, struggle to get used to their new life, Laura attempts to fit in, despite their run-down house and the eccentric court cases. Both helping and hindering her is Diver Dan, the enigmatic cafe owner/ferryman/chef with no ambition but a curious and colourful past, with whom she soon strikes up a relationship. The first series ends with a series of climaxes involving Carmen's pregnancy, the discovery of Meredith and Harold's long-lost daughter; and a turning point in Laura and Dan's relationship. After a successful first series of 13 episodes, the ABC asked for more. Season 2 David Wenham opted not to renew his contract, so, two episodes into the second series, Diver Dan leaves Pearl Bay for the Galapagos Islands. In his place comes old friend Max Connors and wife Elena (

Doris Younane Doris Younane (born 25 February 1963) is an Australian stage and screen actress notable for her role in ''McLeod's Daughters'' where she played Moira Doyle. She is of Lebanese descent.Alison Whyte Alison Whyte (born 1968 in Tasmania) is an Australian actress best known for her roles on the Australian television series '' Frontline'' and '' Satisfaction''. Acting career A former student of classical ballet, Whyte graduated from the Victo ...

guest stars as a con artist who gets the better of Bob, and of the whole town. Heather bonds with her parents. Rupert's determination to get Laura back together with her ex-husband only meets with disaster. Later in the series, the town begins to speculate about Max and Laura's relationship, and the resulting confusion brings them closer. Bucket's dog Alfonzo Dominico Jones dies mysteriously and eventually a swimming pool is named after him, in preference to the originally planned name, the Jelly Aquatic Complex. The ABC then commissioned a third season. Season 3 In the third season, the events of the show reach their climax. Laura decides not to take the step in her relationship with Max, propelling a despondent Max into Carmen's arms. An in-denial Laura turns to the sweet but dull Warwick (

Shaun Micallef Shaun Patrick Micallef (; born 18 July 1962) is an Australian comedian, actor, writer and television presenter. He is currently the host of the satirical news comedy series ''Shaun Micallef's Mad as Hell'' on the ABC. He also hosted the game sh ...

). Heather and Bob's separation is followed by his political demise. Meredith's health takes a turn for the worse. Mark Mitchell guest stars as Morton Tregonning, administrator for the recently sacked Port Deakin council, and his corruption pushes Bob to a decision; he must choose whether to help the people of Pearl Bay, or ruin them once and for all. The final episode, "Half-Life" (Episode 39), sees the town coming together to stop Tregonning's nuclear waste dump, Miranda and Craig on trial, Laura's resignation, Karen and Angus' wedding, Meredith facing a brush with death following a stroke, Bob making a final decision about his future and spurning Tregonning, and Max and Laura's relationship resolved in a night of passion. Morton Tregonning meets a bitter end. Although the third series was successful in ratings terms, the creators decided to end the show to avoid becoming stale. Revival Season 4 In October 2018, a fourth season was announced which aired on the Nine Network in 2019. The series was funded by

Screen Australia Screen Australia is the Australian Federal Government's key funding body for the Australian screen production industry, created under the ''Screen Australia Act 2008''. From 1 July 2008 Screen Australia took over the functions of its predecess ...

and relocated from

Barwon Heads Barwon Heads (previously known as Point Flinders) is a coastal township on the Bellarine Peninsula, near Geelong, Victoria, Australia. It is situated on the west bank of the mouth of the Barwon River below Lake Connewarre, while it is bounded to ...

Brunswick Heads Brunswick Heads is a small town on the north coast of New South Wales, Australia in Byron Shire. At the , the town had a population of 1,737 people. History Originally inhabited by people of the Bundjalung people, Bundjalung nation, the Bru ...

, near Byron Bay, in northern New South Wales, and also at

Billinudgel Billinudgel is a town in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia, and is part of Byron Shire. It used to be a railway town A railway town, or railroad town, is a settlement that originated or was greatly developed because of ...

and

Mullumbimby Mullumbimby is an Australian town in the Byron Shire in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. It promotes itself as "The Biggest Little Town in Australia". The town lies at the foot of Mount Chincogan in the Brunswick Valley about 9 k ...

. This was after a successful bid by NSW to host the series in a community that the producers had considered as a set location in the 1990s, but rejected for cost reasons. ITV's David Mott said while there had been discussions with the ABC about reviving the series for ABC Television, ABC said a revival of SeaChange did not feel right for them. It was directed by series co-creator Deb Cox and jointly produced by

ITV Studios Australia ITV Studios Australia is an Australian television production company and the Australian arm of UK company ITV Studios. It was formed as Artist Services in 1989, later becoming Granada Media Australia before being rebranded to its current name in ...

and Every Cloud Productions. The series was titled “SeaChange: Paradise Reclaimed”. Thornton and Howard were two of the original actors to appear in the revival. It focused on the relationships between Laura, Miranda, Miranda's son, and Laura's daughter by Max. The series opens with Laura returning to Pearl Bay from aid work in South Africa to visit her daughter Miranda, who she finds is 8 months pregnant, after two decades. Entering the town over a bridge that still provides limited access, she accidentally knocks down Bob Jelly, just released from prison, with her car on the main street. Jelly features in all the episodes as he again tries to 'develop' Pearl Bay with dubious real estate schemes and reconcile with an increasingly confident and entrepreneurial Heather. His daughter Jules makes an appearance as a mercenary Hong-Kong based lawyer and developer, while Kevin and Phrani reconcile and marry after spending the previous five years apart.

Filming

Filming of series 1-3 was based at

Barwon Heads, Victoria Barwon Heads (previously known as Point Flinders) is a coastal township on the Bellarine Peninsula, near Geelong, Victoria, Australia. It is situated on the west bank of the mouth of the Barwon River below Lake Connewarre, while it is bounded to ...

and St Leonards, Victoria, both locations being on the

Bellarine Peninsula The Bellarine Peninsula (Wathawurrung: ''Balla-wein'' or ''Biteyong'') is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together with the Mornington Peni ...

. A number of streets in the St Leonards Sea Change Estate have since been named to acknowledge some of the characters of the series. Many scenes were also filmed in Williamstown (a suburb of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

), including the exterior of the Williamstown Life Saving Club, which became the court house of Pearl Bay. Tours to see the locations where filming took place were popular in 2003. Series 4 was filmed in

, northern New South Wales, just south of the border with Queensland and 10km from

Byron Bay Byron Bay ( Minjungbal: ''Cavvanbah)'' is a beachside town located in the far-northeastern corner of the state of New South Wales, Australia on Bundjalung Country. It is located north of Sydney and south of Brisbane. Cape Byron, a hea ...

Recurring themes

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's play '' The Tempest'' is a clear influence on ''SeaChange'', exemplified by the episode titles "Something Rich and Strange" and "Full Fathom Five", and by Miranda's name, as well as frequent freak weather events. ''SeaChange'' was often compared to ''

Northern Exposure ''Northern Exposure'' is an American Northern comedy-drama television series about the eccentric residents of a fictional small town in Alaska that ran on CBS from July 12, 1990, to July 26, 1995, with a total of 110 episodes. It received 57 ...

''. One of the long-running jokes on the show is the town bridge. The easiest connection from Pearl Bay to the rest of the world, it had been destroyed years earlier, and attempts to fix it always seem to go awry. Another recurring joke involves the character 'Bucket'. This bizarre individual is an

unseen character An unseen character in theatre, comics, film, or television, or silent character in radio or literature, is a character that is mentioned but not directly known to the audience, but who advances the action of the plot in a significant way, and wh ...

(except in one episode, in the background, when someone waves to him), but he is regularly mentioned. From various accounts he is missing limbs (but is still able to drive a boat), has no teeth and has never eaten a cereal grain in his life, and tends to get drunk often and steal people's ride-on mowers. He often arrives home drunk and would drink from the water bowl of his dog, the late Alfonzo Dominico Jones. At the end of every episode (except episodes 1 and 12 of series 1, episode 5 of series 2 and the final episode) there is a brief scene in which Kevin and Trevor chat while overlooking the beach at the end of the day. Their conversation usually adds a comical touch to the episode. In episode 5 of series 2, the Kevin and Trevor scene is not at the very end, and takes place at the Alfonzo Dominico Antonio Jones Memorial Pool. Also, in episode 10 of series 3, Kevin's sister Suzie joined him to tell him that their recently-deceased father's electric guitar (which they had buried) was worth $8,000 because he had played with

The Masters Apprentices The Masters Apprentices (or The Masters to fans) were an Australian rock band fronted by Jim Keays on lead vocals, which originally formed as The Mustangs in 1964 in Adelaide, South Australia, relocated to Melbourne, Victoria in February 1967 a ...

for a week. In one episode, the Masters Apprentices (or one version of them) played themselves, with credit given to

Jim Keays James Keays (9 September 194613 June 2014) was a Scottish-born Australian musician who fronted the rock band The Masters Apprentices as singer-songwriter, guitarist and harmonica-player from 1965 to 1972 and subsequently had a solo career. He ...

Reception

Viewership Awards and nominations

Video and DVD releases and online streaming

The entire series was released on video, with each series released in two parts. It has also been released on DVD via

ABC DVD ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

. ''SeaChange'' has been available on Netflix and Stan.

References

External links

Official website
at the Australian Television Information Archive *
Seachange at the National Film and Sound Archive

''Sea Change'' – "One of the Gang"
at

Australian Screen Online The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seachange Australian drama television series Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming Nine Network original programming Television shows set in Victoria (Australia) 1998 Australian television series debuts 2000 Australian television series endings 2019 Australian television series debuts 2019 Australian television series endings English-language television shows Australian television series revived after cancellation