''East West 101'' was a drama series airing on the SBS network. The series was produced and created by Steven Knapman and Kris Wyld, the team behind other drama series such as '' Wildside'' and ''

White Collar Blue ''White Collar Blue'' is an Australian television series made by Knapman Wyld Television for Network Ten from 2002 to 2003. Starring Peter O'Brien as Joe Hill and Freya Stafford as Harriet Walker, the series dealt with a division of the pol ...

''. It ran from 2007–2011, having three series. ''East West 101'' was set around the Major Crime Squad in metropolitan Sydney. It was based upon the experiences of actual detectives in a crime unit in Sydney's western suburbs.Knapman Wyld Television
homepage. It was filmed on location, in Sydney suburbs such as

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

Bankstown Bankstown is a suburb south west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is located in the local government area of the City of Canterbury-Bankstown, hav ...

, Redfern,

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

and Maroubra. The series was made by SBS with the Film Finance Corporation of Australia and the New South Wales Film and Television Office. It has been sold to Israel and other countries in the Middle East. The second season finished airing on 24 November 2009, and a third season was announced and filmed in 2010. It began airing on SBS One on 20 April 2011. The DVD of the third season was released on 4 May 2011.

Cast

Main

Don Hany Don Hany (born 18 September 1975) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his role in the series ''White Collar Blue'', Dr. Chris Havel in ''Offspring'', and the leading role of Zane Malik in the SBS series '' East West 101''. He is also ...

as Detective Zane Malik * Susie Porter as Detective Superintendent Patricia Wright *

Aaron Fa'aoso Aaron Fa'aoso is an Australian actor, screenwriter and producer, known for his roles in ''East West 101'', ''The Straits'' (which he also wrote and produced) and ''Black Comedy''. He established Lonestar Productions in 2013, which brings stories ...

as Detective Sonny Koa * Daniela Farinacci as Detective Helen Callas *

Renee Lim Renee Li-Yen Lim (born ) is an Australian actress, television presenter and medical doctor. She is best known for her roles as Constable Jung Lim in ''East West 101'', Mae in ''Please Like Me'' and her recurring role as Vivienne Hart in '' Th ...

as Constable Jung Lim *

Matthew Nable Matthew Nable (born 8 March 1972) is an Australian film and television actor, writer, sports commentator and former professional rugby league player. After playing in the Winfield Cup Premiership during the 1990s for the Manly-Warringah and S ...

as Detective Neil Travis (season 3)

Supporting

* Lucy Abroon as Yasmeen Malik *

Serhat Caradee Serhat Caradee is an Australian filmmaker, writer and actor based in Sydney, New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivis ...

as Oscar Catas (season 2) * Richard Carter as Mick Deakin (season 2) *

Richard Cawthorne Richard Seymour Cawthorne (born 3 December 1976) is an Australian actor of theatre, film and television. Career Cawthorne has appeared in many film and television productions. His credits include ''Catching Milat'', ''Fat Tony & Co'', '' Bikie ...

as Sterling (season 3) * George Fayed as Amir Malik * Dimitri Giameos as Ali El Babb (Season 1) *

Gyton Grantley Gyton Stephen Grantley (born 17 July 1980) is an Australian actor and comedian, best known for his portrayal of convicted murderer and drug trafficker Carl Williams in the hit Australian television show '' Underbelly'', for which he was nomin ...

as Craig Deakin (season 2) * Taffy Hany as Rahman Malik *

Gerald Lepkowski Gerald Lepkowski is a British-Australian television and stage actor, who has had guest roles in Australian and British productions, before landing the lead role in drama series ''Dirt Game'' in Australia in 2009. Early life Born in the Sighthi ...

as Agent Richard Skeritt (season 2) *

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 ...

as Detective Sergeant Ray Crowley (season 1) * Irini Pappas as Mariam Malik (season 1) *

Tasneem Roc Tasneem Roc (born 11 December 1978) is an Australian television and film actress born in Sydney. Early life and education Roc's mother, author Margaret Roc, is from Scotland and her father, John Roc, is a Karen from Burma. Her brother is Jam ...

as Amina Malik *

Costa Ronin Konstantin "Costa" Ronin (born 3 February 1979) is an Australian actor and cinematographer, best known for appearances in '' Red Dog'', as Gregorovich on the SBS drama ''East West 101'', as Oleg Igorevich Burov in the FX drama ''The Americans'' ...

as Gregorovich (season 2)

Plot

Season one

The first season centered around two detectives, Zane Malik (

), a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

and Ray Crowley (

), an

Anglo-Australian English Australians, also known as Anglo-Australians, are Australians whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in England. In the 2021 census, 8,385,928 people, or 33% of the Australian population, stated that they had English ancestry (wheth ...

, who are pitted against each other in a struggle for respect. They try to balance work with their own cultural and religious beliefs, which results in tension between cultures, egos and workmates. Recurring stories throughout the season include Malik's search for the man who shot his father and Crowley's struggle with his son's death. The cast also included Susie Porter as Inspector Patricia Wright,

as Detective Sonny Koa, Daniela Farinacci as Detective Helen Callas and Renee Lim as Jung Lim. Zane's father, Rahman Malik, is played by Taffy (Toffeek) Hany, the real life father of Don Hany.East West 101
. Knapman Wyld Television Pty Ltd.

Season two

In season two, detective Malik is caught up in the aftermath of a car bomb which has killed two men, and heralded the arrival of NSO Agent Richard Skeritt (

). The attack seemingly has links to a Muslim terrorist threat that they work to uncover. Meanwhile, Patricia Wright navigates her tumultuous relationship with her family, including her unpredictable brother, Craig (

) and father, Mick ( Richard Carter). Helen Callas, heavily pregnant, Sonny Koa and Jung Lim also return, investigating crimes that cross cultural boundaries in Sydney's multicultural inner west.

Season three

Following a deadly armored bank transport robbery by a highly organized team, Malik's wife Amina and son Amir are involved in a seemingly unrelated car accident. After Amir dies of an undetected aortic dissection, Malik takes the accident investigation personally.

Reception

Australian ratings

Awards

AACTA Awards

Australian Directors Guild Awards

Australian Writers Guild Awards

APRA-AGSC Screen Music Awards

Equity Awards

Logie Awards

References

External links

* * Knox, David (27 November 2007)
First Review: East West 101

TV Tonight TV Tonight is an Australian-based website which features reviews, news and programming information related to television in Australia as well as OzTAM ratings information. The site was started by television critic David Knox in 2007 after list ...

. * Knox, David (15 July 2009)
Returning: East West 101
TV Tonight.
''East West 101''
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 ...

{{EquityAward TVDramaCast 2010-2019 Special Broadcasting Service original programming 2000s Australian drama television series 2000s Australian crime television series 2007 Australian television series debuts 2011 Australian television series endings Television shows set in Sydney 2010s Australian drama television series 2010s Australian crime television series