''False Witness'', also known as ''The Diplomat'' internationally, is a two-part Australian television mini-series, produced by Screentime Australia, and broadcast simultaneously on the Australian subscription television channel

UK.TV BBC UKTV is an Australian pay television channel in Australia and New Zealand, screening British entertainment programming, sourced mainly from the archives of the BBC, RTL Group (mainly Talkback Thames material) and ITV plc. The channel was or ...

and

BBC HD BBC HD was a 24-hour high-definition television channel provided by the BBC. The service was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007 before its discontinuation on 26 March 2013. It broadcast ...

. Commissioned as part of its required drama output, ''False Witness'' was the third in a series of drama commissions by the network in 2008, following ''

Make or Break Make or MAKE may refer to: *Make (magazine), a tech DIY periodical *Make (software), a software build tool *Make, Botswana, in the Kalahari Desert *Make Architects Make Architects is an international architecture practice headquartered in London ...

'' and ''

Supernova A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. It has the plural form supernovae or supernovas, and is abbreviated SN or SNe. This transient astronomical event occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star or when ...

''. Inspired by real events, ''The Diplomat'' stars

Dougray Scott Stephen Dougray Scott (born 25 November 1965) is a Scottish actor. He has appeared in the films ''Ever After'' (1998), '' Mission: Impossible 2'' (2000), ''Enigma'' (2001), ''Hitman'' (2007), and ''My Week with Marilyn'' (2011). Early life Sc ...

as Ian Porter, a British diplomat to

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

, who comes under scrutiny from Scotland Yard whilst trying to prevent the sale of a nuclear bomb formerly belonging to the Soviet Union. The series premiered in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

on 11 January 2009, with the second episode broadcast the following night. The series also broadcast in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

on iOn as a four-hour event on 17 January 2009. Despite being co-produced by the BBC, the series was never broadcast on terrestrial television in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, instead being made available on DVD on 14 March 2011 via Showbox Entertainment. The series was, however, broadcast on

True Entertainment True Entertainment was a former British free-to-air television channel that was launched on 3 August 2009, replacing Showcase TV. The change was originally scheduled to happen on 1 July 2009, but a late change put the change "on hold until f ...

Cast

as Ian Porter *

Rachael Blake Rachael Morelle Blake (born May 26, 1971) is an Australian actress. Early life Blake was born in Perth, Western Australia. At the age of 18 months, she moved to England with her English parents, only to return to Perth at age 11. Blake was b ...

Detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

Chief Inspector Chief inspector (Ch Insp) is a rank used in police forces which follow the British model. In countries outside Britain, it is sometimes referred to as chief inspector of police (CIP). Usage by country Australia The rank of chief inspector is use ...

Julie Hales *

Jeremy Lindsay Taylor Jeremy Lindsay Taylor (born Sydney, 19 September 1973) is an Australian actor. Education He finished his education at Newington College in 1991 and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree, with a major in drama and sociology, from the Universi ...

as Mark Wilson *

Richard Roxburgh Richard Roxburgh (born 23 January 1962) is an Australian actor, writer, producer, and director. He is the recipient of a number of accolades across film, television, and theatre, including three AACTA Awards (including AFI), three Logie Awards, ...

as Charles Van Koors *

Claire Forlani Claire Antonia Forlani (born 17 December 1971) is an English actress. She became known in the mid-1990s for her leading role in the film ''Mallrats'', and in the Jean-Michel Basquiat 1996 biopic, ''Basquiat''. In 1998, she achieved wide recog ...

as Pippa Porter *

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 Sergei Krousov *

Jonny Pasvolsky Jonathan Marc Pasvolsky (born 26 July 1972), also known as Jonny Pasvolsky, is a South African-born Australian actor. Early life and education Pasvolsky was born on July 26, 1972, in Cape Town, South Africa, to a Jewish family. He was raised ...

as Antonio Morelli * Tony Martin as Bill Murray *

Socratis Otto Socratis Otto is an Australian film, theatre and television actor. He is best known for his roles in television series '' Young Lions'' as Justin Carmody, '' Home and Away'' as Robert Robertson, and ''Wentworth'' as Maxine Conway. Early life ...

as Shannon Cross *

Stephen Curry Wardell Stephen Curry II ( ; born March 14, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, ...

Sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

Neil Trent *

Alex Menglet Alex Menglet, born ''Alexei Menglet'' in Moscow USSR in 1956, is an actor who has found success working in Australia. Career Menglet is best known for his roles as chef Ray "Gay Ray" Proctor in the 1984 season of ''Prisoner'' and more recently ...

as Dimitri *

Shane Briant Shane Briant (17 August 1946 – 26 May 2021) was an English actor and novelist. Briant studied law at Trinity College Dublin but became a professional actor playing the lead in ''Hamlet'' at the Eblana Theatre, Dublin. Briant is best known for ...

as Winston Beale *

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 Vladimir

Episodes

References

External links

* * {{AACTA Award TeleFilmMiniSeries 1990–2009 2000s Australian television miniseries 2009 Australian television series debuts 2009 Australian television series endings