''House of Bond'' is an Australian two-part drama mini-series about the life of business tycoon

Alan Bond Alan Bond (22 April 1938 – 5 June 2015) was an English-born Australian businessman noted for his high-profile and often corrupt business dealings. These included his central role in the WA Inc scandals of the 1980s, and what was at the time ...

which was produced in 2016 and aired 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 ...

on 24 and 25 April 2017.

Synopsis

''House of Bond'' is a dramatised account of the life of Alan Bond, from the 1960s to the 2000s. Part One details Bond's prominence as a property investor and entrepreneur finishing with his greatest triumph as head of the syndicate that won the 1983

America's Cup The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sport of sailing. It is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one f ...

. Part Two sees him expand on a global scale before his hubris saw his empire spectacularly falling down, becoming embroiled in a number of

WA Inc WA Inc was a political scandal in Western Australia. In the 1980s, the state government, which was led for much of the period by premier Brian Burke, engaged in business dealings with several prominent businessmen, including Alan Bond, Laurie ...

scandals including the bailout of the Rothwells Bank and the stripping of Bell Resources.

Cast

Ben Mingay Ben Mingay is an Australian actor and singer, perhaps best known for having played Buzz Graham in the series '' Packed to the Rafters'' and Rob Duffy in '' Wonderland''. He played the role of Billy in the stage version of ''Dirty Dancing'' in Au ...

as Alan Bond *

Rachael Taylor Rachael May Taylor (born 11 July 1984) is an Australian actress and model. Her first lead role was in the Australian series ''headLand'' (2005–2006). She then made the transition to Hollywood, appearing in films including ''Man-Thing'' (2005 ...

Diana Bliss Diana Gwenyth Bliss (11 November 1954 – 28 January 2012) was an Australian theatre producer. Early life Bliss was born on 11 November 1954 in Temora, New South Wales. Her father, Douglas Bliss, was a Methodist minister in the nearby town of ...

Adrienne Pickering Adrienne Pickering (born 22 February 1981) is an Australian actress. Early life and education Born in rural Queensland, Pickering was educated at the University of Queensland, where she majored in psychology and drama. She later undertook her ...

as Eileen Bond *

Sam Neill Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. Neill's near-50 year career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he has been regarded as one o ...

as Roland "Tiny" Rowland *

Anne Louise Lambert Anne-Louise Lambert (born 21 August 1955) (also credited as Anne Lambert) is an Australian actress whose acting career began with her role in ''Number 96'' in 1973. She is well known and quite popular since her role of Miranda in the Peter Wei ...

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 ...

Samantha Jade Samantha Jade Gibbs (born 18 April 1987) is an Australian singer and songwriter. She has written tracks for artists including JoJo and Ashley Tisdale. In 2012, Jade won the fourth season of ''The X Factor Australia'', the first woman to win ...

as Tracey Tyler *

Anne Looby Anne Looby is an Australian actress, producer and stage director. She is known for playing character roles in TV serials. Career Since graduating from NIDA in 1988, Looby has worked in theatre, television and film. She appeared in the seria ...

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 ...

* Johnny Ruffo *

Roy Billing Roy Harwood Billing (born 1947) is a New Zealand television actor, now based on Waiheke Island, New Zealand. He was brought up in Ruawai, Northland, New Zealand. Billing spent almost three decades living and working in Australia. He became wid ...

as Doozer Hughes *Paul Gleeson * Jack Campbell as John Bertrand *

Lorna Lesley Lorna Lesley (born 1959, in Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison wit ...

as Mrs Hughes *

Marcus Graham Marcus Graham (born 11 October 1963) is an Australian film, television (including both serials and mini-series) and stage actor and director, with roles including ''Mulholland Drive'' and '' Josh Jarman''. He was known as a teenage heartthrob i ...

as Michael Williams (2 episodes) *Vanessa Moltzen *Airlee Dodds as Susanne Bond *Bill Young as Frank Bond *John McNeill as Sir Frank Packer

Reception

The series was criticised as "appalling" by Alan Bond's widow Eileen Bond. His family released a statement, claiming it was "inaccurate and sensationalised". Diana Bliss's brother Graeme, meanwhile appreciated Rachael Taylor's sympathetic portrayal of his sister believing she would be pleased with the series. The series was generally well received. ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' and ''

TV Week ''TV Week'' is a weekly Australian magazine that provides television program listings information and highlights, as well as television-related news. Content ranges from previews for upcoming storylines of popular television programs, particu ...

'' named the series 'Pick of the Week'. TV Week gave it 5/5 saying 'Adrienne Pickering is wonderful as the lively Eileen'. ''The Age'' called it 'luxurious and ambitious'.

News.com.au news.com.au is an Australian website owned by News Corp Australia. It had 9.6 million unique readers in April 2019 and covers national and international news, lifestyle, travel, entertainment, technology, finance, and sport. Staff The organiza ...

called 'a 'riveting' yarn.' Debi Enker in ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' said it 'has the quality of a Shakespearean tragedy...' and 'captures the flash-and-dazzle of the era and offers some insight into a singular and spectacular rise and fall.' ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' called ''House of Bond'' a "flop", and the series received a 2.5 star rating from TV Tonight

Viewership

The mini-series averaged 657,000 across the five mainland capital cities on its final night winning its timeslot and increasing its ratings on the previous night.

DVD release

The series was released on DVD by Universal Home Video on May 11, 2017.

References

External links

* {{Nine Network programming Nine Network original programming 2010s Australian drama television series 2017 Australian television series debuts