Miki Anderson played by Katherine Langford in Savage River

''Savage River'' is a six-part Australian crime drama, produced by Aquarius Films, which premiered on ABC TV and iview on 4 September 2022. Set in country

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, the series is led by director

Jocelyn Moorhouse Jocelyn Denise Moorhouse (born 4 September 1960) is an Australian screenwriter and film director. She has directed films such as ''Proof (1991 film), Proof'', ''How to Make an American Quilt'', ''A Thousand Acres (film), A Thousand Acres'' and ...

and cinematographer

Don McAlpine Donald McAlpine ACS, ASC (born 13 April 1934) is an Australian cinematographer. Biography Early life and career Before his film career, McAlpine was a physical education teacher in Parkes, New South Wales, Australia. He began using a 16mm ...

, and stars

Katherine Langford Katherine Langford (born 29 April 1996) is an Australian actress. After appearing in several independent films, she had her breakthrough starring as Hannah Baker in the Netflix television series ''13 Reasons Why'' (2017–2018), which earned he ...

Virginia Gay Virginia Gay (born 16 September 1981) is an Australian actress, writer and director, mostly known for her work on the Australian TV dramas ''Winners & Losers'' (as Frances James (Winners & Losers), Frances James), and ''All Saints (TV series), A ...

Jacqueline McKenzie Jacqueline Susan McKenzie (born 24 October 1967) is an Australian film and stage actress. Early life Born in Sydney, New South Wales, McKenzie attended Wenona School in North Sydney until 1983 then moved to Pymble Ladies' College, where she ...

Synopsis

Miki Anderson who returns to her hometown in rural Victoria after ten years in prison, intending to get on with her life. However a murder is committed in the town, and the townspeople suspect Miki, and she sets out to prove her innocence.

Cast

as Miki Anderson *

Mark Coles Smith Mark Coles Smith (born 1989) is an Indigenous Australian actor originally from Broome in Western Australia. He is known for his roles in '' Last Cab to Darwin'' (2015), '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (2018) and '' Occupation: Rainfall'' (2020), a ...

as Joel Thorpe *

Robert Grubb Robert Grubb (born 31 January 1950) is an Australian actor. He studied acting at National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), where he graduated in 1978. There he was a fellow student of actor Mel Gibson. Grubb played the role of Dr. Geoffrey St ...

as Senior Sgt Bill Kirby * Cooper Van Grootel as Terry Anderson *

Nadine Garner Nadine Lynette Garner (born 14 December 1970 in Knoxfield, Melbourne) is an Australian actress who started her career as a teen performer. Biography Garner first came to public attention in 1985, as Tamara Henderson in the Australian TV series ...

as Lynne Anderson *

as Colleen Lang * Jack Kenny as Adam Lang *

Daniel Henshall Daniel Edwin Henshall (born 9 August 1982) is an Australian film, television and theatre actor, known for his work in '' Snowtown'', ''The Babadook'' and '' Turn: Washington's Spies''. Early life and education Born and raised in Sydney, Austr ...

as Kevin Pattison *

Bernard Curry Bernard Curry (born 27 March 1974) is an Australian actor, best known for his role as Jake Stewart in Wentworth, Luke Handley in Neighbours and Hugo Austin in Home and Away. Career Curry first appeared in ''Neighbours'' in 1995 as Luke Handle ...

as Connor Kirby * James Mackay as Simon Englert * Richard Piper as Max Englert * Andrew Gilbert as Hugh Lang *

Leah Vandenberg Leah Vandenberg is a New Zealand-born Australian theatre, television, and film actress. She has appeared in many well-known Australian productions including the award-winning Netflix series ' The Letdown' and SBS Drama 'The Hunting'. Leah recei ...

as Deborah Cochrane * Amesh Edireweera as Ranil Perera *

Osamah Sami Osamah Sami (born 10 March 1983 in Qom, Iran) is an Australian stage and screen actor, writer, spoken-word artist, and stand-up comedian of Iraqi origin. His critically acclaimed book ''Good Muslim Boy'', was the winner of the 2016 NSW Premie ...

as Salim Bayati * Maia Abbas as Jamila Bayati * Miranda Anwar as Chandra Pattison * Rajan Velu as Sujan Nadesan * Julian Weeks as Nick Healey * Molly Grace as Jasmine Lang * Ayesha Gibson as Taylah Russell * Hattie Hook as Ivy Pattison * Sally-Anne Upton as Dale O'Neil * Benjamin Moore as Wayan Pattison * Bev Killick as Brenda May *

as Rachel Kennedy * Hannah Bickerton as Ocean Anderson

Episodes

Production

The six-part series was directed by

and is co-created by writers Belinda Bradley, Franz Docherty and lead writer Giula Sandler. It was filmed in

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 ...

, Warburton in the Yarra Valley, and in Bright and , Myrtleford in the High Country of

Cinematography Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to focu ...

was by

. It was produced by Angie Fielder and Polly Staniford of Aquarius Films for

ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...

. Funding was provided 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 ...

with support from VicScreen through production investment and the Regional Location Assistance Fund.

Release

''Savage River'' premiered on ABC TV and iview on 4 September 2022.

Critical response

Travis Johnson, writing on ''Flicks'', found the series too long to sustain interest. Emma Maguire found it a gripping example of the "Australian Gothic" genre: "When Miki gets a job at the abattoir we see a brutal reality: Savage River is a town built on blood and slaughter, a truth that references the colonial violence at the foundation of modern Australia".

References

External links

* {{ABC Television programming 2022 Australian television series debuts Television shows set in Victoria (Australia) Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming English-language television shows