''The Code'' is an Australian

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

television program created and produced by Shelley Birse. Developed from a partnership between Playmaker Media and the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

, it premiered on

ABC1 ABC TV, formerly known as ABC1, is an Australian national public television network. It is owned and operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is the flagship ABC Television network. The headquarters of the ABC TV channel an ...

in Australia on 21 September 2014, and the first season aired through 26 October 2014. Season 2 of ''The Code'' premiered on 1 September 2016, and aired through 6 October 2016. The first six-part series, set in both

outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a n ...

and metropolitan areas of Australia, interweaves several plot lines. The first follows brothers Ned (

Dan Spielman Dan Spielman (born 1979) is an Australian actor. His career spans film, television and theatre. Spielman grew up with his younger sister in Beaumaris, Melbourne. Without formal acting training, Spielman has worked in theatre, television and fil ...

) and Jesse Banks (

Ashley Zukerman Ashley Zukerman (born 30 December 1983) is an Australian-American actor known for playing Dr. Charlie Isaacs on WGN America's ''Manhattan'', Senior Constable Michael Sandrelli in Australian drama series ''Rush'', and Jesse Banks in the Australia ...

), who publish a video of a mysterious outback accident, and Hani Parande (Adele Perovic), who becomes involved with them. The second follows the accident, which sees teacher Alex Wisham (

Lucy Lawless Lucille Frances Lawless (; born 29 March 1968) is a New Zealand actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as Xena in the television series '' Xena: Warrior Princess'', as D'Anna Biers on the re-imagined '' Battlestar Galactica'' seri ...

) and policeman Tim Simons (

Aaron Pedersen Aaron Pedersen is an Aboriginal Australian television and film actor. He is known for many film and television roles, in particular as Detective Jay Swan in the film '' Mystery Road'', its sequel '' Goldstone'', and spin-off television series. ...

) becoming involved in the personal affairs of accused teenager Clarence Boyd ( Aaron L. McGrath). The third covers Ned's journalism office, managed by Perry Benson ( Adam Garcia). The fourth chronicles the intrigues of Deputy Prime Minister Ian Bradley (

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 ...

), and political staffers Randall Keats (

Aden Young Aden Young (born 30 November 1971) is a Canadian-Australian actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Daniel Holden in the SundanceTV drama ''Rectify'', for which he was twice nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor ...

) and Sophie Walsh (

Chelsie Preston Crayford Chelsie Florence Preston Crayford (born 1987) is a New Zealand actress. Early life Preston Crayford was born in Wellington to film maker Gaylene Preston and musician Jonathan Crayford. Apart from appearing in a water safety commercial at the ag ...

) while the after-effects of the accident unfold. ABC in June 2015 renewed ''The Code'' for a second season, after receiving significant funding from the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

's film fund, Screen ACT. The new series that commenced screening in 2016, deals with fictional brothers Ned and Jesse Banks facing deportation to the

United States of America 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 territo ...

to face trial in connection with security breaches.

Anthony LaPaglia Anthony LaPaglia (, ; born 31 January 1959) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his role as Jack Malone in the television drama ''Without a Trace'' (2002–2009), for which he received a Golden Globe Award in 2004. LaPaglia won a Prim ...

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 ...

Robyn Malcolm Robyn Jane Malcolm (born 15 March 1965) is a New Zealand actress, who first gained recognition for her role as nurse Ellen Crozier on the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Street''. She is best known for six seasons of playing Cheryl West, mat ...

, and others joined the cast for the second series.

Synopsis

Series 1: A stolen vehicle collides with a transport truck in the middle of the desert. Two Aboriginal teenagers in the car are critically injured but nobody called for help because someone involved works for a major stakeholder in a secret research project. The accident would have remained a mystery if it weren't for Ned Banks, a young internet journalist desperate for a break and his brother Jesse Banks, a hacker on a strict good behaviour bond. Series 2: Two Australians are murdered in West Papua, the only survivor being Jan Roth, the fugitive founder of a "dark web" site, who is being chased by both Australian and US authorities. At the same time a young boy is kidnapped in Australia by someone offering to sell him to paedophiles through the same site. The Australian Federal Police contacts the Banks brothers and informs them that the US authorities have demanded their extradition to the US for their previous actions, but if Jesse helps the police find the boy, the government will resist the extradition demands. Jesse agrees, but soon finds that the truth is very different.

Cast

Main

as Ned Banks, journalist at ''Password'' *

as Jesse Banks, Ned's brother * Adele Perovic as Hani Parande, student and hacktivist who befriends Jesse

Series 1

* Adam Garcia as Perry Benson, chief editor of internet news journal, ''Password'' *

as Sophie Walsh, director of communications at PM's office *

Paul Tassone Paul Tassone (born 27 October 1969) is an Australian actor most known for his work as Nelson Curtis on '' All Saints'', an Australian hospital drama. In late 2007–2008, he played a reverend who turned out to be a violent stalker as a result o ...

as Andy King, head of security at Physanto *

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 ...

as Lyndon Joyce, AFP investigator *

as Alex Wisham, schoolteacher at Lindara *

as Randall Keats, Chief of Staff, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet *

as Ian Bradley, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade

Series 2

as Jan Roth, fugitive hacker living in West Papua *

as Lara Dixon, head of the government's cyber ops unit *

as Marina Baxter, Minister for Foreign Affairs * Geoff Morrell as David Banks, Ned and Jesse's estranged father *

Ben Oxenbould Ben Oxenbould is an Australian actor and comedian. His brother Jamie Oxenbould is also an actor, as is Jamie's son, Ed Oxenbould. Early career He was educated at North Sydney Boys High School. In 1980, Oxenbould was cast as "Hubert 'Fatty' Fi ...

as Nolan Daniels, senior AFP agent *

Ella Scott Lynch Ella Scott Lynch (born 27 September 1982 in Sydney) is an Australian actress. Her notable roles include Shirley Ryan in the series '' Love Child'' and Melbourne gangland barrister Nicola Gobbo in the Channel Nine mini-series ''Informer 3838''. ...

as Meg Flynn, a photographer and activist for West Papuan independence

Recurring

Canberra, Australian Capital Territory

David Roberts David or Dave Roberts may refer to: Arts and literature * David Roberts (painter) (1796–1864), Scottish painter * David Roberts (art collector), Scottish contemporary art collector * David Roberts (novelist), English editor and mystery writer ...

as Peter Lawson, political journalist, ''National News Australia'' (series 1) * May Lloyd as Isabelle Banks, mother of Ned and Jesse (series 1) *

Steen Raskopoulos Steen Raskopoulos (born 3 July 1987) is an Australian comedian, actor and improviser. He is best known for his live character solo sketch shows, playing Dr. Evan in '' The Duchess'' (Netflix), Pete Lewis in '' Feel Good'' (Netflix), John Mahogan ...

as Edan, editorial staff member at ''Password'' (series 1) * Zindzi Okenyo as Millie Hussey, journalist at ''Password'' (series 1) * Sophie Gregg as Trina Daniels, data encryption technician at Physanto (series 1) *

Erik Thomson Erik Thomson is a Scottish-born New Zealand-Australian actor. He is known for playing Hades in the television series ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'', ''Xena Warrior Princess'' and ''Young Hercules'', Dr. Mitch Stevens in '' All Saints'' an ...

as Niko Gaelle, international black marketeer in arms and stolen IP (series 1) *

Victoria Haralabidou Victoria Haralabidou ( el, Βικτώρια Χαραλαμπίδου, born 23 October 1971), is a Greek-Australian actress. She was born in Saint Petersburg, USSR. When she was 15 years old, her family moved to Athens, Greece. In 2005, she mov ...

as Alila Parande, Hani's mother (series 1 and 2) * Michael Denkha as Nasim Parande, Hani's father, bio-tech engineer (series 1 and 2) *

Nathan Lovejoy Nathan Lovejoy (born 2 December 1981) is an Australian actor, known for his roles as Principal Swift on the Disney Channel sci-fi teen sitcom '' Gabby Duran & the Unsittables'', for which he was nominated for a Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Award ...

as Will Sharp, Marina Baxter's Chief of Staff (series 2) * Steve Rodgers as Malcolm Coover, head of AFP Cyber Crime Unit (series 1) *

Lindsay Farris Lindsay Farris is an Australian / Maori actor, writer, producer, musician, voice over artist and entrepreneur who has been labelled as one of the "young guardians of theatre". Career Stage Work Farris has an extensive background in Australi ...

as Dean Carson, AFP Cyber Crime Unit interrogator (series 1) * Kelvin Shone as local policeman at Parliament House (series 1) *

Guy Edmonds Guy Edmonds is an Australian born director, writer, actor and author. He co-created, wrote, acted in and directed the Emmy award-winning comedy series Hardball. He co-authored the hit book series Zombie Diaries and Zoo Crew. As an actor he is b ...

as Gary Hunter/Youngblood, operator of the paedophile forum on the UndaCounta site (series 2) * Otis Pavlovic as Callum McCray, abducted teenage boy (series 2) *

Sandy Winton Alexander Gordon (Sandy) WintonNewington College Register of Past Students 1863–1998 (Syd, 1999) pp 218 (born 18 December 1970) is an Australian actor. From 2010 to 2012, he portrayed Michael Williams in the soap opera ''Neighbours''. Career ...

as Michael McCray, Callum's father (series 2) * Liz Harper as Courtney McCray, Callum's mother (series 2) * Stephanie King as Erin Jennings, Ned's ex-girlfriend and contact at Parliament House (series 2) * Arka Das as Farid (series 1)

Lindara, New South Wales

* Aaron L. McGrath as Clarence Boyd, driver of the stolen car *

as Tim Simons, local policeman at Lindara *

Ursula Yovich Ursula Yovich is an Aboriginal Australian actress and singer. Early life and education Yovich was born and grew up in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. Her father, Slobodan Jović, was a Serbian immigrant who anglicised his name to Stan ...

as Kitty Boyd, Clarence's mother * Mitzi Ruhlmann as Missy Wisham, Alex's daughter *

Madeleine Madden Madeleine Madden (born 29 January 1997) is an Australian actress. She is best known for playing Egwene al'Vere in the Amazon Prime series ''The Wheel of Time''. Early life Madden grew up around Redfern, a Sydney inner city suburb, and attended ...

as Sheyna Smith, the passenger in the car * Tim McCunn as Carl Smith, Sheyna's father *

Lisa Flanagan Lisa Flanagan is an Aboriginal Australian actress, known for her roles on stage and in television and film. Film roles include her debut movie '' Australian Rules'' and '' Look Both Ways'', while on stage she performed in Wesley Enoch's ''The Sa ...

as Eadie Smith, Sheyna's mother

West Papua

* William Ani as Marcus Komblan, leader of the West Papuan independence movement * Emele Ugavule as Kiki Gangi-Roth, Jan Roth's wife * Annabelle Malaika Süess as Tahila Gangi-Roth, Jan Roth's daughter

Episodes

Series 1 (2014)

Series 2 (2016)

Production and filming

The fictional town of Lindara was filmed in

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

, Silverton in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, and Cockburn in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. The main street and post office of Cockburn doubles as the main street and school in Lindara, while the houses of the Lindara families were filmed in Silverton. Parts of

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

were used for filming, including the

Australian Parliament House Parliament House, also referred to as Capital Hill or simply Parliament, is the meeting place of the Parliament of Australia, and the seat of the legislative branch of the Australian Government. Located in Canberra, the Parliament building is ...

, the surrounds of

Lake Burley Griffin Lake Burley Griffin is an artificial lake in the centre of Canberra, the capital of Australia. It was completed in 1963 after the Molonglo River, which ran between the city centre and Parliamentary Triangle, was dammed. It is named after Walte ...

, and parts of the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

Acton campus, including the

John Curtin School of Medical Research The John Curtin School of Medical Research (JCSMR) is an Australian multidisciplinary translational medical research institute and postgraduate education centre that forms part of the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra. The school w ...

and the

Shine Dome The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The academy is modelled after the Royal Soci ...

Broadcast

The first series was acquired by

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

in the United Kingdom in April 2014, and premiered on 11 October 2014, less than three weeks after the Australian premiere. Because it aired as back-to-back episodes over three weeks, the final episode aired first in the UK on 25 October, over twelve hours ahead of its first Australian broadcast 26 October. The first series was also broadcast on

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. It ...

Audience Network Audience Network (also known as Audience from 2016 until 2020) was an American pay television channel that was owned by AT&T. It featured a mix of original and acquired series, specials, and feature films. The network operated as a commercial-fre ...

in the US, and

ARTV Ici ARTV (stylized as ICI artv) is a Television in Canada, Canadian French language specialty channel owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (known in French as Société Radio-Canada). The channel broadcasts the arts and culture includin ...

in Canada.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

The Code: ABC TV
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Code, The 2014 Australian television series debuts APRA Award winners Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming English-language television shows Television shows set in Australian Capital Territory Television shows set in Indonesia Television series by Playmaker Media Political thriller television series Australian political drama television series