''The Secret Daughter'' is an Australian television drama series which premiered on the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

on 3 October 2016. The series is written by

Justin Monjo Justin Monjo (born 1963, New York) is an American screenwriter, television producer, and actor, best known for his work on ''Farscape'' and penning the Farscape movie in 2014. He is the son of children's author F. N. Monjo III and the great-great- ...

Greg Haddrick Gregory Bevan Haddrick (7 September 1960) is an Australian-born Logie Award winning screenwriter and film and television producer. Over the last decade he has won six AWGIE Awards as a writer, two AFI Awards as a producer, and an International ...

, Louise Bowes and Keith Thompson and directed by Leah Purcell, Geoff Bennett and Paul Moloney. The drama centres on part-time country pub singer Billie Carter (

Jessica Mauboy Jessica Hilda Mauboy (born 4 August 1989) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. Born and raised in Darwin, Northern Territory, she rose to fame in 2006 on the fourth season of ''Australian Idol'', where she was runner-up and subseq ...

), who has a chance meeting with a wealthy city hotelier and discovers information about her family and history. The second season premiered on 8 November 2017. On 17 December 2017, it was announced that ''The Secret Daughter'' would not return for a third season in 2018.

Production

The series received a total of A$171,750 in funding from Screen NSW. Filming on the series took place in Sydney and regional New South Wales and wrapped in June 2016. The Seven Network announced in 2016 that the series had been renewed and a second season would screen in 2017. Production began in May 2017 with James Sweeny and

Rachael Maza Rachael Zoa Maza is an Indigenous Australian television and film actress and stage director. Early life and education Maza is of Dutch, Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal Australian heritage, the daughter of Bob Maza, also an actor. She is ...

joining the cast. A distinguishing feature of the program was its

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

aspect was performed almost entirely by Mauboy herself.

Cast

Main

as Billie Carter * David Field as Gus Carter *

Matt Levett Matt Levett is an Australian actor known for his recurring role in the Australian period drama '' A Place to Call Home''. Levett is also notable for his role in the 2014 mini series '' Devil's Playground''; where he portrayed Brendan Mahony. C ...

as Jamie Norton *

Jared Turner Jared Turner (born 12 April 1978) is a New Zealand-born Australian actor, best known for his roles as Ben Maddox in ''Go Girls'' and as Ty Johnson on the television series, '' The Almighty Johnsons''. He is also recognised on New Zealand TV scre ...

as Chris Norton *

Rachel Gordon Rachel Gordon (born 10 May 1976) is an Australian actress. Early life Gordon was born in Brisbane, Australia, the daughter of Donna Gordon. Her great-grandfather was Prime Minister Joseph Lyons, and her great-grandmother was Dame Enid Lyons, ...

as Susan Norton * Jordan Hare as Harriet Norton

Supporting

Colin Friels Colin Friels (born 25 September 1952) is a Scottish-born Australian actor of theatre, TV and film and presenter Early life Friels was born in Kilwinning, Ayrshire, Scotland.Interview with Colin Friels, ''George Negus Tonight'' (ABC Television) ...

as Jack Norton * Salvatore Coco as Bruno Rossi *

Bonnie Sveen Bonnie Sveen (born 14 July 1989) is an Australian actress. She began her acting career at the Huon Valley Theatre Company, before attending the National Institute of Dramatic Art. In 2010, Sveen starred in the multi-story drama film '' Before th ...

as Layla Chapple * J.R. Reyne as Dan Delaney * Libby Asciak as Rachel Rossi * Johnny Boxer as Lloyd Dobson *

Terry Serio Terry Serio is an Australian actor, director, musician and singer-songwriter. He has played recurring roles in several television series, including ''Blue Heelers'', ''Halifax f.p.'' ''Ocean Girl'', '' All Saints'', '' Young Lions'', ''Home and A ...

as Carmine * Harriet Gordon-Anderson as Zoe Menkell * Jeremy Ambrum as Shorty *

Amanda Muggleton Amanda Lillian Muggleton (born 12 October 1951)"Muggleton, Amanda, 1951 ...

as Connie Di Maria *

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 Vivienne Hart *

Ryan O'Kane Ryan O'Kane is a New Zealand actor. His roles include Rhys Levitt in the Australian police drama ''City Homicide'', Prince Frederik in the telemovie '' Mary: The Making of a Princess'', and Riley Hawkins in ''Home and Away''. In 2018 and 2019 ...

as Charlie Stryver * Erin Holland as Della Jensen * James Sweeny as Marc Laurent

Series overview

Episodes

Season 1 (2016)

Season 2 (2017)

Viewership

Season 1 (2016)

Season 2 (2017)

Music

The show's first soundtrack album, '' The Secret Daughter: Songs from the Original TV Series'', was recorded by Jessica Mauboy and featured music used in the first season. It was released on 14 October 2016 by

Sony Music Australia Sony Music Entertainment Australia is the predominant record label operated by American parent company Sony Music Entertainment in Australia. SMEA also formerly published and distributed video games in Australia & New Zealand on behalf of Sony ...

. The album became Mauboy's first number-one album and also made her the first Indigenous artist to reach number one on the

ARIA Albums Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

. The second soundtrack album, '' The Secret Daughter Season Two: Songs from the Original 7 Series'', was also recorded by Mauboy and released on 6 October 2017.

References

External links

* * at

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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Secret Daughter, The 2016 Australian television series debuts 2017 Australian television series endings Television shows set in Sydney Television shows set in New South Wales Australian drama television series English-language television shows Seven Network original programming Television series by Screentime Indigenous Australian television series