''Grass Roots'' is an Australian

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

series produced by 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-owne ...

between 2000 and 2003.

Synopsis

The series is set around the fictional Arcadia Waters Council ( LGA) near

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

, and was primarily a satirical look at the machinations of local government. It was written by Geoffrey Atherden.

Production

Part of the series was filmed in the inner west

suburb of

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

. Many external shots of Arcadia waters Council chambers used

Council Chambers as a setting. The Council Chambers themselves (external shots, and the "Site Shed" Scenes, plus a couple of other external scenes were filmed in a Factory at the end of Mars Road Lane Cove. Other various locations around Concord, particularly in the shopping centre and cafes in Majors Bay Road were used. Beach scenes were filmed at Mona Vale, New South Wales on Sydney's northern beaches, while the location "Cemetery Point" was filmed at the Mona Vale headland reserve.

Series overview

Regular cast

* Geoff Morrell as Col Dunkley *

Zoe Carides Zoe Carides (born 19 February 1962) is an Australian actress of film and television, who is best known for her roles in ''Death in Brunswick'' as Sophie, '' G. P.'' as Dr. Sonia Kapek and ''Grass Roots'' as Liz Murray. Family Carides was born ...

as Liz Murray * John Clayton as Harry Bond * Rhondda Findleton as Karin Schumaker *

Sophie Heathcote Sophie Heathcote (25 December 1970 – 4 January 2006) was an Australian actor, known for her role in film Reckless Kelly and for her regular television serial roles, including ''A Country Practice'', '' Water Rats'' and ''Grass Roots'' Biog ...

(Season 1) and Jodie Dry (Season 2) as Biddy Marchant * Sacha Horler as Helen Mansoufis (Season 1, Season 2 - 2 episodes) *

Rhys Muldoon Rhys Muldoon (born 17 October 1965) is an Australian actor, writer and director who has worked extensively in film, television, music, theatre and radio. Since 2012 he has starred as Mark Oliver in ''House Husbands''. Career Television Muldoon ...

as Greg Dominelli * Chris Haywood as George Hasnakov * Michael Craig as Gordon Mahon * Sandy Gore as Salwah Mandinkis * Matthew Newton (Season 1) as Derek Garner *

Lucy Bell Lucy Bell (born 23 December 1968) is an English-born Australian actress who appears in Australian television and film. She is the daughter of Australian actor/director John Bell. Her partner is James O'Loghlin and they have three daughters. ...

(Season 2) as Emily Bell * Pauline Chan (Season 1) and

Theresa Wong Theresa Wong (born March 31, 1976) is an American cellist, vocalist, composer and improviser in the field of experimental music. In 2013 she lived in the San Francisco Bay Area. Early life and education She was born in Schenectady, New York, Uni ...

(Season 2) as Irene Cheung * Melissa Jaffer (Season 1) and Kerry Walker (Season 2) as Fran Smith *

Nicholas Papademetriou Nicholas Papademetriou is an Australian actor of Greek Cypriot descent with many television, film and theatre credits. He is a graduate of Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. He has had an extensive career in film and television si ...

as Victor Trujillo *

Judi Farr Judi Farr (born c.1938/1939), also credited as Judy Farr, is an Australian former actress of theatre, film and television best known for several situation comedy roles on Australian television. Farr has also appeared in Australian films such ...

as Janice Corniglio *

Tara Morice Tara Morice (born 23 June 1964) is an Australian actress. Background Born in Hobart, Tasmania, Morice also lived in Sydney, Alice Springs and Adelaide as a child. She is a fifth-generation Australian and is of English, Irish, Scottish, Latvia ...

as Julie Dunkley *

Mary Coustas Mary Coustas (born 16 September 1964) is an Australian actress, comedian and television personality and writer. Originally from Melbourne, Coustas often performs as the character " Effie", a stereotypical second-generation Greek Australian pro ...

as Ava Strick (Season 2) * John Gregg as Morgan Bartok * Tammy MacIntosh as Marilyn Hennessy (Season 1) *

Peter Kowitz Peter Kowitz is an Australian actor. Film and television acting His television credits include: ''Prime Time'', '' Richmond Hill'', ''Rafferty's Rules'', ''Chances'', ''Pacific Drive'', '' Water Rats'', '' Big Sky'', ''Halifax f.p.'', ''Swimm ...

as Warwick Marchant *

Alan Cinis Alan Cinis (born 10 August 1960 in Orange, New South Wales), an Australian politician and actor, has served as a Councillor on Leichhardt Council, Sydney, New South Wales, representing the NSW Greens since 2008. As an actor, Cinis has starred ...

as Justin Thyer *

Mitchell Butel Mitchell Patrick Butel (born 10 February 1970) is an Australian actor, singer, director and writer. He is best known for his work in theatre, including musical and opera productions. He has been the artistic director of the State Theatre Compan ...

as Max Werring

Episodes

Season 1 (2000)

Season 2 (2003)

References

External links

Official website (Season 1)
– Archived
Official website (Season 2)
– Archived * 2000 Australian television series debuts 2003 Australian television series endings 2000s Australian comedy television series Australian political comedy television series Television shows set in New South Wales Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming Local government in New South Wales Local government in Australia {{Australia-tv-prog-stub