''Aftertaste'' is an Australian television comedy series on ABC TV, first airing on 3 February 2021. It is created by Julie De Fina and Matthew Bate, produced by Closer Productions. The first season was directed by

Jonathan Brough Jonathan Brough is a New Zealand-born film director based in Australia. He is best known for the comedy TV series ''Rosehaven'', ''Aftertaste'' and '' The Family Law''. Early life and education Brough grew up in Hawera, New Zealand, the son o ...

, and the second, airing from 20 July 2022, by

Renée Webster Renée Webster is a filmmaker from Western Australia. She is known for her direction work on several TV series, including '' The Heights'', and on television commercials. Her first feature film, '' How to Please a Woman'', was released in 2022. ...

Plot summary

The series revolves around Easton West, an internationally renowned, yet volatile celebrity chef who has a spectacular fall from grace and returns to his hometown in the Adelaide Hills. He endeavours to rebuild his career and restore his reputation, with the help of his talented, young, pastry-chef niece Diana.

Cast

Season 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'' a ...

as Easton West * Natalie Abbott as Diana *

Rachel Griffiths Rachel Anne Griffiths (born in 1968) is an Australian actress. Raised primarily in Melbourne, she began her acting career appearing on the Australian series ''Secrets'' before being cast in a supporting role in the comedy ''Muriel's Wedding'' ...

as Margot * Wayne Blair as Brett * Susan Prior as Denise * Peter Carroll as Jim * Remy Hii as Ben Zhao *

Kavitha Anandasivam Kavitha Anandasivam is a Sri Lankan Australian actress, known for starring in SBS (Australian TV channel), SBS's 2019 mini-series, ''The Hunting''. In 2019, the Casting Guild of Australia named her among their 10 "Rising Stars" to watch. She appe ...

as Nayani * Justin Amankwah as Kwame * Matt Vesely, as Max

Season 2

Most of the Season 1 cast, as well as: *

Lynette Curran Lynette Curran is an Australian actress known for many roles in Australian television series and films, including the soap opera '' Bellbird'', and the films ''Country Town'' (1971) and '' Bliss'' (1985). Theatre She started acting in the t ...

as June *

Julian Maroun Julian Maroun (born 4 April 1993) is an Australian actor, best known for his roles as Corporal Peter "Pepsi" Abboud in '' Fighting Season'' and Farid in Logie Award-winning miniseries ''Romper Stomper''. Early life Maroun's parents were born ...

as Harry * Syd Brisbane as Terry *

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 Tammy * Chrissie Page as Pastor Penny

Episodes

Series Overview

Season 1 (2021)

Season 2 (2022)

Production

''Aftertaste'' was produced by Closer Productions for 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 ...

. The ABC provided the majority of financing with

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 ...

and the South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) also being significant sources of finance. The series was made during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Australia The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first confirmed case in Australia was identified on 25 Januar ...

, which required the navigation of additional obstacles. SAFC offered business resilience training and other help to the Closer Productions Team. The producers were Rebecca Summerton, Matthew Bate and

, while Julie De Fina was executive producer. The series was created by De Fina and Bate; it was written by De Fina, Bate and Matt Vesely. The executive producer for the ABC was Rebecca Anderson. Jonathan Brough, who directed ''

Rosehaven ''Rosehaven'' is an Australian television comedy series created and written by Celia Pacquola and Luke McGregor, who also star in the lead roles. Its name derives from the fictional small town in rural Tasmania in which it is set. Premierin ...

'' and '' The Family Law'', directed the first season of the series. In November 2021 it was announced that a second series had been commissioned by the ABC, which was being filmed in early 2022, directed by

. Filming was completed in March. While season one centred on the small town of Uraidla, east of the

city of Adelaide The City of Adelaide, also known as the Corporation of the City of Adelaide and Adelaide City Council is a local government area in the metropolitan area of greater Adelaide, South Australia and is legally defined as the capital city of South ...

, and was filmed on location around there, the second series was filmed in a more southerly part of the Adelaide Hills, between Kangarilla and

Meadows A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artificia ...

Release

The series first premiered on 3 February 2021 on the ABC TV channel. The second season of the series goes to air on 20 July 2022.

Worldwide distribution

ABC Commercial ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

has international distribution rights, and in February 2022 sold the first series to US streaming service Acorn TV, for release in the US, UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, and Canada. Season 1 is also available in French and Spanish.

Reception

In a review of the first two episodes, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' called it a "sharp satire" that's "smart, dynamic and laugh-out-loud funny". '' Broadsheet'' called it a "very, very funny show", which incorporates important themes while remaining "delightfully silly and vulgar television". Graeme Blundell, in ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

'', called the writing "polished and witty", the direction achieving "the right density of texture and atmosphere", and especially praised newcomer Abbott's performance.

References

External links

* {{ABC Television programming Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming Australian comedy television series 2021 Australian television series debuts Television shows set in South Australia English-language television shows