''False Witness'', also known as ''The Diplomat'' internationally, is a two-part Australian television mini-series, produced by Screentime Australia, and broadcast simultaneously on the Australian subscription television channel UK.TV and

BBC HD BBC HD was a high-definition television channel owned by the BBC. The channel was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007 before its discontinuation on 25 March 2013. It broadcast only during ...

. Commissioned as part of its required drama output, ''False Witness'' was the third in a series of drama commissions by the network in 2008, following '' Make or Break'' and ''

Supernova A supernova (: supernovae or supernovas) is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. A supernova occurs during the last stellar evolution, evolutionary stages of a massive star, or when a white dwarf is triggered into runaway nuclear fusion ...

''. Inspired by real events, ''The Diplomat'' stars Dougray Scott as Ian Porter, a British diplomat to

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

, who comes under scrutiny from Scotland Yard whilst trying to prevent the sale of a nuclear bomb formerly belonging to the Soviet Union. The series premiered in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

on 11 January 2009, with the second episode broadcast the following night. The series also broadcast in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

on iOn as a four-hour event on 17 January 2009. Despite being co-produced by the BBC, the series was never broadcast on terrestrial television in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, instead being made available on DVD on 14 March 2011 via Showbox Entertainment. The series was, however, broadcast on

True Entertainment True Entertainment was a British free-to-air television channel that was launched on 3 August 2009, replacing Showcase TV. The change was originally scheduled to happen on 1 July 2009, but a late change put the change "on hold until further no ...

Cast

* Dougray Scott as Ian Porter * Rachael Blake as

Detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...

Chief Inspector Julie Hales * Jeremy Lindsay Taylor as Mark Wilson * Richard Roxburgh as Charles Van Koors *

Claire Forlani Claire Antonia Forlani (born December 1971) is an English actress. She became known in the mid-1990s for her leading role in the film '' Mallrats'', and in the Jean-Michel Basquiat 1996 biopic '' Basquiat''. In 1998, she achieved wide recogniti ...

as Pippa Porter * Don Hany as Sergei Krousov * Jonny Pasvolsky as Antonio Morelli * Tony Martin as Bill Murray *

Socratis Otto Socratis Otto is an Australian film, theatre and television actor. He is best known for his roles in television series ''Young Lions (TV series), Young Lions'' as Justin Carmody, ''Home and Away'' as Robert Robertson (Home and Away), Robert Ro ...

as Shannon Cross *

Stephen Curry Wardell Stephen Curry II ( ; born March 14, 1988) is an American professional basketball player and point guard for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Chef Curry", he is widely regarded as the ...

Sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

Neil Trent * Alex Menglet as Dimitri * Shane Briant as Winston Beale * Costa Ronin as Vladimir

Episodes

References

External links

* * {{AACTA Award TeleFilmMiniSeries 1990–2009 2000s Australian television miniseries 2009 Australian television series debuts 2009 Australian television series endings