''Scrublands'' is an Australian drama series for Stan, released on 16 November 2023, produced by Easy Tiger and based on the novel written by

Chris Hammer Chris Hammer (born 1960) is an Australian journalist and writer of crime fiction. He is known for his best-selling Martin Scarsden series of novels. Early life and education Chris Hammer was born in 1960. Career Hammer has a 30-year caree ...

. The series follows journalist Martin Scarsden, who is following what he believed to be a simple story on the town on the anniversary of a town tragedy. With nothing as it seems, Martin digs deep to reveal the truth behind what happened. A second season of ''Scrublands'' was announced in March 2024. Stan announced the second series would air on 17 April 2025.

Plot

A small isolated town is rocked by tragedy after a local priest shoots dead five parishioners. As the community continues to grieve, journalist Martin Scarsden finds himself in town, in what he thinks will be a simple story about the tragedy. However, what unfolds after finding out the truth will push Martin to his limits. In season two, Martin returns to his childhood town of Silver. When he returns home with his new partner Mandy, but when he finds his best friend dead and his partner Mandy as the main suspect, he pushes to find out the truth of what really happened, the past is dredged up in a town that has tried to keep the past in the past.

Cast

Main

Luke Arnold Luke Arnold (born 1984) is an Australian actor and author, who is known for portraying Long John Silver, John Silver in the Starz (TV channel), Starz drama series ''Black Sails (TV series), Black Sails'' (2014–2017) and INXS singer Michael Hu ...

as Martin Scarsden (season 1 & 2) *

Bella Heathcote Isabella Heathcote (born 27 May 1987) is an Australian actress. Following her film debut in ''Acolytes'' (2008), she had a recurring role as Amanda Fowler on the television soap opera ''Neighbours'' (2009). She gained further recognition for he ...

as Mandy Bond (season 1 & 2) * Sarah Roberts as Beth Ramachandaran (season 1 & 2) *

Toby Truslove Toby Truslove is an Australian film, theatre and television actor. Early life Truslove grew up in Perth, Western Australia, and holidayed on Rottnest Island with his family every summer. His father, Mike, went to the seminary for three years w ...

as Doug Monkton (season 1 & 2)

Season 1 ''(Scrublands)''

* Jay Ryan as Byron Swift * Robert Taylor as Harley Regean *

Martin Copping Peter Martin Copping (born 1 November 1977) is an Australian film, television, theater and video game actor best known for his role as the title character in the exploitation film An exploitation film is a film that seeks commercial success ...

as Craig Landers * Adam Zwar as Robbie Haws-Jones

Season 2 ''(Scrublands: Silver)''

Season two cast were named when the series was renewed on 5 June 2024, with Arnold and Heathcote both reprising their roles from the first series. * Debra Lawrance as Denise Speight * Luke Caroll as Scotty Waaliti / Wesley Patten as Teen Scotty * Ezra Justin as Teen Martin * David Roberts as Vern Jones *

Luke Pegler Luke Pegler (born 1981) is an Australian actor who is known for Scott Wiper's '' The Condemned'' and Gregory Dark's '' See No Evil''. Career Pegler has starred in two WWE Films productions: '' The Condemned'' with Stone Cold Steve Austin, and ...

as Nick Poulos *

Joel Jackson Joel Jackson is an Australian actor and musician. He came to prominence for his performances as Charles Bean in '' Deadline Gallipoli'' and Peter Allen in '' Peter Allen: Not the Boy Next Door''. For both roles he was nominated for the 2015 ...

as Garth McGrath *

Hamish Michael Hamish Michael is an Australian actor. Michael is also a sought after voice artist. Career For his performance in ''Crownies ''Crownies'' is an Australian television drama series which was originally broadcast on ABC1 from 14 July unt ...

as Jasper Speight / Griffin Zardo as Teen Jasper * Damian de Montemas as Tyson St Clair * Megan Hollier as Keira *

Caroline Brazier Caroline Brazier is an Australian actress who is best known for the role of Chrissy Merchant in ''Packed to the Rafters'' and the starring roles of Veronica Johnson and her twin sister Betti in the children's television series ''Parallax''. Braz ...

as Jennifer 'Jay Jay' Hayes

Episodes

Season 1 (2023)

Season 2 (Silver) (2025)

Production

The series is based on the novel written by

. Production of the series was announced on 27 February 2023 as a joint filming commission between Stan and the

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

, with filming taking place in Victoria.

, and Jay Ryan were cast in the lead roles. Greg McLean directed the series, with Felicity Packard, Kelsey Munro, and

Jock Serong Jock Serong is an Australian writer. Serong grew up in Melbourne’s bayside suburbs and completed his secondary education at Xavier College in Kew. From years 4-8 he attended Xavier’s Kostka Hall junior campus in Brighton. He graduated fro ...

as writers. Season 1 was produced by Easy Tiger.

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

acquired the rights to air the show in the UK. US broadcaster

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

announced in April 2024 that it had acquired the rights for the series. In March 2024 a second season was announced. In June 2024, it was announced that filming would be moving from

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

Release

Season 1 of the series was released on Stan on 16 November 2023, and was aired on

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

in the UK in the same month, it also aired on

from 2 May 2024. On 17 March 2025, Stan announced that series 2 will air on 17 April 2025. On 10 March 2025, Channel 9 announced it would be airing the first season from 18 March 2025.

Reception

Luke Buckmaster of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' rated the series 4 stars, saying the story can be a "bit pulpy", but that it was a rock solid addition to " rural noir". David Knox of ''TV Tonight'' also rated the series 4 stars. Knox said that while the four episodes make for a slow burn, it remained engaging with the cast and story.

References

External links

* {{Stan (streaming service) Australian English-language television shows Australian drama television series 2020s Australian drama television series