''The Librarians'' is an Australian television comedy series which premiered on 31 October 2007 on ABC TV. In the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

, the show aired on

RTÉ Two (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Republic of Ireland, Irish Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, television, RT� ...

. The series is produced and written by Robyn Butler and

Wayne Hope Wayne Hope is an Australian actor, writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop diffe ...

who are also the principal cast members. Hope is also the series' director. The first series comprised six half-hour episodes. The second series with another six episodes began airing on 5 August 2009 and was filmed at the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds. The series centres on the trials and tribulations of Frances O'Brien, a devoutly

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, sexless, inept, humorless, blithely racist, self-important and insensitive Head

Librarian A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educat ...

. Her life unravels when she is forced to employ her ex-best friend, Christine Grimwood – now a petty drug dealer who needs a character reference – as the Children's Librarian. Frances must do all she can to contain her menacing past and concentrate on the biggest event of the library calendar – Book Week. Filming on a third and final series took place in early 2010Filming starts on series 3 of The Librarians
– ABCTV Blog, ''29 April 2010''. and aired on

ABC1 ABC TV, formerly known as ABC1, is an Australian national public television network. It is owned and operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is the flagship (broadcasting), flagship ABC Television (Australian TV network), A ...

later that year. The theme music for ''The Librarians'' is an upbeat variation on the popular jazz tune " A Night in Tunisia" by

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

. ''The Librarians'' was rated M in New Zealand for offensive language, sexual references and drug use.

Episodes

Season 1: 2007

Season 2: 2009

Season 3: 2010

Cast

Main cast

* Robyn Butler as Frances O'Brien * Roz Hammond as Christine Grimwood * Heidi Arena as Dawn McConnichie, in a wheelchair, thanks to Frances' inattention * Stephen Ballantyne as Matthew Bytnskov * Keith Brockett as Ky Lee * Bob Franklin as Neil Slider, attracted to Christine *

as Terry O'Brien, in love with his wife, who ignores him * Nicole Nabout as Nada al Farouk, a smart Muslim lady and target of Frances' intolerance *

Kim Gyngell Kim Gyngell, sometimes also credited as Kym Gyngell, is an Australian comedian and film, television and stage actor. Gyngell won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 1988 for his role as Ian McKenzie in ''B ...

as Father Harris, irritated by Frances' religiosity *

Josh Lawson Josh Lawson is an Australian actor best known for his role as Doug Guggenheim in '' House of Lies'', Tate in '' Superstore'' and as Kano in the 2021 film ''Mortal Kombat''. Early life Lawson grew up in Brisbane, and attended St Joseph's Coll ...

as Lachie Davis (Series 1) * Fiona Harris as Jane (Series 2 and 3) * Victoria Eagger as Pearl O'Leary (Series 3)

Guests

* Grant Piro as Piero (Series 1) *

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 ...

as Life Coach (Series 1) * Kate Kendall as Jacinta McSweeney (Series 1) *

Greg Stone Gregory "Greg" Jonathon Stone (born 23 June 1961 in Perth, Western Australia) is an Australian actor who has appeared in films, television and on stage. Early life Stone was born in Perth, Western Australia to parents Roy and Jennifer Stone a ...

as Premier Carter (Series 1) * Molly Daniels as Bridget / Bernadette (Series 1 and 2) * Noni Hazelhurst as Midwife (season 2) * Marty Sheargold as Paolo (seasons 2 and 3) *

Hamish Blake Hamish Donald Blake (born 11 December 1981) is an Australian comedian, television and radio presenter, actor and author. Since 2003, he has worked with Andy Lee as part of the comedy duo Hamish and Andy. The pair have performed live and on ...

as HD News Journalist, Jake Jackson (season 2) * Lesley Baker as Christine's Aunt (season 2, 1 episode) *

Vince Colosimo Vincenzo Colosimo is an Australian stage, television and screen actor. He has worked in both Australia and the United States. He is of Italian descent and lives in Melbourne, Australia. He was previously married to Australian actress Jane Hall ...

as Adrian Green, Head of the Australian Library Association (season 2) * Tony Martin as Gene, Adrian Green's boyfriend (season 2) * Angus Sampson as Xavier Fisher (season 3) * Tony Moclair as Bingo (season 3) * Justin Hamilton as Biscuit (season 3) * Lachy Hulme as Hasan, Nada's ex-husband (season 3) * Peta Brady as Marzena Stovic (2 episodes) *

Peter Garrett Peter Robert Garrett (born 16 April 1953) is an Australian musician, environmentalist, activist and former politician. In 1973, Garrett became the lead singer of the Australian rock band Midnight Oil. As a performer he is known for his sign ...

as himself (season 3) * Hannah Gadsby as Carmel (seasons 2 and 3) * Celia Pacquola as Indigo (season 3) * Patrick Brammall as Stuart (season 3) * Amanda Muggleton as Rose McConnichie (season 3) * Toby Truslove as Dave

Awards and nominations

Series 1 DVD & Blu-ray release

Series 2 DVD & Blu-ray release

References

External links

ABC TV – The Librarians
* * Lallo, Michael

TV Week''The Librarians'' – Episode 1
at

Australian Screen Online The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting, and providing access to a national c ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Librarians (2007 TV series), The 2007 Australian television series debuts 2010 Australian television series endings Australian television sitcoms Australian workplace comedy television series Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming Television shows set in Melbourne Fiction about dyslexia Television shows set in libraries