Four Years Later
{{Short description|Australian-Indian romance drama}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2024}}
{{use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox television
| genre = Romance drama
| creator = Mithila Gupta
| writer = Mithila Gupta
Nicole Reddy
S. Shakthidharan
| director = Mohini Herse
Fadia Abboud
| starring = Shahana Goswami
Akshay Ajit Singh
Kate Box
Taj Aldeeb
Roy Joseph
Yohan Philip
Luke Arnold
| composer = Isha Ram Das
| country = Australia
India
| language = English
Hindi
| num_seasons = 1
| num_episodes = 8
| producer = Ian Collie
Stephen Corvini
Rob Gibson
| executive_producer = Mithila Gupta
| runtime = 30 minutes
| company = Easy Tiger Productions
| network = SBS
| first_aired = {{Start date|2024|10|02|df=y}}
| last_aired = {{End date|2024|10|23|df=y}}
}}
Four Years Later, originally titled Four Years is an eight-part Australian-Indian romance drama, premiering on SBS and SBS on Demand on 2 October 2024. It is created, co-written, and executive produced by Mithila Gupta, and stars Shahana Goswami, Akshay Ajit Singh, Kate Box, and Luke Arnold.
Synopsis
The series follows the love story of two residents from Jaipur, one of them being an aspiring doctor, whose families plan an arranged marriage. The doctor is almost immediately offered a medical traineeship in Australia, while the other resident (Sridevi) stays in India, resulting in the couple being separated for four years.
Production
The series is created, co-written, and executive produced by Mithila Gupta, who has also written on The Heights, Bump, Doctor Doctor, Neighbours, and many other successful TV series.{{Cite web |date=17 April 2019 |title=Mithila Gupta |url=https://www.rgm.com.au/literary/mithila-gupta/ |access-date=31 October 2024 |website=RGM}}{{Cite web |title=Mithila Gupta |url=https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/the-screen-guide/p/mithila-gupta/41097 |access-date=31 October 2024 |website=Screen Australia}} She moved with her family from Jaipur to Australia when she was four, so understands much about the migrant experience.{{Cite web |last=Russell |first=Stephen A. |date=26 September 2024 |title=Love is being seen: showrunner Mithila Gupta on the beauty of 'Four Years Later' |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/whats-on/article/love-is-being-seen-showrunner-mithila-gupta-on-the-beauty-of-four-years-later/wg3wyccy6 |access-date=29 September 2024 |website=SBS What's On |publisher=Special Broadcasting Service |language=en}}
Writing consultants included Nicole Reddy, of Fijian heritage, and Tamil Sri Lankan writer S. Shakthidharan,{{Cite web |last=Dalgarno |first=Paul |date=31 January 2024 |title=Four Years Later: SBS drama starts filming in India |url=https://www.screenhub.com.au/news/news/for-years-later-sbs-drama-starts-filming-in-india-2633823/ |access-date=28 September 2024 |website=ScreenHub |publisher=Creative Hubs Group |language=en-AU}} creator of the hit stage show Counting and Cracking. Ian Collie, Stephen Corvini, and Rob Gibson are the producers of the series, while Fadia Abboud and Mohini Herse direct the series.{{Cite press release |title=Screen Australia and SBS announce new intoxicating romance Four Years |date=31 October 2023 |publisher=Screen Australia |url=https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/sa/media-centre/news/2023/10-31-new-romance-four-years |language=en |access-date=29 September 2024}}
Filming of the eight-part romance drama series from Easy Tiger Productions began in the Indian cities of Mumbai and Jaipur in January 2024, before moving to Sydney in February. It was originally titled Four Years.
The series uses both Hindi and English.{{Cite web |last=Perry |first=Kevin |date=6 September 2024 |title=SBS Unveils New Drama FOUR YEARS LATER: A Cross-Cultural Love Story |url=https://tvblackbox.com.au/page/2024/09/06/sbs-unveils-new-drama-four-years-later-a-cross-cultural-love-story/ |access-date=29 September 2024 |website=TV Blackbox |language=en-AU}}
Cast
The cast was announced on 4 September 2024:
- Shahana Goswami as Sridevi
- Akshay Ajit Singh as Yash
- Kate Box as Gabs
- Taj Aldeeb as Jamal
- Roy Joseph as Arun
- Luke Arnold as Matt
- Yohan Philip as Rohit
- Philip Quast as Dr Sandy Green
Broadcast
The series premiered with double episodes on SBS on 2 October 2024, with all episodes streaming on SBS on Demand from that date and screening double episodes each Wednesday for four weeks.{{Cite web |last=Dalgarno |first=Paul |date=4 September 2024 |title=SBS On Demand: Australian-Indian drama Four Years gets premiere date |url=https://www.screenhub.com.au/news/news/sbs-on-demand-australian-indian-drama-four-years-gets-premiere-date-2651251/ |access-date=28 September 2024 |website=ScreenHub |publisher=Creative Hubs Group |language=en-AU}} The series has been subtitled in seven languages: Arabic, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Hindi, and Punjabi, and all episodes are also available with audio description.
Reception
The first two episodes of the show garnered 115,000 viewers.{{Cite web |last=Knox |first=David |date=3 October 2024 |title=All the drama of Wednesday ratings... |url=https://tvtonight.com.au/2024/10/all-the-drama-of-wednesday-ratings.html |access-date=3 October 2024 |website=TV Tonight |language=en-AU}}
The Sunday Age stated: "The relatively soft launch of this debut by Five Bedrooms screenwriter Mithila Gupta in this timeslot makes little sense".{{Cite news |date=29 September 2024 |title=TV WEDNESDAY 2/10 |newspaper=The Sunday Age |publisher=Nine Entertainment |location=Melbourne |page=9 |id={{ProQuest|3110694144}}}}
Sukhmani Khorana, a scholar of migrants' screen media and associate professor at UNSW Sydney, called it "not just an Indian-Australian love story... [but also] a closeted feminist coming-of-age tale", that would appeal to a diverse TV audience.{{Cite web |last=Khorana |first=Sukhmani |date=7 October 2024 |title=SBS's Four Years Later is an immigrant love story that pushes the boundaries of onscreen representation |url=https://theconversation.com/sbss-four-years-later-is-an-immigrant-love-story-that-pushes-the-boundaries-of-onscreen-representation-240219 |access-date=15 October 2024 |website=The Conversation}}
The Nightly called it "a great series that tells a specific but universal Australian story".{{Cite news |last=Ma |first=Wenmei |date=2 October 2024 |title=Four Years Later: Romantic drama of rarely told Australian story worth watching |url=https://thenightly.com.au/culture/tv/four-years-later-romantic-drama-of-rarely-told-australian-story-worth-watching-c-16253115 |access-date=31 October 2024 |work=The Nightly}}
ScreenHub Australia gave it 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "compulsive viewing", "sharply observed and full of telling details when it comes to love", and "a well-written and eminently watchable modern love story".{{Cite web |last=Morris |first=Anthony |date=2 October 2024 |title=Four Years Later, SBS review: compulsive viewing |url=https://www.screenhub.com.au/news/reviews/four-years-later-sbs-review-compulsive-viewing-2653538/ |access-date=31 October 2024 |website=ScreenHub Australia}}
Episodes
| class="wikitable"
|+ !No. !Title !Directed By !Written By !SBS on Demand air date !Television air date !Viewers |
| 1
|Episode 1 | rowspan="2" |Mohini Herse | rowspan="8" |Mithila Gupta | rowspan="8" |2 October 2024 | rowspan="2" |2 October 2024 |
| 2
|Episode 2 |
| 3
|Episode 3 |Fadia Abboud | rowspan="2" |9 October 2024 | rowspan="2" |69,000{{Cite web |last=Knox |first=David |date=10 October 2024 |title=Block, Human Error help Nine to Wednesday win. |url=https://tvtonight.com.au/2024/10/block-human-error-help-nine-to-wednesday-win.html |access-date=10 October 2024 |website=TV Tonight |language=en-AU}} |
| 4
|Episode 4 |Mohini Herse |
| 5
|Episode 5 | rowspan="3" |Fadia Abboud | rowspan="2" |16 October 2024 |
| 6
|Episode 6 |
| 7
|Episode 7 | rowspan="2" | 23 October 2024 |
| 8
|Episode 8 |Mohini Herse |
Accolades
| class="wikitable sortable"
!Year !Category !Nominee !Result !Ref |
| 2025
|Best Miniseries |Four Years Later - Easy Tiger Productions |Nominated |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|id=tt31632538}}
- {{Official website|https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-series/four-years-later}}
Category:2024 Australian television series debuts
Category:2024 Indian television series debuts
Category:2024 Australian television series endings
Category:2024 Indian television series endings
Category:Special Broadcasting Service original programming
Category:Television shows filmed in India
Category:Television shows set in Sydney