Secrets & Lies (Australian TV series)
{{Use Australian English|date=May 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2015}}
{{Infobox television
| image =
| caption =
| alt_name =
| genre = Drama
Detective fiction
Mystery
Crime
Psychological thriller
| creator = Stephen M. Irwin
| based_on =
| developer =
| writer = Stephen M. Irwin
Lucas Taylor
Kylie Needham
| director = Kate Dennis
Peter Salmon
| creative_director =
| starring = Martin Henderson
Anthony Hayes
Diana Glenn
Adrienne Pickering
Philippa Coulthard
Piper Morrissey
Damon Gameau
Hunter Stratton Boland
| theme_music_composer =
| opentheme =
| endtheme =
| composer =
| country = Australia
| language = English
| num_seasons = 1
| num_episodes = 6
| list_episodes =
| executive_producer =
| producer = Tracey Robertson
Leigh McGrath
| editor =
| location = Ashgrove, Brisbane, Australia
| cinematography =
| camera =
| runtime = 48 minutes
| company = Hoodlum Entertainment{{cite web |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/big-city-bruisers-in-fat-tony-and-secrets-lies/story-fn9n8gph-1226840815697# |title=Big city bruisers in Fat Tony and Secrets & Lies |last1=Blundell |first1=Graeme |date=1 March 2014 |website=The Australian |publisher=News Ltd. |accessdate=12 May 2014}}
| channel = Network Ten
| first_aired = {{start date|2014|3|3|df=y}}
| last_aired = {{end date|2014|4|7|df=y}}
| related = Secrets and Lies (US)
}}
Secrets & Lies is an Australian drama television series that first screened on Network Ten on 3 March 2014, and was subsequently aired in other countries. It was filmed in Brisbane, Queensland.{{Cite web |date=2014-03-03 |title=Queensland’s Secrets & Lies an international sensation |url=https://screenqueensland.com.au/uncategorized/queenslands-secrets-lies-an-international-sensation/ |access-date=2024-03-08 |website=Screen Queensland |language=en-US}}
When originally broadcast, an associated website simultaneously published additional "clues" — images and video clips — evidential material and records of interviews from the fictional world of the story. In the DVD issue, these items are reproduced as "extras" with the relevant chapters.
Plot
The series follows the story of a family man who finds the body of a young boy and quickly becomes the prime suspect in his murder.
It emerges fairly early that the boy was his son from an extra-marital affair which is not quite over; the weapon used was an up-market torch (US:flashlight) identical to one he owns but can no longer locate. He cannot account for his movements, his wife has good reason to be suspicious of him; his elder daughter, who is attracted to a disreputable boy, is distant; only his wilful younger daughter is loyal, but consequently disrespectful of her mother.
Not content to let the police do their work, and becoming increasingly frustrated at being questioned repeatedly, he tries to prove his innocence but only makes matters worse, goaded on by a well-meaning but obtuse fellow-tradesman.
The film is set in Brisbane, South East Queensland, with its characteristic tropical architecture and weather, laissez-faire attitude to security and vast swathes of bushland. It is set at Christmas time, but apart from an indoor Christmas tree and decorations, some gift-giving and parties, this is given little prominence.
Cast
=Main=
- Martin Henderson as Ben Gundelach
- Anthony Hayes as Detective Ian Cornielle
- Diana Glenn as Christy Gundelach
- Adrienne Pickering as Jess Murnane
- Philippa Coulthard as Tasha Gundelach
- Piper Morrissey as Eva Gundelach
- Damon Gameau as Dave Carroll
- Hunter Stratton Boland as Thom Murnane
=Recurring and guest=
- Mouche Phillips as Vanessa Turner
- Damien Garvey as Stuart Haire
- Steven Tandy as Kevin Gresham
- Barbara Lowing as Elaine Gresham
- Hugh Parker as Dr Tim Turner
- Ben Lawson as Paul Murnane
- Mirrah Foulkes as Nicole
Episodes
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! style="background:#191970; color:#fff; text-align:center; width:5%;"|No. in series | style="background:#191970; color:#fff; text-align:center; width:5%;"|No. in season | style="background:#191970; color:#fff; text-align:center; width:25%;"|Title | style="background:#191970; color:#fff; text-align:center; width:16%;"|Directed by | style="background:#191970; color:#fff; text-align:center; width:28%;"|Written by | style="background:#191970; color:#fff; text-align:center; width:14%;"|Original air date | style="background:#191970; color:#fff; text-align:center; width:7%;"|Australian viewers |
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{{Episode list/sublist|Secrets & Lies (Australian TV series)
| EpisodeNumber = 1 | EpisodeNumber2 = 1 | Title = Episode 1 | DirectedBy = Kate Dennis | WrittenBy = Stephen M. Irwin | OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2014|3|3|df=y}} | ShortSummary = Ben Gundelach's life is turned upside down when he discovers the body of four-year-old Thom Murnane in the woods near his home. Ben finds himself struggling with his home and professional lives when the case receives national attention and the media portray him as guilty before the police even rule the death as suspicious. | LineColor = 191970 }} {{Episode list/sublist|Secrets & Lies (Australian TV series) | EpisodeNumber = 2 | EpisodeNumber2 = 2 | Title = Episode 2 | DirectedBy = Kate Dennis | WrittenBy = Stephen M. Irwin & Lucas Taylor | OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2014|3|10|df=y}} | ShortSummary = Ben struggles to prove his innocence when the police identify the murder weapon as a flashlight the same as one he owns but cannot find. As he tries to help Jess Murnane deal with her son's death, he comes to the horrifying realisation that his own daughter might have been involved. | LineColor = 191970 }} {{Episode list/sublist|Secrets & Lies (Australian TV series) | EpisodeNumber = 3 | EpisodeNumber2 = 3 | Title = Episode 3 | DirectedBy = Kate Dennis | WrittenBy = Lucas Taylor, Kylie Needham & Stephen M. Irwin | OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2014|3|17|df=y}} | ShortSummary = When the media circus lose interest in Thom Murnane's case, and the police investigation moves away from him, Ben hopes his life can return to normal – but the revelation that he was Thom's biological father brings tensions in the Gundelach home to a head. When the only other suspect has an alibi, Ben finds a key piece of evidence that could prove him innocent – and makes a mistake that could seal his guilt. | LineColor = 191970 }} {{Episode list/sublist|Secrets & Lies (Australian TV series) | EpisodeNumber = 4 | EpisodeNumber2 = 4 | Title = Episode 4 | DirectedBy = Peter Salmon | WrittenBy = Lucas Taylor, Kylie Needham & Stephen M. Irwin | OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2014|3|24|df=y}} | ShortSummary = Now in possession of the murder weapon, Ben tries to return to a normal life until he can safely get rid of it. By chance, he stumbles onto evidence of a sexual predator living on his street, and, finally convinced that he knows who killed Thom, he takes the opportunity to dispose of the weapon. But, in his haste, his wife catches him getting rid of the evidence. | LineColor = 191970 }} {{Episode list/sublist|Secrets & Lies (Australian TV series) | EpisodeNumber = 5 | EpisodeNumber2 = 5 | Title = Episode 5 | DirectedBy = Peter Salmon | WrittenBy = Stephen M. Irwin & Lucas Taylor | OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2014|3|31|df=y}} | ShortSummary = When Christy uses Tasha and Eva to hold their relationship hostage, Ben turns to Jess for comfort. But the relationship turns sour when Ben finds evidence implicating her in Thom's death. | LineColor = 191970 }} {{Episode list/sublist|Secrets & Lies (Australian TV series) | EpisodeNumber = 6 | EpisodeNumber2 = 6 | Title = Episode 6 | DirectedBy = Peter Salmon | WrittenBy = Stephen M. Irwin & Lucas Taylor | OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2014|4|7|df=y}} | ShortSummary = Eva disappears without warning, and in desperation, Ben accuses Jess of taking her. Jess responds by accusing him of sexual assault. He is detained, but set free again after the police find the blue jacket in Jess' house. The next morning, he walks into Eva's cabin, where he finds the final piece of evidence to identify the killer: Eva. In the interview room with Cornielle, Eva displays a cold emotionless front indicative of a sociopath as it is revealed, through a series of flashbacks, that she overheard her parents arguing about Ben's affair with Jess. Fearing it would tear them apart (and her father would leave – a common obsession she displayed throughout the series), Eva planned to drown Thom in a river in the hopes that Jess would leave their street for good; when it rained and Thom wanted to go home she couldn't get him to the river and instead used the torch to kill him. She revealed that her attempts to hide the evidence wasn't to frame her father but to frame Jess. Back in the interview room she says "sorry" explaining none of this would've happened if she had got him to the river. Christy (who is now seen to have been in the room) blurts out crying; Ben watches from behind the mirror as his little girl is charged with her own half-brother's murder, then he's driven home by Cornielle who tells him to take care. Ben stands in the kitchen staring at a photo of himself and Eva when Tasha takes his hand and the two hug. | LineColor = 191970 }} |
Release
The series first screened on Network Ten on 3 March 2014.
It aired in the Republic of Ireland on RTÉ TWO HD from 30 March 2014,{{cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/drama/tv/featured/secretsandlies/ |title=Secrets and Lies – RTÉ Drama |publisher=RTÉ.ie |date= |access-date=12 May 2014}} and in Canada on the CBC in July 2014.{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/mediacentre/secrets-and-lies.html#.U_FysPldUuc|title=CBC Media Centre - CBC - Secrets & Lies|date=15 April 2015|work=CBC|access-date=4 May 2015}} It premiered in the Netherlands on RTL 4 on 24 August 2014.{{cite web|url=http://pressroom.rtl.nl/rtl4/persberichten/persbericht/complete-australische-dramaserie-secrets-lies-in-drie-avonden-te-zien-bij-r|title=Complete Australische dramaserie 'Secrets & Lies' in drie avonden te zien bij RTL 4 - RTL Pressroom|work=RTL Pressroom|access-date=4 May 2015}} Started in the UK on 23 September 2014 on Channel 5 and in France from 26 January to 2 February 2015 on France2.{{cite web|url=http://www.france2.fr/emissions/secrets-and-lies|title=Secrets and Lies : tout sur l'émission, news et vidéos en replay - France 2|work=France2|accessdate=4 May 2015}}
It has also aired on SVT (Sweden), TV2 (Norway), Vitaya (Belgium), as well as Netflix in both Canada and the U.S.{{cite web|publisher=TV Tonight|first=David|last=Knox|url=http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2015/03/france-picks-up-secrets-and-lies.html|title=France picks up Secrets and Lies|date=7 March 2015|access-date=7 March 2015}}
Reception
Secrets and Lies has been acclaimed by critics and audiences. Denette Wilford of The Huffington Post has stated: "As for Secrets & Lies, so much great stuff is happening on this show – the writing, the directing and the acting; it manages to be completely authentic without trying too hard. It's riveting stuff, from the whodunit aspect to the family crap the Gundelachs are facing, which everyone can relate to."{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/denette-wilford/secrets-and-lies-review-cbc_b_5558637.html|title='Secrets & Lies' Review: The Latest Suburban Whodunit Will Stun You|work=The Huffington Post|date=4 July 2014 |accessdate=4 May 2015}} Lucy Mangan from The Guardian wrote in a review of the series; "Yes, we have seen its like before, in Broadchurch, but the opener more than holds its own against ITV's surprise hit."{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/sep/24/the-driver-secrets-and-lies-review-david-morrissey|title=The Driver; Secrets and Lies review – gripping drama that leaves you rigid with unrelieved tension|author=Lucy Mangan|newspaper=the Guardian|accessdate=4 May 2015|date=24 September 2014}} Many other critics have praised the performances, writing and direction of the series.
=Awards and nominations=
U.S. version
On 4 February 2014, the production company behind this version announced that a US version with the same title was in the works for ABC and would be co-produced with ABC Studios with a series penalty if the project is held back or not greenlighted by the network. The series premiered in the U.S. on 1 March 2015. Ryan Phillippe stars in this adaptation.[https://deadline.com/2014/02/ryan-phillippe-secrets-lies-abc-star-676643/ "Ryan Phillippe Poised To Play The Lead In ABC Drama ‘Secrets & Lies’"] from Deadline (4 February 2014) On May 7, 2015, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on September 25, 2016.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2015/05/american-crime-castle-agents-of-shield-agent-carter-galavant-secrets-lies-fresh-off-the-boat-renewed-abc-1201422717/|title='American Crime', 'Castle' 'S.H.I.E.L.D.', 'Agent Carter', 'Galavant', 'Secrets & Lies', 'Nashville' Among ABC Renewals - Deadline|author=Nellie Andreeva|work=Deadline|accessdate=31 July 2015|date=8 May 2015}}{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/abc-fall-premiere-dates-2016-906876|title=ABC Announces Fall Premiere Dates|last=Stanhope|first=Kate|date=June 28, 2016|website=hollywoodreporter.com|accessdate=July 1, 2016}}
On 2024, A loose Philippine adaptation will be released on Sari Sari Channel. Meryll Soriano and Baron Geisler stars in this adaptation.
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|3103340|Secrets & Lies}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Secrets and Lies (Australian TV series)}}
Category:Network 10 original programming
Category:2010s Australian drama television series
Category:Serial drama television series
Category:2014 Australian television series debuts
Category:2014 Australian television series endings