SeaChange

SeaChange is an Australian television program that ran from 1998 to 2000 on the ABC and in 2019 on the Nine Network. It was created by Andrew Knight and Deborah Cox and starred Sigrid Thornton, David Wenham, William McInnes, John Howard, Tom Long, and Kerry Armstrong. The director was Michael Carson.

This article is about the Australian television series. For other uses, see Sea change.

SeaChange
Also known asSeaChange: Paradise Reclaimed (2019)
GenreDrama
Created by
Written by
  • Andrew Knight
  • Deborah Cox
  • Doug MacLeod
  • Margaret Kelly
  • Max Dann
  • Elizabeth Coleman
  • Luke Devenish
Starring
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
No. of series4
No. of episodes47 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Sue Masters (ABC)
  • Andrew Knight
  • Peter Beilby
  • Andrea Denholm
ProducerSally Ayre-Smith
Production locationsVictoria, Australia, New South Wales, Australia (various)
Production companies
Release
Original network
Original releaseOriginal series:
10 May 1998 –
25 November 2000
Revived series:
6 August 2019–Present

Premise

Laura Gibson (Sigrid Thornton), a high-flying city lawyer, is prompted to undergo a 'seachange' with her children Miranda and Rupert after her husband is arrested for fraud and is found to have had an affair with her sister. Laura becomes the magistrate for the fictional small coastal town of Pearl Bay. The town is isolated from the rest of the world since the local bridge was destroyed in one of the natural disasters common to Pearl Bay. Although they initially miss the city, the family comes to love the town and its many colourful characters, and they also enjoy having more quality time with each other.

Cast

Main
  • Sigrid Thornton as Laura Gibson
  • Cassandra Magrath as Miranda Gibson (Season 1-3)
  • Brooke Satchwell as Miranda Gibson (Season 4)
  • David Wenham as Daniel Della Bosca ('Diver Dan') (Season 1-2): Diver Dan owns the local cafe/boat-shed. He is a quirky, easygoing fisherman who soon becomes Laura's love interest.
  • William McInnes as Max Connors (Season 2-3): A foreign correspondent who returns to Pearl Bay to enjoy the final days of his wife Elana's life there. She dies shortly after their arrival. Laura befriends him and romantic tensions quickly develop.
  • John Howard as Bob Jelly: Mayor of Pearl Bay and real estate agent. Bob has a reputation for sneaky and often illegal business deals which usually backfire.
  • Kerry Armstrong as Heather Jelly: Bob Jelly's loyal, affectionate wife. Armstrong proposed a change to the dynamic of the Jelly family, suggesting that they should love each other even if the rest of the town despised them.[1]
  • Kevin Harrington as Kevin Findlay
  • Kate Atkinson as Karen Miller (Season 1-3)
  • Tom Long as Angus Kabiri (Season 1-3)
  • Dan Wyllie as Ben Russo (Season 4)
  • Darren McMullen as Findlay Knox (Season 4)
  • Katrina Milosevic as Sergeant Anna Kazan (Season 4)
  • Kate Lister as Lillian Liano (Season 4)
  • Alex Tarrant as Zac Bell (Season 4)
  • Wayne Blair as Riley Bolt (Season 4)
  • Kamil Ellis as Stone Bolt (Season 4)

Recurring
  • Bruce Alexander as Sergeant Graham Grey (Season 1-3)
  • Jill Forster as Meredith Monahan (Season 1-3): Meredith runs the town's hotel and restaurant. She is locally renowned for her excellent memory of faces, names, dates, times and events, even decades later.
  • Alan Cassell as Harold Fitzwalter (Season 1-3): Ex-magistrate of Pearl Bay and Meredith's lover. Harold and Meredith had a child who they gave up for adoption. Later in the series they discover their daughter lives in Pearl Bay, and is a well-known figure in the town.
  • Paul English as Jack Gibson (Season 1)
  • Patrick Dickson as Jack Gibson (Season 2-3)
  • Alice Garner as Carmen 'Lois Lane' Blake (Season 1-3)
  • Kane McNay as Rupert Gibson (Season 1-3)
  • Christopher Lyons as Trevor Findlay (Season 1-3)
  • Georgina Naidu as Phrani Gupta
  • Cameron Nugent as Craig Jelly (Season 1-3)
  • Bryony Price as Jules Jelly (Season 1-3)
  • Emily Wiseman as Jules Jelly (Season 4)
  • Brett Swain as Griff (Season 1-3)
  • Ella Newton as Stella Connors (Season 4)

Series overview
Main article: List of SeaChange episodes
Season Episodes Originally aired Network
Season premiere Season finale
1 13 10 May 1998 2 August 1998 ABC
2 13 28 June 1999 19 September 1999
3 13 27 August 2000 25 November 2000
4 8 6 August 2019 24 September 2019 Nine Network

Season 1

In the opening episode, "Something Rich and Strange", we are introduced to Laura Gibson, a high-flying corporate lawyer. In one day, her life falls apart: she loses out on a partnership at work, and discovers that her husband has been arrested for fraud and that her sister Trudi (Fiona Corke) is having an affair with him. On a whim, she takes a job as a magistrate in the small seaside town of Pearl Bay, where she once had a holiday with her family during happier times.

In Pearl Bay, she meets a cast of colourful characters: Meredith Monahan, the woman who can remember every single event that has happened in town during her lifetime; Meredith's longtime lover and town lawyer/drunk, Harold; strapping surfer and court clerk Angus; his girlfriend (and would-be fiancee), police officer Karen; her superior Sergeant Grey; unsophisticated caravan park manager and handyman, Kevin; Kevin's son Trevor; clever Indian shop-keeper Phrani, later to be Kevin's lover; local layabout Griff; Meredith's niece, the wandering Carmen; corrupt and scheming real estate agent and shire president Bob Jelly; his loyal trophy wife Heather; and their children Craig and Jules.

While Laura's children, Rupert and Miranda, struggle to get used to their new life, Laura attempts to fit in, despite their run-down house and the eccentric court cases. Both helping and hindering her is Diver Dan, the enigmatic cafe owner/ferryman/chef with no ambition but a curious and colourful past, with whom she soon strikes up a relationship.

The first series ends with a series of climaxes involving Carmen's pregnancy, the discovery of Meredith and Harold's long-lost daughter; and a turning point in Laura and Dan's relationship.

After a successful first series of 13 episodes, the ABC asked for more.

Season 2

David Wenham opted not to renew his contract, so, two episodes into the second series, Diver Dan leaves Pearl Bay for the Galapagos Islands. In his place comes old friend Max Connors and wife Elena (Doris Younane). Max has much to deal with, having left the town years earlier and leaving his family. His wife's sudden death stuns the town. Storm damage in the aftermath of the first series means that Pearl Bay goes through serious trauma and things only get worse. Alison Whyte guest stars as a con artist who gets the better of Bob, and of the whole town. Heather bonds with her parents. Rupert's determination to get Laura back together with her ex-husband only meets with disaster. Later in the series, the town begins to speculate about Max and Laura's relationship, and the resulting confusion brings them closer.

Bucket's dog Alfonzo Dominico Jones dies mysteriously and eventually a swimming pool is named after him, in preference to the originally planned name, the Jelly Aquatic Complex.

The ABC then commissioned a third season.

Season 3

In the third season, the events of the show reach their climax. Laura decides not to take the step in her relationship with Max, propelling a despondent Max into Carmen's arms. An in-denial Laura turns to the sweet but dull Warwick (Shaun Micallef). Heather and Bob's separation is followed by his political demise. Meredith's health takes a turn for the worse. Mark Mitchell guest stars as Morton Tregonning, administrator for the recently sacked Port Deakin council, and his corruption pushes Bob to a decision; he must choose whether to help the people of Pearl Bay, or ruin them once and for all.

The final episode, "Half-Life" (Episode 39), sees the town coming together to stop Tregonning's nuclear waste dump, Miranda and Craig on trial, Laura's resignation, Karen and Angus' wedding, Meredith facing a life-and-death situation, Bob making a final decision about his future, and Max and Laura's relationship resolved in ways they couldn't have imagined.

Although the third series was successful in ratings terms, the creators decided to end the show to avoid becoming stale.

Season 4

In October 2018, a fourth season was announced which aired on the Nine Network, focusing on the relationships between Laura, Miranda, Miranda's son, and Laura's daughter by Max.[2]

Filming
The Barwon Heads boatshed, used as Diver Dan's home, circa 2007.

Filming was based at Barwon Heads, Victoria and St Leonards, Victoria, both locations being on the Bellarine Peninsula. A number of streets in the St Leonards Sea Change Estate have since been named to acknowledge some of the characters of the series. Many scenes were also filmed in Williamstown (a suburb of Melbourne), including the exterior of the Williamstown Life Saving Club, which became the court house of Pearl Bay.

Tours to see the locations where filming took place were popular in 2003.[3]

Recurring themes

Shakespeare's play The Tempest is a clear influence on SeaChange, exemplified by the episode titles "Something Rich and Strange" and "Full Fathom Five", and by Miranda's name, as well as frequent freak weather events.[4]

SeaChange was often compared to Northern Exposure.[4]

One of the long-running jokes on the show is the town bridge. The easiest connection from Pearl Bay to the rest of the world, it had been destroyed years earlier, and attempts to fix it always seem to go awry.

Another recurring joke involves the character 'Bucket'. This bizarre individual is an unseen character (except in one episode, in the background, when someone waves to him), but he is regularly mentioned. From various accounts he is missing limbs (but is still able to drive a boat), has no teeth and has never eaten a cereal grain in his life, and tends to get drunk often and steal people's ride-on mowers. He often arrives home drunk and would drink from the water bowl of his dog, the late Alfonzo Dominico Jones.

At the end of every episode (except episodes 1 and 12 of series 1, episode 5 of series 2 and the final episode) there is a brief scene in which Kevin and Trevor chat while overlooking the beach at the end of the day. Their conversation usually adds a comical touch to the episode. In episode 5 of series 2, the Kevin and Trevor scene is not at the very end, and takes place at the Alfonzo Dominico Antonio Jones Memorial Pool. Also, in episode 10 of series 3, Kevin's sister Suzie joined him to tell him that their recently-deceased father's electric guitar (which they had buried) was worth $8,000 because he had played with The Masters Apprentices for a week. In one episode, the Masters Apprentices (or one version of them) played themselves, with credit given to Jim Keays.

Reception

Viewership
Season Episodes Originally aired Network Viewers (millions) Rating Rank
Season premiere Season finale
1 13 10 May 1998 2 August 1998 ABC N/A 12.4[5] #3
2 13 28 June 1999 19 September 1999 N/A 16.3[5] #1
3 13 27 August 2000 25 November 2000 N/A 13.7[5] #1
4 8 6 August 2019 24 September 2019 Nine Network TBA TBA TBA

Awards and nominations
Main article: List of awards and nominations received by SeaChange

Video and DVD releases and online streaming

The entire series was released on video, with each series released in two parts. Series 1 was released as DVD set on 3 October 2003, and each series is available on DVD in two parts with Series 1 Parts 1 & 2 on 12 November 2003, Series 2 Parts 1 & 2 on 9 March 2004 and Series 3 Parts 1 & 2 on 2 June 2005. The entire series is also available in a DVD boxed set which was released on 2 April 2008 and re-released on 3 May 2012. Seasons 1, 2 & 3 were released individually on 24 March 2010.

SeaChange has been available on Netflix and Stan.[6]

2019 revival

It was announced during the Nine Network's upfronts on 17 October 2018 that a fourth series of SeaChange would air on the network in 2019, written by series co-creator Deb Cox and jointly produced by ITV Studios Australia and Every Cloud Productions.[7] The series was titled “SeaChange: Paradise Reclaimed”.

Thornton and Howard were two of the original actors to appear in the revival with the story focusing on Laura Gibson returning to Pearl Bay after almost two decades. ITV's David Mott said while there had been discussions with the ABC about reviving the series for ABC Television, the broadcaster said a revival of SeaChange did not feel right for them.[8]

The series was funded by Screen Australia and relocated from Barwon Heads to Brunswick Heads.[9][10] and also at Billinudgel and Mullumbimby.

References
  1. Horner, Ian (10 May 2016). "Kerry Armstrong makes a Pawno". Hawkesbury Gazette. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  2. Bastow, Clem (18 October 2018). "SeaChange reboot: how will a new network change the beloved show?". the Guardian. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  3. "Next stop, Pearl Bay". The Age. 28 February 2003. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  4. Parnell, Rebecca (2009). "SeaChange, Where Fish Fly". In Bierbaum, Nena; Hosking, Rick; Hosking, Sue; Pannell, Rebecca (eds.). Something rich and strange : sea changes, beaches and the littoral in the antipodes. Kent Town, South Australia: Wakefield Press. pp. 47–61. ISBN 9781862548701.
  5. https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/fact-finders/television/australian-content/in-the-archive/top-drama-comedy-series-before-2004
  6. "The stars of SeaChange: Where are they now?". News.com.au. 20 May 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  7. Knox, David (17 October 2018) Nine Upfronts 2019: Seachange, Australian Open, Lego Masters, Bad Mothers, TV Tonight. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  8. Lallo, Michael; Idato, Michael (17 October 2018) Nine revives ABC drama SeaChange - with Sigrid Thornton at the helm, The Sydney Morning Herald, Fairfax Media. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  9. Knox, David (27 February 2019). "Funding for Seachange, Mystery Road". TV Tonight. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  10. Knox, David (27 February 2019). "Bye bye Barwon Heads……Seachange shifts to NSW". TV Tonight. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
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