It's in the news today, but it was actually on TV Reload the podcast last week.
I'm how would I describe a television set, oh Man, from a headline grabbing point of view, the hack producer me says one hundred percent put him in.
Welcome back guys to TV Reload. My name's Benjamin Norris and on this podcast I go behind the scenes with the biggest players in television.
Yeah, great questions.
The show's about the game.
There's a lot of great television out there in Australia.
But I've also got to go behind the scenes with writers. The truth is, when I started writing it, it wasn't had nothing to do with the news and casting agents they know from a casting point of view what they need, and editors because that's what we do as editors where storytellers them. Not to forget some incredible executive producers who are making some of the best TV content in Australia. I have been on the program since the beginning and
it's kind of in my DNA. So thanks for joining me each week and I hope the podcast continues to give you real insight into the magic of te This week on the podcast, I have producer Chris Martin Jones.
Chris has directed some of the most love scripted drama in Australia and as fresh from his work producing Back to the Rafters, a reboot of the acclaimed and award winning TV series Back to the Rafters, we will focus on this exciting new chapter for the Rafter family as one of Australia's most loved TV series returns to the small screen for the highly anticipated, brand new six part series Back to the Rafters, which has already premiered on
Amazon Prime globally. We will also get an inside scoop on how the original run captured the hearts of the nation, plus the hurdles it took to bring back the cast and crew for this encore series. From Jessica Murray's exit to the recasting of her role, we will find out who Chris also relates to the most out of the Rafters and how COVID shut down production. There's also a really fun and Marnas a cute story at the end which is definitely going to brighten up your day. However,
let's get started with today's guest. I'd like to welcome to the podcast. It's Chris Martin Jones.
I just grew up loving TV and wanting to be involved in it.
Australia's favorite TV family is returning.
You knew that there was still a lot of love and demand out there from the audience.
The kids need us stay our kids, and I missed them.
We have quite a few hurdles in all sorts of different ways.
This year, the family gets back together again, one rafter at a time.
Very sad that Jess wasn't able to join us, and.
We were like a real family and we still are.
We didn't expect it, even in our wildest dreams, to be as successful as it turned out to be.
Hi, Chris, how are you.
Good morning? I'm very well, Thanks Benjamin.
I have been in your audience for as long as I can remember, certainly very familiar with all of the shows that you've worked on over the many years dating back to a country practice as a director. What would you say is your backbone to the passion of working in television.
I think it all started when I was a kid and I just was I love television ever since I can remember. I think I grew up in the days of you know, all the Aussie TV shows Homicide, Divvy four, Madlock, police. I just love TV. And I remember I lived where
I lived in Sydney. I lived in Chatswood, and I was kind of like equally distant between three of the main TV stations, Channel two, Channel seven, and Channel nine, And even at a very young age, I used to go and be in the television audiences whenever they needed audiences. I used to be able to I think from the age for probably ten or eleven years old, I used to be able to walk. It was make a mile or to fifteen minute walk to Channel nine and Channel two. Similarly,
Channel seven was a train ride. But I used to go in Sydney audiences and you know, whatever they had, whether it was a quiz show or whether it was the wrestling was one of my favorites. But anyway, I just grew up loving TV and wanting to be involved in it.
It is commonly with people like yourselves, who spent your entire career working in this industry, that there's been something that's been like an acting bug or a television bug, but something bites you and it just never lets you go.
Yeah. The funny thing is, I'd say this to people and it sounds almost incredible, but I find that of all the people that I meet on the set, no matter what role they in, so many ninety percent of them seem to have started from wanting to be an actor. That's how they sort of their passion was originally wanting to be an actor, and for whatever reason, they didn't make it, but they ended up as a camera assistant, or they ended up as a grip, or they ended
up as a script supervisor or whatever. And I actually started that way too when I was young. I did a lot of acting on my early teens and things like that, and was on a few TV shows, But then my parents pulled me out of that, so I concentrated my studies a bit more so I never went back into it. I think that's also part of the bug for me, as well as that I wanted to be on screen. And I'm really glad I'm not there qualers for it, because it's much more precarious profession getting.
Into your work. If there was a signature Chris Martin Jones trait that you would like audiences to know you for, what would you say that is in the work that you've been creating over the years.
Look, I think optimism and hope, and you know, look, I think I'm kind of like an old fashioned romantic, to be honest with you, I got a lot of my training, a lot of my grounding in a country practice, which was you know the show you know in the eighties and nineties with Jim Davin created that, and that was this iconic Australian show about you know, iconic Australian characters in a small country town, a vet and a doctor. But it was a very hopeful show and a very
added appeal to a lot of people. And it was it had a really big heart, and it dealt with very difficult themes quite often. It was quite groundbreaking, and I talked about AIDS, and I talked about depression, and I talked to a lot of really quite difficult subjects. But it always did it in a very sort of fair and balanced way and very sympathetic. And I think it's that, yeah, I think, to be honest with I think it's just that's something that I think has followed
me through everything that I've ever done. To be honest with I don't know whether it's just coincidence or it seems to be the way that I gravitate towards these things, but I do believe in the power of optimism and hope and positivity. I think it's a great thing to be able to send out the people and for people to People are very receptive to that as well, if it's done properly.
Absolutely, And you know your directing credits are simply epic. But at one point you decided to jump to producing. What inspired you to take that leap after directing for so long.
Well, I've been directing for I think thirty years or something like that. I loved it, and the more I did it, the more I loved it, and I felt like I got to a point where, to be quite honest with you, that was probably what twelve years ago I think I started producing where I actually it was actually getting really physical. I felt like, here I am at my agent getting up at like five point thirty in the morning and climbing down a mountainside, and you know,
I was just really hard work. And I was just thought to myself, I could do a desk job right now. And as it turned out, I got off at a job producing Back to the Rafters. I've been working on that as a director for some time, and then was offered a job I think was series five to take over from Joe Porter, who was leaving as the series producer. And I've been working on the show a long time, so I felt, oh, that's probably a really good transition
point for me to be able to leap across. I know the show very well, I know the actors very well, I know the way the show works. It was a perfect transition for me, and it came at the right time for me as well, when I was ready to do something else and move on. And having said that, though I misseddirecting a lot, I really loved it. Hopefully one day I'll be able to go back into it again.
I'm sure with the amount of directing credits that you have, there'd be lots of people wanting your expertise and your knowledge. So I'm pretty sure that door would be opening.
You never know, let's see. Look. One thing I will say though, too, is you know, looking at the world right now, and you see there's a lot being made and lot being made for streamers and things like that, and it's opened up this door for a whole lot of new people, which is great. A lot of young people coming through, a lot of young people with really fresh ideas and fresh look, it's fresh view points of
the world. So I've got to say that's really exciting to see young people coming through the ranks as well. And you know, that's another thing to be able to do as a producers in fact, encourage people and be able to give assistance to people to have their this has heard.
You know, what would you say has been the biggest challenge moving from directing to producing.
I think it's just a personal challenge of being able to step back and let go a little bit and allow other people to have the sort of control that you once had. And that's the thing about producing. It's more of a you know, you're a little bit more removed from the actual day to day workload. Directing is kind of a very hands on, cold face type thing where you're actually working on a day to day basis for the actors and bring things together and making something.
At the end of the day, you can look and go, I did a good job there, or maybe I didn't do a good job there. But producing is a bit more distant, So I think that's that's kind of a challenge for me mentally sometimes is to be able to sort of like be patient and hold back and wait to see how it all turns out, because it takes a bit longer for things to your influence or any decisions you might make to actually be realized.
Well, with packed to the rafters and a place to call home, I think that you've got two of the most iconic shows in Australian television history under your belt. What would you say is your greatest achievement in your television career today?
Wow, I just look the greatest. I would say longevity. To be honest with you, I think that's a great achievement to be able to sort of I've been working constantly for I think it's nearly forty five years now in television. I started off when I was eighteen as a stage at Channel seven. That was kind of how I started. And I worked my way up and became a foot law managerent and first assistant director and done many different roles and production manager and even was a
training cameraman for a while. And I think it's the Yeah, I guess if I had to be most proud of what I've done, it's that longevity and being able to do something that I love and continue doing it to the ag I am now.
I want to know, though, with so many characters that you've been instrumental in constructing and bringing to the small screen, are there any other shows that might you might enjoy breathing life back into.
That's a good question. There's a lot of them, look that I've worked on which I'd love to revisit. You know, as I was saying Country Practice one, I know that it was even talk about bringing that back at one point. I know that there was some production companies that were thinking about that because it was such an iconic Australian show, it would have to be you know, it was a little bit ahead of its time, as I say, in the way it dealt with a lot of sort of
topical issues. But I think that's one that would be right to bring back because in the same way that Packed to the Rafters created this huge sort of ground swell of love for the show because it was so uniquely Australian and it spoke to Australians about the country they lived in and the kind of people we are. And I think Country Practice has that similar sort of affection from people, and I think it would be equally
valid today as it was then. As to whether or not that'd be who would do that and what production company would be involved, I'm not sure, and whether the rights were available, I don't know. I could see that as being a good idea.
I would say, what you do really well in a lot of the work is consistent is reflecting back Olian society in a way that we can see ourselves, which I think is the real currency for why shows can be very popular, you know, especially Packed to the Rafters as well. I think that's some of the magic of us seeing ourselves on screen, which makes us feel like we're a part of it.
Yeah, I agree, there is a real demand for Australians to see themselves on screen. I think that's one of the great things and great for Amazon to have supported bringing Back to the Rafters to the screen because, as you say, I think that's why Packed to the Rafters
was so successful. It showed us as we are and showed our unique sense of humor and the way we relate to each other and what we're proud of as Australians and you know, we understand we're different from other people and where this you know, shows like Back of the Rafters celebrated that and cured us to Amazon because they're taking that to the world now, and we've shown with other shows and with our movies that we can
take that. And Amazon were very supportive of not wanting to change too much either, and keeping the vernacular and keeping the you know, our unique sense of humor in the show and not trying to adapt that to make it more universal, because they thought that's what they want to celebrate. They want to show Australia to the world, and we can be very proud of that.
I hope.
We'll have to fit seven people into a two bedroom house.
I have an air mattress.
Thank you, two thirty five wonderful years.
That's quite a responsibility.
You're up to us. The kids need us, they're in their thirties, yours. I want to move back here. I'm going, I'm staying.
What's the deal with you guys?
You guys blitting us? How did the idea to bring back to the Rafters back as back to the Rafters, How did the idea to bring this back come around?
Well, I know Amazon were really interested in finding something that would appeal to the Australian audiences and that was something that they knew had been very successful, and they approached seven and this Bevern Lee, as you know, was the creator of the show, and he was very excited. He came up with an idea which would be the spine of the show, the new show, and bring it into the present and make it topical for now as the original show was back then, and we all became
very excited when we started talking about it. And as I say, once we heard what Bevan's vision of it would be, it seems really relevant and we knew that there was still a lot of love and demand out there from the audience. But when the show left, it's just anecdotally from all the cast. They still get asked about it, or were being asked about it on such a regular basis. When is it going to come back? You know, when are you guys going to get back together again? We really miss it and they are all
really keen to it. I mean, that was such an unusual show and I've worked on quite a few of them, and the amount of sort of love there was between the cast and the crew, it was a really I mean it shows there on the screen. It really was a family of people who loved working together.
Had you been personally wondering what all of these characters had been up to in the meantime. Had that been something you'd been more wondering about?
Yeah, yeah, I had actually, And that's part of the light of the show I think is I think the audience probably have been too, so I'll get to see when they watched the show. Bevan came up with some great backstories for them all to explain, you know, where they'd been and how they'd changed and how they hadn't changed, and all that will be revealed as you watch Back to the Rafters.
What were some of the hurdles in getting everyone back together?
Everyone was really keen, Like, as I say, when they broke up, it was at the very end of the series, way back eight years or seven years ago. Whenever it was. Everyone was very sad about it. It was like a family breakup, so as soon as people heard about it,
everyone was so keen. But it was just organizing all the schedules, Like you know, obviously Rebecca and Eric have very busy schedules, and Hugh Sheridan and Angus and Michael Cayden, they were all working constantly just bringing them all back together and being able to find a time at which
they are all about it. It was kind of tough, but we had quite a few hurdles in all sorts of different ways, but it kind of they always seemed to work themselves out despite our constantly thinking that this is never going to work out, We'll never get this to work. But it kind of magically fell into place in so many different ways, not just getting the cast back together, but just getting some of the creative team back together, and it was like it was meant to be in some strange way.
Was there ever a thought to maybe take Jessica Murray's character, to take her out following her departure from Not Coming Back? Did you ever think, oh, maybe we'll take that character out.
Not really, No, I think that we really needed to keep the character of Rachel in. It was a show about family, It was a show about the dynamics of the family, and it would be such a loss to
lose such an intapril and well loved character. Much as we were very sad that jess wasn't able to join us, we really wanted to be able to tell the stories about the character of Rachel, and we felt the loss would have been so great that it would have been very difficult to explain that as well to the audience without having to go in to probably highlight something we probably didn't wanted to highlight anyway, So we wanted to keep it about the raft of family and that meant
everyone in the family.
Well, I'm not giving anything away about her involvement, the character's involvement in the show, but I would say it was probably one of the most nervous moments for me, is if you are recasting someone who just so iconic, but you pull it off. That's not giving anything away. You really pull off this character coming back and I want to know what was the process like on recasting that role. Was it hard?
Yeah, very hard and very nerve wreaking, and actually say, we're all really nervous about it too. We understood a what an incredibly talented and wonderful actor Jess Murray was and what she brought to the show, and as we said earlier, she's much loved an integral part of the show.
So to find somebody who would be able to do that very and you have to find someone very brave, and I think we would just like as I said earlier, it's almost like these things were meant to be with the show just had this great sense of good fortune about it and we were able to find and she wasn't.
It was difficult. She was working in America at the time, Georgina a but we'd seen some of her work and we knew that she was very capable comedian as well as a very strong and capable dramatic actress and she was the right age. And you know, looking back on it, we were terrified that we wouldn't find anyone. But when we found Georgina, we just went, oh my god, she's perfect.
And it was all very touch and go because she was, as I say, working in America at the time, and she might not have been able to get here in time to do it, but she sort of We just squeaked it in and she got here like a day before she started it. She was so totally up to speed and like I say, incredibly brave and incredibly committed to it.
I reckon she's going to get nominated for something, even if it's a LOGI I know the logis have been off for two years, but when the logis come back, you know, I think she's fantastic. Moving away from that and asking about what the writer's room was like, what was the writers for him like pitching new ideas for these characters. Were you able to be privy to that? And I want to know was there any disagreements on characters and where they might be now in twenty twenty one.
Look, it was very very much led by Bevin. Bevin had a really strong idea which we all got on board with early and about what the show, the sort of basis for the show was, which was about a relationship of two people, Julian Dave, and what happens when you change but you're still in love together. There's still the love still there, but you just have different outlooks the things that you want to do with your life. How do people deal with growing apart whilst they love
each other? So that was the territory Bevan wanted to cover and we all just jumped on board with him. Thought that's brilliant and you know, all cudos to Bevin there. He came up with such a strong spine to it, such great ideas that he was always full of fabulous, very topical ideas that spoke to today and the problems that people of that age group are going through in terms of relating to family and studying their own families.
And work issues and social issues. I would say Bevan is the one from whom all the great character and story ideas came from. And you know, he invited us to give our opinions, and we all pitched in and Amazon had some great ideas as well, and was really fruitful and very satisfying collaboration. I guess between all of us, would.
You mind if Ruby stayed on for a bit? She won't need persuading and you can say no, we'd love to have her if it helps you notice attention.
Well, And I didn't like to ask.
We just need to talk things through.
But we're just on different sides of a major issue, and we certainly don't need Rubes weighing in.
Whatever works. What does Dave think?
I'm sure you'll agree when I just decided myself, hopefully we'll deal with it and we'll be back to support you. Is that what it's about being here or.
A lot more? What was Rebecca Givney's initial response to coming back.
Oh, she was thrilled, she couldn't wait. You know, she's such a warm and lovely person at Rebecca and she made these fabulous relationships and you know that family is actually almost like her family like it's almost it was for all of us. She genuinely, you know, has such deep affection for all those people that she's been working with.
Well, would you say that this cast is some of the best chemistry that we've ever seen on Australian television. I mean, is there a more iconic family?
Well, exactly, yeah, it was. The casting was again, it was just one of these strange things that were meant to be. I remember being there in the very first
stages of the show. Beside was the director at the time, and I directed the pilot, and I was there at the initial casting sessions, and I vividly remember the time we looked at everyone separately and at the time, first Rebecca was the first person to be involved, and then Eric, and then we got all the other people from the family, and Michael Kiton and then Hugh and Jess Murray were
the sort of stars of neither of their year. And remember going seeing them at the Nier Showcase graduation performance of Sweet Charity. It was and they were just such talented young stars. They just jumped off the stage and anyway we had we'd sent all these people separately, and we just wanted to see how they gelled together as a family. So we for the first time brought them together in this audition room, and it was just magic.
I so vividly remember it, and they all were just instantly bonded and sort of the rest of it at that point was kind of easy, you know. It was just easy to look at these people and be able I'm sure for the writers too, to be able to write stories for them. And I guess we had a sense that we'd sort of captured some kind of lightning moodel but we didn't expect it, even in our wildest dreams, to be as successful as it turned out to be.
How do you work to create a family chemistry? Can you remember back in the day whether or not you workshop something in particular, and whether or not you used that technique again bringing them back, or was it just there for them?
I think it was just there for them, to be honest with you, I think it was there for them right from the very word go. And even with George Evadis, who plays Carbo, who's technically what not one of the family, but is one of the Rafters family, you know, and then he lived next door to them, and he was part of the family, you know, and he'll always been over there and they all knew him very well. And I remember even George's first audition where he got to
work with Hugh again. It was just this instant bonding and they just felt like they'd known each other for ages and it was this magical thing. And when that happens, it's such a lovely thing to be witnessed too. And we were lucky that we had it on a grand scale with like I think, what is it, nine people, every one of them just clicked.
There's a scene where we see those two characters as brother and sister come together at the function center and they have a very serious bit of dialogue together and the chemistry was palpable.
Said, you're heading out to see dad.
Yeah, maybe talk some sense into him.
Oh good luck. We're sort of them to it. I get both sides.
Sad, there are sides like it was just amazing to see that believable nature of them being brother and sister. And I think that's in episode three, but it was just amazing.
Yes, that's true. Well, look and at the same time, I don't mean to demean them either. They're just an incredibly talented bunch of people as well. It's not just the chemistry, they're also just we're very lucky that we just got some really brilliant people right when they were, you know, merging onto the scene. You know, well, Angus had been around for a while, because he'd been working on shows ever since he was I think ten years old or something like that. My kids used to watch
him in H two O and shows like that. But Hugh and Jess were fairly new to the scene, and Michael Kaid obviously not, and Rebecca and Eric not. But you know, they're all just wonderfully talented, some of them incredibly experienced actors. And to get a cast, as you say, of that caliber where there was absolutely no week link, is quite remarkable.
And also, you know the success of this show comes down to everyone can relate to someone on the show. So I just was curious as to who you relate to out of the rafters. Is there a particular character that you've always related to?
Yeah, I guess as it's changed a little bit. I think I always related to Angus McLaren's Nathan. He was the youngest of the family, which you know, I am too of my family, and he had you know, he was always a bit of a dreamer, and I just I love the way what Angus brought to that character too. It was this sense of slight vulnerability, and you know,
and I find I really empathized with him. But as I go older and I've got kids on my own, now I'm beginning to relate to today rafter a lot because I see all the frustrations and you know, the joy and the at the same time as the anger and all those things that you get with kids.
This is where, for the first time, really upping Dave Raft and I don't see why I have to give that up to be a good father. Rassmand.
You know, I know everyone is sick of hearing about COVID, But how did COVID affect the production?
Oh dramatically as it probably does so many other workplaces around the world. We were right two thirds of the way through production and it started to sort of go a bit pear shaped in New South Wales and we were sensing that it was things were coming to a head. We were closed down I think three and a half weeks before we were supposed to finish, so we had to take a break and I think four months or
five months and then regroup. And that was obviously terribly inconvenient for everyone really, and you know, I know it was terribly inconvenient for lots of people and lots of businesses. So but you know, we got there in the end and everyone was able to get back and you know,
swing back into it. And it made a big difference the second time around, because suddenly we had to be working with lots of ppe and social distancing and very rigid protocols that we had to abide by, which I think everyone found a bit difficult because it was the early days and those for those things were a bit more used to it now. But in those days we had actors wearing face shields between takes and gloves and masks.
But looking back at it, I don't think, you know, I think, you know, the cast and the crew were such professionals they managed to make all that stuff just stay in the background, and they were able to deliver the fabulous performances that kind of we would.
Expect from you know, I've ever ever had a conversation with you about the idea of including COVID into the storylines of the family, you know, trying to set it in present day, because I know with Gray's Anatomy, they had a very strong conversation between the two main producers of that show about whether or not COVID existed in that series. I wondered whether or not you guys ever talked about whether or not COVID would affect the storylines.
Yeah, and perhaps if we'd known about COVID when We're actually began, it would have been different, But we COVID only became an issue way through and by which stage was too late to integrate it into the show. But it's something that I know people talk about a lot these days as to whether or not that would be, you know, in any new show. I mean there's always that who knows. It's so unknowable, Like by the time a show starts being written to the time it gets to be on screen can be up to a year.
So who knows where COVID is going to be at that point. It might be completely gone and people might not even want to talk about it, or it might be still with us and you know, very much a part. So it's very it's a bit of a risky thing to do. I think it was never really part of our thinking too at the time, because as I say, we're already all the scripts were completely written by that stage, and we're too late to introduce it.
A good thing to talk about is why audiences should come back From your perspective, you know people obviously there is a fan base that are going to come back, which is undeniable. But what about new audiences. Why do you think new audiences should join in at Back to the Rafters.
Well, I think it's for people who didn't discover how good it was the first time around. Way I could probably suggest, because I think now with Amazon we're fortunate enough to be able to present it to a new stage. And I think there is a very universal theme about Packed the Rafters, which I think we're touching everyone. And we spoke about this a lot, you know when we're talking about the writing, which is it's about family. It's about you know, the difficulties and the joy and the
sorrows and everything that goes with family. And that's something that we all share. Every human being alive on the planet as at one point and still does come from a family. And so no matter which culture you're from, whilst some of the dynamics might be different, we all have that common bond you know of people that have
raised us and love us and care for us. So I think that being the central theme of rafters, I think that's a very universal theme and I think it's one that we deal with with kind of honesty, but at the same time celebrating it and sort of affirming the idea of family and friendship.
How important would you say streaming services are descriptive reality in Australia at the moment.
Yeah, well, that's right, and it's they're terribly important because the world has changed a lot now with interactional streaming services. And I certainly you know, what I watch free to weear television for is very different these days than what I used to watch it before. Some much more things that are much more timely. It's in my opinion anyway, you know the current affairs and sport and news. I tend to be watching free to wear for and I've
become used to us. I suppose a lot of us have is being able to watch drama when I want to watch it how I want to watch it, and that's the beauty of the streaming service, as you can say, how I'm going to watch all six episodes in one go on Sunday night after I've had dinner, you know, rather than having to wait each Tuesday night at seven point thirty. That ability to be able to choose your time means a lot to me, and I suppose it does to a lot of people. And I think that's
what streaming has done. It's probably taken some of the drama focus away from the free tooware networks, and that ease of viewing or the audiences is something it's hard to go back from.
Well, I want to also ask you just the last two questions about the show coming back is what was your favorite moment from the original pack to the Rafters? And then after that, I'm going to ask you what your favorite moment without giving anything too without giving too much away it is from the new series.
My favorite moment was probably the first episode, because I did the pilot and then went on to as a director, that is, and then directed the first episode, and I think just seeing how kind of uncannonly well it all clicked together Bevans and Anthony Ellis who wrote it, and Bevans who created it, and all the cast just clicked and it was just one of those kind of miraculous things that no one kind of expected and I've worked and I had worked on a lot of shows to
let and some successful shows as well, but this just have something that so instantly came together without seemingly that much. I was going to say effort, but there was a lot of effort behind it, but we didn't have to try and pull tricks, just all works. So I think that was my favorite moment of the whole thing, just to see that there would be there right at the beginning and just see how it all clicked together.
The first series was just so iconic, and nothing prepared me for the storyline with Rachel. You know, in the first series, I think it was episode three, and I think in some ways it kind of looked a bit glossy, and then you delved really deep with this moment, you know, sort of going over the edge with alcohol addiction. You know, it was such an explosive television moment, you know, so early on in this series, and I think a lot of people were thinking, you know, what the hell.
So what's going on in my calling the police?
She doesn't want that?
It was Daniel. Yeah, I'm gonna take his head off.
It's not going to solve anything.
What am I supposed to do. He bashed my daughter.
She wants to see you.
I thought you said she was asleep.
She wants her dad. Amazing. It really hooked me and kept me a part of watching the series all the way to the end. Is there a storyline with any of the characters in this next series that you think is your favorite.
I'm just having there's several of them. I'm just trying to think which one I am most in touch. Again, I feel Nathan's storyline Angus McLaren's one is one I really because it's it's this vulnerability that he brings to that role and things don't often go right for him. And again I'm not giving anything away, but he finds his piece by the end of the series, and it's
a wonderful thing. It's just a really great journey for him in this series, and that's one that I personally really find very kind of I can relate to, and I find it very emotional even talking about it, actually, because he comes from a very sort of dark place and then through all these wonderful things that happened to him, ends up in a much more joyful place by the end of it.
Yeah, Well, I think that's quite amazing. You know, a lot has changed in the world. Was there a pressure to be mindful of inclusion with this new series? I mean it has been reported that even with the Sex and the City reboot that they wanted to make make sure that a person of color and a non binary character was included. Did that affect anything in the way in which this series was being planned?
Yes, it did, look it was and as you say, the world's changed a lot even in this short time between the series is and there was a recognition that we should be able to reflect, you know, the reality of modern Australia. And Amazon were really keen to do that as well, and they I thought they had a wonderful expression that they wanted the show to reflect the diversity of their audience, which was you know, when you think about it, it was just a really honest and
a great attitude to have. And that's what we tried to do. And again Bevan and came up some great ideas and some great characters, which I think we're all really proud of actually in that we've been able to sort of again just reflect the more modern Australia.
Yeah. Absolutely, And you know who had changed the most from the first run, you know, was there kind of a proud popa bear moment for you interacting with some of the young characters or even any of the actors, Like, who do you think had changed the most?
Well, that's a spooky thing, but no one really, you know, in that time, no one. It was also familiar. I'd have to say nobody. Again. I keep coming back to Angus becaus Angus had done quite a lot of very different roles in between. I'd seen him just kind of stretch his wings a little bit more, and he'd gone back to drama school as well, and so he was really focused on trying to, you know, get as much
experience as possible. And he had changed himself personally in a really good way, but his character remained the same on screen. That was the funny thing. I remember the first day. I was there on the first day of shooting of the new series, Back to the Rafters, and we were shooting at the Boat Club in Sant Susi, which was one of our established locations from the previous series, where Dinah works and where Ben worked, And that was our first day on the shoot, and I remember the
scene vividly. It was a scene with Merity and George hiv Artist and Hugh and then there was another scene with Rebecca and we all just were stunned because it felt like only yesterday. It was just getting back into these comfy old slippers and getting back on set again, and it felt like just a couple of days had passed. It was just such a familiar experience for everyone. It was almost kind of spooky. Here we were many years later, nothing had changed.
Well, my last question that I ask everybody before they go is what is an amazing story from behind the scenes, so behind the scenes of Back to the Rafters that maybe the audience would appreciate something that we might not have seen.
Well, here's kind of one of my favorite stories is that right in the peak of the pandemic, what it was just start. Sorry it wasn't the peak. It was when it was just beginning. We had to shut the show down. As I said, we have two thirds of the way through the shoot, and it was my job was used to the guy out there on set and just basically stopped production and just get everyone assembled in the back garden. And it was of the house we were shooting at in Cavalita and nearly all the cast
was there and all the crew. We gathered them to stop, got the first assistant director to shut the show down, bring everyone out in the back guard. That was very somber. I think people knew what was coming, because you know, the COVID numbers were getting serious, and everyone was really
terrified about what was going to happen. And I were standing in this back garden of this bit off a little house which had a swing set behind me, a kid's swing set, and I was addressing the cast and the crew, among them being a little cast by the six year old boy who plays Edward Rafter, and I said, look, sorry, guys, we're going to have shut the show down. We don't know what's going to happen when well when we'll be able to start back up. And everyone was very somber.
People were losing their jobs and it was a very sad moment. And at the end of it, I said, are there any questions and anybody could I answer anything? And everyone was silent and just looked around. And then little Casper put his hand up and I said Caspar and he said, I play in the swings now. And it was just this great moment that broke everyone up and everyone started to laugh and it just broke this It was this magic moment that almost felt like a
moment that had been written for Rafters. It just, you know, it was this sort of this the sort of innocence of youth and the sort of that kind of It was a very grounding moment in a very difficult time for a lot of people, just to bring you back down to worth again and everyone. It was very moving everyone. It just lifted everyone's spirits at a very difficult time.
Well, Chris, I have been in your audience for a very long time, and I'm so appreciative of you coming on here and sharing all of your knowledge and wisdom on your back catalog, but also talking about Back to the Rafters getting rebooted. And I really hope that everyone that's listening to this podcast tunes in and gets a chance to catch up with them, because there's something quite magical about the Rafters. And I thank you for your hard work on the show.
Well, thank you, it was a pleasure of talking to you. Benjamin four