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Like Sex and the City, TV One's new local dramedy Burying Brian focuses on the bonds that tie four very different female friends together.
But unlike those New York gal pals, these Kiwi suburbanites are into murder and not Manolos. The Brian of the title (Shane Cortese) is swiftly dispatched in episode one. He is fighting with wife Jodie (Jodie Dorday) when he slips on the kitchen floor and slits his throat on the broken glass bong she threw at him earlier.
While accidental, it doesn't look good - especially as Jodie was overheard wishing him dead at a crowded bar earlier that evening when boozing with her girlfriends. So, she enlists the help of those same friends and, of course, mayhem ensues.
Filmed in glossy high-definition with a raft of quirky storylines and four gorgeous 30-something women playing the leads, it's an unusual local production that doesn't take itself too seriously, or try to be too Kiwi. No wonder, given reality TV queen Julie Christie is at the helm. She says she didn't want her first foray into drama to be "niche or belly-gazing".
"I wanted something with the broadest appeal to play in prime time," she says. "I didn't want any state houses or pylons. I wanted the women to look hot and for the whole thing to look great. Especially when it's going up against American mega-hits that cost millions per episode."
Christie is immensely proud of the results, which she puts down to the talented teams of people who worked on the project including co-producer Robin Scholes, writer Gavin Strawhan (Shortland Street, Mercy Peak), directors Peter Burger and Chris Bailey, and the supporting cast, which includes Elizabeth Hawthorne, Ian Mune, Robbie Magasiva and Craig Hall. And she's sure that women will relate to the lead actresses Dorday, Carrie McLaughlin, Rebecca Hobbs, and Ingrid Park.
Making the switch from reality TV to drama wasn't all plain sailing for Christie. "With unscripted TV, all the money goes into things that you see on scene but with drama there is so much behind the scenes and so many teams of people. Also what you film is what you use. You can't change it all around in the edit suite." And then there is the C word.
"I'm Miss Control and with unscripted I'm in charge. But with drama, you have to hand over control to the writers and directors." While she did hand over the reins, Christie found other ways to be involved on set. She loved working with the actors and was so passionate about making the show look good that she contributed her own designer duds for the characters to wear.
Her luxury waterfront apartment was also used, along with one of her cars. It was one of Christie's Dolce and Gabbana handbags that gave Dorday an "out-of-body" experience on set. "I was doing a scene where I run through a park to throw myself on my husband's grave and I went arse over head and the bag got trampled in the mud.
I thought 'Oh my God that's Julie's bag and it's a real one not a rip-off from China and it's probably worth more than my car'." Dorday is best known in New Zealand for her award-winning turn in the local film Via Satellite and for dancing with mum Debbie at Burgundy's in Parnell. "After a few drinks I'll still kick the leg up," Dorday says.
For the past 10 years she has lived in Australia, first pursuing acting work with the prestigious Sydney Dance Company and on shows such as Blue Heelers, but more recently carving out a successful career in sales and marketing. She was keen to return to acting and to New Zealand to be close to her mum, brothers and good friends from her primary school days. And it's the strength of female friendships like these that she says is at the heart of Burying Brian's appeal. "Women's friendships are extraordinary and quite unlike men's, I think.
Women will like to see how we rally around to help each other and then how it all unravels like a jumper. Also, I think there is something intriguing about thinking how you'd get rid of a body." Dorday also enjoyed the show's mix of drama and the comedy that comes from the situations the characters talk themselves in and out of.
The first episode of Burying Brian is very much a set-up for the series and while it has broad appeal it also has some pretty lame gags, such as a leg-humping dog. Given Christie's involvement and the nature of the first show it's likely TV critics will be reaching for their poison pens, which is a shame given that the second show cracks along at a great pace and has some interesting subplots. Not that Christie will be fazed by any bad reviews.
Season two is already in development and the first has been sold to the US, Germany, Belgium, Holland and Spain, where it will be remade into local versions.
* Burying Brian debuts on TV One this Wednesday at 8.30pm.
