Offspring (TV series)

Offspring
Offspring title card
Genre	Comedy-drama
Created by	Debra Oswald John Edwards Imogen Banks
Starring	Asher Keddie Kat Stewart Don Hany Deborah Mailman Eddie Perfect Linda Cropper Richard Davies Matthew Le Nevez Lachy Hulme John Waters Jane Harber Ido Drent Ben Barrington Patrick Brammall
Narrated by	Asher Keddie
Theme music composer	Thao with the Get Down Stay Down
Opening theme	"When We Swam"
Composer(s)	John Lee
Country of origin	Australia
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	6
No. of episodes	75 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Rick Maier Rory Callaghan
Producer(s)	John Edwards Imogen Banks
Location(s)	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Camera setup	Nicholas Owens
Running time	45 minutes
Production company(s)	Endemol Australia (Then branded as Southern Star Entertainment)
Release
Original network	Network Ten
Picture format	576i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) (2016- )
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	15 August 2010 – present
External links
Website

Offspring is an Australian television drama/comedy series which premiered on Network Ten on 15 August 2010. Offspring is centred on 30-something obstetrician Nina Proudman and her family and friends, as they navigate the chaos of modern life. It is filmed in Melbourne's inner north.^[1] The show mixes conventional narrative drama and comedy with flashbacks, graphic animation and fantasy sequences.

Debra Oswald wrote the series with John Edwards and Imogen Banks producing with Southern Star Entertainment.^[2][3] Offspring was originally conceived as a two-hour telemovie for Ten, but was spun off into a 13 episodes series after television executives were impressed by the quality of the telemovie. The second season began on 16 May 2011, with a double episode premiere.

Offspring was renewed for its fourth and fifth seasons on 12 July 2012.^[4]

On 3 October 2014, John Edwards confirmed that Offspring would not return for a sixth series in 2015, due to Ten's cost-cutting measures in its production division.^[5] On 30 August 2015, the Herald Sun reported that a sixth season of Offspring would be made - returning after a two-year hiatus.

On 20 September 2015, Ten confirmed that Offspring would return for a sixth season in 2016.^[6] Production for the series began on 25 April 2016 and filmed through to June 2016.^[7][8] Series 6 premiered at 8.30 PM on 29 June 2016.^[9]

Most of the cast returned, although John Waters, who plays Darcy Proudman, is one exception. Two new cast members, Underbelly: Razor's cast-member T. J. Power as lawyer Will Bowen and Love My Way star Dan Wyllie as Dr Angus Freeman.^[10]

On 4 November, the series was renewed for a seventh season set to air in 2017.^[11]

Cast

Main

Actor	Character	Season
		1	2	3	4	5	6
Asher Keddie	Dr Nina Proudman	Main
Kat Stewart	Billie Proudman	Main
Don Hany	Dr Chris Havel	Main	Guest
Deborah Mailman	Cherie Butterfield	Main
Eddie Perfect	Mick Holland	Main					Recurring
Richard Davies	Jimmy Proudman	Main
Linda Cropper	Geraldine Proudman	Main
John Waters	Darcy Proudman	Main				Recurring
Matthew Le Nevez	Dr Patrick Reid		Main				Guest
Lachy Hulme	Dr Martin Clegg	Recurring			Main
Jane Harber	Zara Perkich-Proudman	Recurring				Main
Patrick Brammall	Leo Taylor					Main	Recurring
Ido Drent	Dr Lawrence Pethbridge				Recurring	Main	Guest
Ben Barrington	Thomas Buchdahl					Main

Current supporting cast

• Alicia Gardiner as Kim Akerholt (Series 1–present)
• Garry McDonald as Phillip Noonan (Series 3–present)
• Celia Pacquola as Ange Navarro (Series 4–present)
• Lawrence Leung as Elvis Kwan (Series 4–present)
• Cate Wolfe as Jess (Series 5–present)
• Maude Davey as Dr. Nadine Samir-Noonan (Series 2, 4–present)

Past supporting cast

• Clare Bowditch as Rosanna Harding (Series 3–5)
• Kate Jenkinson as Kate Reid (Series 2–4, 5)
• Christopher Morris as Brendan Wright (Series 1, 5)
• Caren Pistorius as Eloise Ward (Series 4)
• Kevin Hofbauer as Joseph Green (Series 4)
• David Roberts as Phil D'Arabont (Series 2, 4, 5, 6)
• Kate Atkinson as Renee (Series 1–3)
• Kick Gurry as Adam (Series 3)
• Dan Spielman as Andrew Holland (Series 2-3)
• Jay Ryan as Fraser King (Series 2)
• Tina Bursill as Marilyn Holland (Series 2)
• Leah de Niese as Odile (Series 1–2)
• Marta Kaczmarek as Sonja (Series 1)
• Kate Box as Alice Havel (Series 1)
• John Wood as Gareth (Series 1)
• Damon Herriman as Boyd Carlisle (Series 1)

Production

The series is filmed in Melbourne's inner-north around the suburb of Fitzroy and is produced by John Edwards and Imogen Banks who also co-produce Tangle. John Edwards was responsible for such successes as Police Rescue, The Secret Life of Us, Love My Way, and Dangerous - also produced with Imogen Banks, and has more recently been producing Rush for Seriously Ten.

Offspring: The Nurses

A web series titled Offspring: The Nurses began in 2010 on the official Offspring website.^[12] It follows nurses Kim (Alicia Gardiner) and Zara (Jane Harber) from the original series and also stars Benedict Hardie, Julia Grace, Laura Gilham, Carl Nilsson Polias, Jodie Sheehy and Matthew Heyward as fellow staff members of the Hospital. Some cast members from the original series have also starred as well.

A second web series follows Zara (Jane Harber) and this time Justina Noble as Nurse Tyra. Series 2 also starred Benedict Hardie, Harry Milas, Josh Price, Natalie Kaplan, Sonja Kowanjko and Kate Hopkins. While Richard Davies and Lachy Hulme also made guest appearances.

Awards and nominations

Australian Film Institute Awards

Year	Nominee	Award	Result
2010	Deborah Mailman	Best Guest or Supporting Actress in a Television Drama	Won
	John Waters	Best Guest or Supporting Actor in a Television Drama	Nominated

TV Week Logie Awards

Year	Nominee	Award	Result
2011	Asher Keddie	Most Popular Actress	Won
	Offspring	Most Popular Drama Series	Nominated
	Don Hany	Most Popular Actor	Nominated
	Eddie Perfect	Most Popular New Male Talent	Nominated
	Richard Davies	Most Outstanding New Talent	Nominated
	Asher Keddie	Most Outstanding Actress	Nominated
	Kat Stewart	Most Outstanding Actress	Nominated
2012	Asher Keddie	Most Popular Actress	Won
		Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality on Australian TV	Nominated
	Eddie Perfect	Most Popular Actor	Nominated
	Offspring	Most Popular Drama Series	Nominated
	Kat Stewart	Most Outstanding Actress	Nominated
	Offspring	Most Outstanding Drama Series, Miniseries or Telemovie	Nominated
2013	Asher Keddie	Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality on Australian TV	Won
		Most Popular Actress	Won
	Matthew Le Nevez	Most Popular Actor	Nominated
	Clare Bowditch	Most Popular New Female Talent	Nominated
	Offspring	Most Popular Australian Drama	Nominated
		Most Outstanding Drama Series	Nominated
2014	Asher Keddie	Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality on Australian TV	Nominated
		Most Popular Actress	Won
	Matthew Le Nevez	Most Popular Actor	Nominated
	Asher Keddie	Most Outstanding Actress	Won
	Kat Stewart		Nominated
	Offspring	Most Popular Drama Program	Nominated
2015[13]	Asher Keddie	Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality on Australian TV	Nominated
		Most Popular Actress	Won
	Offspring	Most Popular Drama Program	Nominated

Equity Ensemble Awards

Year	Category	Recipients and nominees	Result
2013	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	Series 1 cast	Nominated
2012		Series 2 cast	Nominated
2013[14]		Series 3 cast	Nominated
2014[15]		Series 4 cast	Nominated

Series Viewership

Season	# of Episodes	Season Premiere	Season Final	Average Audience (millions)	Drama Rank
1	14	15 August 2010	21 November 2010	1.071[16]	#4[16]
2	13	16 May 2011	20 July 2011	1.072[16]	#6[16]
3	13	18 April 2012	11 July 2012	1.014[16]	#8[16]
4	13	22 May 2013	14 August 2013	0.954[16]	#9[16]
5	13	14 May 2014	6 August 2014	1.027[16]	#9[16]
6	10	29 June 2016	14 September 2016	'	#

Episodes

DVD releases

DVD season		# episodes	# disc(s)	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4	Special features
	The Complete First Season and Feature-Length Telemovie	13 ^(+ Telemovie)	5	N/A	N/A	1 December 2010[17]	Original feature-length telemovie Offspring: The Nurses (Series 1 webisodes)
	The Complete Second Season	13	4	N/A	N/A	14 September 2011[18]	Offspring: The Nurses (Series 2 webisodes)
	The Complete Third Season	13	4	N/A	N/A	1 August 2012[19]	TBA
	The Complete Fourth Season	13	4	N/A	N/A	4 September 2013[20]	TBA
	The Complete Fifth Season	13	4	N/A	N/A	17 September 2014[21]	TBA
	Season Six	10	3	N/A	N/A	2 November 2016[22]	TBA

International distribution

Country	Channel	Year	Notes
Australia	Network Ten	2010
Brazil	GNT	2012
Ireland	RTÉ One	2012	Sundays
Israel	HOT VOD, HOT3	2012
Netherlands	TLC Netherlands	2011	July
New Zealand	TV One	2010	Sundays 8:30pm[23]
Norway	TLC	2011
Finland	YLE TV2	2013	Mondays 22:05 hrs.
Portugal	AXN White	2011	Portuguese title: Descobrindo Nina
Russia	TLC	2011	Sundays
Spain	Sony Entertainment Television	2011	Spanish title: Descubriendo a Nina
Sweden	TLC	2011	Thursdays at 9:00pm

References

1. "Three way drama tussle?". TV Tonight. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
2. "Offspring springs into series". TV Tonight. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
3. "Credits". Offspring. Network Ten, Film Victoria, Southern Star. 6 July 2010. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
4. "Renewed: Offspring". TV Tonight. 12 July 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
5. "Offspring cancelled: Asher Keddie has played beloved character for last time". The Guardian. 3 October 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
6. "Renewed: Offspring to return in 2016". Daily Mail. 20 September 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
7. "Offspring is back! Long-awaited sixth series of Network Ten drama starring Asher Keddie and Kat Stewart 'set to begin shooting in Melbourne in April'". Daily Mail. 16 April 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
8. "Offspring to film from April 25". Daily Mail. 15 April 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
9. "Pregnant pause over as Offspring return gets a premiere date". news.co.au. 11 June 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
10. "'Offspring' in production without key star". AAP. 30 April 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
11. "2017 Upfronts: TEN highlights". tvtonight.co.au. 4 November 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
12. "Home - Network Ten". Ten.com.au. 5 January 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
13. Willis, Charlotte (22 March 2015). "Here's the full List of 2015 Logies nominations". news.com.au. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
14. "3rd Equity Ensemble Awards - Winners announced!". Equity Foundation (Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance). 3 May 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
15. "Equity Ensemble Awards 2014 - Voting Now Open!". Equity Foundation (Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance). 1 April 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
16. "TV Ratings: Average Audience". screenaustralia.gov.au.
17. "Buy Offspring - The Complete 1st Series (5 Disc Set) on DVD-Video from EzyDVD.com.au". EzyDVD. 22 April 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
18. "Buy Offspring - The Complete 2nd Season (4 Disc Set) on DVD-Video from EzyDVD.com.au". EzyDVD.com.au. 22 April 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
19. "Buy Offspring - The Complete 3rd Season on DVD-Video from EzyDVD.com.au". EzyDVD. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
20. "Buy Offspring - The Complete Fourth Season on DVD-Video from EzyDVD.com.au". EzyDVD. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
21. "Buy Offspring - The Complete 5th Season on DVD-Video from EzyDVD.com.au". EzyDVD. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
22. "Buy Offspring: Season 6 on DVD-Video from EzyDVD.com.au". EzyDVD. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
23. "New season TV: Offspring". The New Zealand Herald. 27 January 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2011.

External links

• Offspring at the Internet Movie Database