Bryan Brown and Greta Scacchi to Star in Acorn Road Trip Drama ‘Darby and Joan’
New Australian mystery drama series Darby and Joan is coming to Acorn TV and will star Bryan Brown (The Thorn Birds) and Greta Scacchi (The Terror) in lead roles.
The eight-part series, which has received major production funding from Screen Australia in association with Screen Queensland, will spotlight the often unseen areas of regional Australia. It will follow a range of characters journeying through a world where everyone is searching for something or trying to escape it.
Brown is set to play retired Australian detective Jack Darby, who only has a dog for company. Scacchi, meanwhile, will play widowed English nurse Joan Kirkhope, who is attempting to run away from her grief. The two of them meet in the Australian Outback and begin an epic trek across the isolated, tropical corners of a vast continent.
Despite their differences — the directionless, blunt Aussie and the sharp-tongued Englishwoman — the pair grow close throughout their journey as they’re drawn into the mysteries lurking in the Outback. The show is described as a “love story,” a “non-stop road movie,” and a “mystery series.”
Darby and Joan was created by Glenys Rowe and Phillip Gwynee and produced by My Life Is Murder producer CJZ. David Hannam, Beck Cole, Andrew Anastasios, Giula Sandler, Ainslie Clouston, Adam Zwar, and Paul Bennett serve as writers on the series, while David Caesar directs.
“Acorn TV is thrilled to work with CJZ on this rollicking road trip adventure series featuring an unlikely pair solving crimes in the Outback,” said Catherine Mackin, Managing Director of Acorn Media Enterprises. “We feel the series’ mix of intrigue, adventure and mystery will greatly resonate with our viewers, and the characters’ pursuit of love is a universal touchstone for all ages.”
Matt Campbell, CEO of CJZ, added, “From its embryonic state some 10 years ago, we always believed Darby and Joan would become a favorite crime solving couple. We are so pleased Acorn could see what we were trying to say with the series and have backed it every inch of the way since the pitch. We couldn’t want for a better partner. Also Screen Australia and Screen Queensland for their invaluable support as always.”
Darby and Joan, TBA, Acorn TV
