australian television information archive

Second chance for dramas

STRUGGLING new Australian dramas will be given a second chance during the non-ratings summer period before their future is decided.

The entire series of Seven's Marshall Law, Always Greener and Ten's White Collar Blue will be repeated during the next few months in an effort to win new viewers.

The first seasons of Nine's Young Lions and the ABC's MDA will finish during summer.

Jason Donovan is confident MDA will return for a second series, but he is not so sure about some of the other shows.

"There will be casualties," he said. "You'd be lying to say everyone is going to survive."

Marshall Law star Lisa McCune was more upbeat.

"I'm quietly confident we'll go to a second series," she said.

"Hopefully, when the dust settles, there will be room for us all. People forget how long it takes for a show to settle down."

White Collar Blue's Peter O'Brien agrees: "It takes a while to find your feet and find a stand-alone quality that will establish an audience. We'll be back. I'm here for the long haul."

Ten screened repeats successfully last summer to build an audience for The Secret Life of Us.

The one show almost certain to be axed is Nine's expensive police drama Young Lions, which stars Alex Dimitriades.

Always Greener, which made a solid debut last year, has struggled to keep its fans happy with Seven switching the show from Sunday nights to Monday nights and back to Sunday.

By Garry Williams
November 03, 2002
The Herald Sun