ABC to adapt The Secret River for television

The ABC has committed to the development of acclaimed Australian novel, The Secret River, by author Kate Grenville, as a television mini-series. The novel won the Commonwealth Writers Prize in 2006 and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in the same year.

Through the deeply personal story of a young couple, William and Sal Thornhill, The Secret River dramatises the colonisation of Australia and the escalating conflict between the original Indigenous inhabitants and the newly arrived white settlers. In this epic tragedy, Will Thornhill, a former convict, brutally treated and impoverished in England, is lead by desperation, fear and ambition towards a crime of terrible savagery.

The story of Will and Sal Thornhill is at once an enthralling adventure, a compelling character journey, and a compassionate insight into the Australian soul.

The project has been developed by producers, Stephen Luby, and Mark Ruse of Ruby Entertainment (Crackerjack, the Murray Whelan telemovies, Bed of Roses), Oscar nominee screenwriter, Jan Sardi (Shine, Mao’s Last Dancer) and acclaimed director, Fred Schepisi (Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith, Six Degrees of Separation), and will now be adapted into a television mini-series by Sardi with Mac Gudgeon.

The Secret River is a profound and moving story that has captivated its readers. It’s wonderful that ABC TV can help bring such an iconic, landmark novel to a broader Australian audience.’ said Carole Sklan, Head of ABC TV Fiction.

Producer, Stephen Luby said; ” It’s a great privilege to be working with ABC TV on a project which promises to be not only wonderful viewing, but is truly about us, about Australia. When I first read Kate Grenville’s novel, I felt it was a story that all Australians should have the opportunity to encounter. This collaboration with ABC TV offers just such an opportunity.”

The Sydney Theatre Company’s adaptation of The Sydney Theatre Company’s adaptation of the novel played to sell-out audiences in January this year.played to sell-out audiences in January this year.

The Sydney Theatre Company’s adaptation of The Secret River played to sell-out audiences in January this year.

For more information, visit: www.abc.net.au for details.