Sunshine | |
---|---|
Genre | Crime, drama |
Written by |
Matt Cameron Elise McCredie |
Directed by | Daina Reid |
Starring |
Anthony LaPaglia Melanie Lynskey |
Country of origin | Australia |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 4 |
Production | |
Producers | Ian Collie Anna McLeish Sarah Shaw |
Running time | 60 minutes |
Production company | Essential Media |
Original release | |
Network | SBS |
Release | 18 October 26 October 2017 | –
Sunshine (released internationally as Sunshine Kings) [1] is an Australian crime drama series which debuted on SBS on 18 October 2017. [2] The four-part miniseries is an Essential Media production, directed by Daina Reid and written by Matt Cameron and Elise McCredie. [3]
Sunshine is based in Melbourne's inner–western suburb of Sunshine and its surrounds. The story follows Jacob Garang, a young, aspiring South Sudanese-Australian basketballer who is on the cusp of being picked up by scouts for US college teams. He becomes a chief suspect in a police investigation involving a 15-year-old girl, found seriously injured in one of Melbourne's more affluent suburbs. [4]
A second strand in the story concerns Eddie ( LaPaglia), owner of the sports shop, who is persuaded to take over coaching duties of the Sunshine Kings basketball team from the earnest but ineffectual parson Skelton ( Gyngell). Under new management the team becomes successful and Eddie becomes accepted by the Sudanese community who are the backbone of team. A serious incident in his racist past comes to light and they feel betrayed, resulting in an irreparable loss of trust.
A third strand is the efforts of lawyer Zara Skelton ( Lynskey), daughter of the parson, to divert the police from treating the Sudanese as suspects, and eventually helps them discover the truth.
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Shadow Man" | Daina Reid | Matt Cameron, Ian Collie, Lisa Cox, Elise McCredie, Rachael Turk | 18 October 2017 | |
Jacob, an honest, hard working young South Sudanese refugee living in the suburb of Sunshine with his mother and sister, is a talented basketball player, dreaming big of playing in the NBA. However his life could be changed forever when he and his mates are involved in joy-riding in a four-door Porsche SUV stolen from an affluent suburb. At the end of the night a 15 year old girl is found injured and unconscious in front of the house where the owner of the Porsche lives. | |||||
2 | "Dark Knight" | Daina Reid | Matt Cameron, Ian Collie, Lisa Cox, Elise McCredie, Rachael Turk | 19 October 2017 | |
3 | "Find Your Man" | Daina Reid | Matt Cameron, Ian Collie, Lisa Cox, Elise McCredie, Rachael Turk | 25 October 2017 | |
4 | "Jacob's Ladder" | Daina Reid | Matt Cameron, Ian Collie, Lisa Cox, Elise McCredie, Rachael Turk | 26 October 2017 |
Guardian Australia critic Luke Buckmaster described the series as an "excellent, beautifully balanced drama", and "one of the standout TV shows of the year". [5] On 6 December 2017, the series received the AACTA Award for Best Telefeature, Mini Series or Short Run Series at the 7th AACTA Awards ceremony. [6] It also received three nominations at the 2018 Monte-Carlo Television Festival: Best Long Fiction Program, Outstanding Actor in a Long Fiction Program ( Anthony LaPaglia), and Outstanding Actress in a Long Fiction Program ( Melanie Lynskey). [7]
The mini-series has been published by Roadshow Entertainment as four separate episodes as broadcast, in a two-DVD package.