
Iconic literary character, Jack Irish, comes to life next week as production begins in Melbourne on two ABC1 telemovies adapted from the celebrated novels by Peter Temple.
Joining Emmy-Award winning actor Guy Pearce as Jack Irish is a superb cast featuring; Aaron Pedersen (City Homicide, The Circuit), Marta Dusseldorp (Crownies, Blackjack), Don Hany (Offspring, Tangle, East West 101), Diana Glenn (The Slap, Carla Cametti PD), Colin Friels (Killing Time, BlackJack), Shane Jacobson (Kenny), Ron Jacobson (I Love You Too), Martin Sacks (The Cup, Blue Heelers) Damian Richardson (City Homicide) Terry Norris (Killing Time, Romulus, My Father) Roy Billing (Underbelly), Lachie Hulme (Offspring, The Hollowmen), Alexandra Schepisi (The Eye of the Storm), Steve Bisley (Sea Patrol, Water Rats), John Flaus (Three Dollars, The Dish) and Emma Booth (Cloudstreet, Underbelly).
Jack Irish is a former criminal lawyer, collector of uncollectable debts, football lover, punter, trainee cabinetmaker and sometime lover. The complete man, really.
In JACK IRISH: BAD DEBTS, life is hard enough for Jack – his beloved football club has moved interstate, the odds of his latest plunge at the track seem too long and he’s still cooking for one. So a phone message from ex-client Danny McKillop (Simon Russell) doesn’t ring any bells. But then Danny turns up dead and Jack must take a walk back into a dark and dangerous past.
JACK IRISH: BLACK TIDE sees Jack helping out an old family friend Des Connors (Ron Jacobson) whose son Gary (Nicholas Coghlan) has gone missing. As Jack begins to dig, he discovers Gary Connors was a man with something to hide, and his friends are people with darker and more deadly secrets.
Jack Irish was created by Peter Temple – winner of the prestigious UK Crime Writer Award 2007 for The Broken Shore and the Miles Franklin Award 2010 for Truth. Andrew Knight (Rake, After the Deluge, Seachange) and Matt Cameron (Crashburn, Seachange) have adapted the novels for the screen.
The two telemovies are directed by Jeffrey Walker (Angry Boys, Rake), produced by Ian Collie of Essential Media and Entertainment (Rake, On Trial) and executive produced by Andrew Knight. They will screen on ABC1 in 2012.