| Mystery Road | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster for Series One featuring Aaron Pedersen and Judy Davis | |
| Genre | |
| Written by |
|
| Directed by |
|
| Starring | Season 1
|
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | |
| Producers | |
| Production locations | Wyndham,Kununurra, Western Australia |
| Running time | 57 minutes |
| Production companies |
|
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC TV |
| Release | 3 June 2018 (2018-06-03)[1] – 24 May 2020 (2020-05-24) |
| Related | |
| Mystery Road Goldstone Mystery Road: Origin | |
Mystery Road is anAustralian television crimemystery series whose first series screened onABC TV from 3 June 2018. The series is a spin-off fromIvan Sen's feature filmsMystery Road andGoldstone.Aboriginal Australian detective Jay Swan, played byAaron Pedersen, is the main character and actor in both the films and in the first two TV series, each of six episodes.Mystery Road: Origin, in whichMark Coles Smith plays a younger version of Swan, is aprequel series, which aired from 3 July 2022.
Season 1 was directed byRachel Perkins. Swan is brought in to solve a murder, with the local police officer played byJudy Davis. In Season 2, directed byWarwick Thornton andWayne Blair, which began airing on the ABC on 19 April 2020, Swan is brought in to solve a murder in a different location, with the "local copper" this time played byJada Alberts. Both series were shot in northernWestern Australia.
PostMystery Road (2013 film).
Taking place between the events of the filmsMystery Road andGoldstone,[2]Mystery Road Season 1 tells the story of Detective Jay Swan (Aaron Pedersen), assigned to investigate the mysterious disappearance of two young farmhands on anoutbackcattle station, one a localIndigenous football hero and the other a whitebackpacker. Working together with local police sergeant Emma James (Judy Davis), the investigation uncovers drug trafficking in the town, and a past injustice that threatens the fabric of the whole community.[3]
PostMystery Road (2013 film)
Jay Swan has to unravel the mystery of adecapitated body which turns up in themangroves, outside the town of Broome. The plot involves drug trafficking and anarchaeological dig which discovered the dead body.[4][5] Swan's ex Mary is involved with an undercover drug runner, placing her in extreme danger.
| Series | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| 1 | 6 | 3 June 2018 (2018-06-03) | 1 July 2018 (2018-07-01) | |
| 2 | 6[4] | 19 April 2020 (2020-04-19) | 24 May 2020 (2020-05-24) | |
| No. overall | No. in season | Title [6] | Directed by [6] | Written by | Original release date [6] | Australian viewers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Gone" | Rachel Perkins | Michaeley O'Brien | 3 June 2018 (2018-06-03) | 786,000[7] |
| 2 | 2 | "Blood Ties" | Rachel Perkins | Kodie Bedford | 3 June 2018 (2018-06-03) | 786,000[7] |
| 3 | 3 | "Chasing Ghosts" | Rachel Perkins | Michaeley O'Brien | 10 June 2018 (2018-06-10) | 600,000[8] |
| 4 | 4 | "Silence" | Rachel Perkins | Steven McGregor | 17 June 2018 (2018-06-17) | 604,000[9] |
| 5 | 5 | "The Waterhole" | Rachel Perkins | Timothy Lee | 24 June 2018 (2018-06-24) | 525,000[10] |
| 6 | 6 | "The Truth" | Rachel Perkins | Steven McGregor | 1 July 2018 (2018-07-01) | 572,000[11] |
Season 2 began screening on ABC in April 2020.[12] It had its world premiere at the70th Berlin International Film Festival in late February, in the new Series section devoted to longformtelevision series, along with another ABC series,Stateless.[13][14]
| No. overall | No. in season | Title [6] | Directed by [6] | Written by [6] | Original release date [15][6] | Australian viewers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 1 | "The Road" | Warwick Thornton | Steven McGregor | 19 April 2020 (2020-04-19) | 655,000[16] |
| 8 | 2 | "The Flare" | Wayne Blair | Blake Ayshford | 26 April 2020 (2020-04-26) | 576,000[17] |
| 9 | 3 | "Artefacts" | Wayne Blair | Timothy Lee | 3 May 2020 (2020-05-03) | 576,000[18] |
| 10 | 4 | "Broken" | Wayne Blair | Kodie Bedford | 10 May 2020 (2020-05-10) | 576,000[19] |
| 11 | 5 | "To Live with the Living" | Warwick Thornton | Danielle MacLean | 17 May 2020 (2020-05-17) | 572,000[20] |
| 6 | 6 | "What You Do Now" | Warwick Thornton | Steven McGregor, Blake Ayshford | 24 May 2020 (2020-05-24) | 583,000[21] |
The first series was made on location in and aroundWyndham, a town in northernWestern Australia. Other scenes were shot atKununurra and on Aboriginal lands belonging to theMiriuwung,Gajerrong andBalanggarra inthe Kimberley.[22] Location shooting took approximately 10 weeks.[2]
The second series was filmed inBroome, and in the Kimberley in northern Western Australia, taking 10 weeks. It was Thornton's first time directing for television, and he said that Blair's experience in this medium was vital. He also said that Sen and Perkins had done the hard work creating "this unique world", which gave the directors of Season 2 a strong foundation, so they could focus on the performances.[23]
The Guardian reviewer Luke Buckmaster praised the "extraordinary breadth" of the show, in the way it portrays the country "only just beginning to come to terms with its past". He praised Pedersen's performance, which "simultaneously [projects] great strength and great sorrow", as a man "caught between traditions, between worldviews, betweenlaws andlores".[5]
Mystery Road: Origin season 1 was the most watched program onABC iView since its launch 18 years earlier.[24]
Seasons 1 and 2 ofMystery Road won anEquity Award for Most Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.[25]
| Series | Release date | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1/A (U.S.) | Region 2 (UK) | Region 4 (Australia) | Region 4 (New Zealand) | ||
Season 1 | 26 February 2019 | 8 October 2018[31] | 15 August 2018[32] | 3 October 2018[33] | |
Season 2 | 5 January 2021 | 5 October 2020[34] | 5 August 2020[35] | TBA | |
Mystery Road | |
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| Films |
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| Television series |
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