| Genre: | Conspiracy thriller[1] |
| Creator: | Shelley Birse |
| Director: | Shawn Seet |
| Composer: | Roger Mason |
| Country: | Australia |
| Language: | English |
| Num Series: | 2 |
| Num Episodes: | 12 |
| List Episodes: |
|
| Executive Producer: | Carole Sklan David Ogilvy Greer Simpkin |
| Producer: | Shelley Birse David Maher David Taylor |
| Editor: | Deborah Peart |
| Cinematography: | Bruce Young |
| Runtime: | 56 minutes |
| Company: | Playmaker Media ABC |
| Channel: | ABC1 |
The Code is an Australian drama television program created and produced by Shelley Birse. Developed from a partnership between Playmaker Media and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, it premiered on ABC1 in Australia on 21 September 2014,[2] and the first season aired through 26 October 2014. Season 2 of The Code premiered on 1 September 2016,[3] and aired through 6 October 2016.
The first six-part series, set in both outback and metropolitan areas of Australia, interweaves several plot lines. The first follows brothers Ned (Dan Spielman) and Jesse Banks (Ashley Zukerman), who publish a video of a mysterious outback accident, and Hani Parande (Adele Perovic), who becomes involved with them. The second follows the accident, which sees teacher Alex Wisham (Lucy Lawless) and policeman Tim Simons (Aaron Pedersen) becoming involved in the personal affairs of accused teenager Clarence Boyd (Aaron L. McGrath). The third covers Ned's journalism office, managed by Perry Benson (Adam Garcia). The fourth chronicles the intrigues of Deputy Prime Minister Ian Bradley (David Wenham), and political staffers Randall Keats (Aden Young) and Sophie Walsh (Chelsie Preston Crayford) while the after-effects of the accident unfold.[4]
ABC in June 2015 renewed The Code for a second season, after receiving significant funding from the Australian Capital Territory's film fund, Screen ACT. The new series that commenced screening in 2016, deals with fictional brothers Ned and Jesse Banks facing deportation to the United States of America to face trial in connection with security breaches.[5] Anthony LaPaglia, Sigrid Thornton, Robyn Malcolm, and others joined the cast for the second series.[3]
Series 1: A stolen vehicle collides with a transport truck in the middle of the desert. Two Aboriginal teenagers in the car are critically injured but nobody called for help because someone involved works for a major stakeholder in a secret research project. The accident would have remained a mystery if it had not been for Ned Banks, a young internet journalist desperate for a break, and his brother Jesse Banks, a hacker on a strict good behaviour bond.
Series 2: Two Australians are murdered in West Papua, the only survivor being Jan Roth, the fugitive founder of a "dark web" site, who is being chased by both Australian and US authorities. At the same time, a young boy is kidnapped in Australia by someone offering to sell him to paedophiles through the same site. The Australian Federal Police contacts the Banks brothers and informs them that the US authorities have demanded their extradition to the US for their previous actions, but if Jesse helps the police find the boy, the government will resist the extradition demands. Jesse agrees, but soon finds that the truth is very different.
The fictional town of Lindara was filmed in Broken Hill, Silverton in New South Wales, and Cockburn in South Australia.[6] [7] The main street and post office of Cockburn doubles as the main street and school in Lindara, while the houses of the Lindara families were filmed in Silverton.
Parts of Canberra were used for filming, including the Australian Parliament House, the surrounds of Lake Burley Griffin, and parts of the Australian National University Acton campus, including the John Curtin School of Medical Research and the Shine Dome.[8]
The first series was acquired by BBC Four in the United Kingdom in April 2014,[9] and premiered on 11 October 2014, less than three weeks after the Australian premiere.[10] Because it aired as back-to-back episodes over three weeks, the final episode aired first in the UK on 25 October,[11] over twelve hours ahead of its first Australian broadcast 26 October. The first series was also broadcast on DirecTV's Audience Network in the US, and ARTV in Canada.[12]
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Logie Awards[13] | Most Outstanding Drama Series | The Code | |
| Most Outstanding Actor | Ashley Zukerman | |||
| 4th AACTA Awards[14] | Best Television Drama Series | The Code – Shelley Birse, David Maher and David Taylor | ||
| Best Direction in a Television Drama or Comedy | Shawn Seet – Episode 1 | |||
| Best Screenplay in Television | Shelley Birse – Episode 1 | |||
| Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama | Dan Spielman | |||
| Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama | Ashley Zukerman | |||
| Best Guest or Supporting Actress in a Television Drama | Chelsie Preston Crayford – Episode 1 | |||
| Best Editing in Television | Deborah Peart ASE – Episode 1 | |||
| Best Sound in Television | Gerry Duffy, Danielle Wiessner, Robert Sullivan & Grant Shepherd – Episode 1 | |||
| Roger Mason – Episode 1 | ||||
| Best Production Design in Television | Michelle McGahey – Episode 1 | |||
| ADG Awards[15] | Best Direction in a TV Drama Series | Shawn Seet – The Code (Series 1, Episode 4) | ||
| Screen Music Awards (Australia) | Best Music for a Television Series of Serial[16] | Roger Mason – The Code | ||
| Best Television Theme[17] | Roger Mason – The Code | |||
| ACS Cinematography Awards (NSW/ACT)[18] | Drama or Comedy & Telefeatures | Bruce Young – The Code (Episode 4) 'Gold Award' | ||
| NSW Premier's Literary Awards[19] | Betty Roland Prize for Scriptwriting | The Code - Episode 1, Shelley Birse (Playmaker Media) | ||
| Screen Producers Australia Awards[20] | Drama Television Production of the Year | Playmaker Media – The Code | ||
| 2014 | AWGIE Awards[21] | Major Award Winner | Blake Ayshford, Shelley Birse & Justin Monjo – The Code | |
| Television Mini-Series Original | Blake Ayshford, Shelley Birse & Justin Monjo – The Code |