Nine’s SEACHANGE part of $4 million funding package

When Channel NINE announced a reboot of Sigrid Thornton’s much-loved TV series at the annual Upfront event in October, it was a genuine moment of surprise and happiness for everyone in the room.

For the most part, the network had managed to keep this one a secret and it became the major talking point out of all their announcements.

Thornton, who stared in the original series and will reprise her character Laura Gibson as well as Executive Produce, couldn’t contain her excitement at the time of the announcement;

“I’m absolutely thrilled to be returning to Pearl Bay. Time has passed and the world has changed, so as we revisit this rich and strange place I trust we’ll all delight in the chance to explore how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go. I can hardly wait.”

Now, Screen Australia has announced the new series will be one of six new productions approved as part of a $4 million funding package. The working title is SeaChange – Paradise Reclaimed and is set 20 years after the original series.

When Laura Gibson returns to the beachside paradise of Pearl Bay to attend the birth of her estranged daughter’s baby – rising seas levels, community cover-ups and some very stormy weather conspire to convince her this town now needs her as much as she needs it.

The 8 part series is being made by Every Cloud Productions & ITV Studios Australia and will be written by Deb Cox, Elizabeth Coleman, Jo Martino, Michael Millar, Jaime Marc Browne, Ian Meadows and Joshua Mapleston.

Cox, who wrote for the first three series of the show’s original incarnation, is on board as the head writer of the reboot working with script producer Kym Goldsworthy

Along with Thornton, Fiona Eagger, Deb Cox and David Mott serve as Executive Producers and Lois Randall will Produce.

Finance came with support from Create NSW through its Made in NSW TV Drama funding and Regional Filming Fund.

While originally expected to air in 2020, NINE’s Hamish Turner indicated on the Mediaweek podcast the series could air before the end of the year.