This Sunday will see the premiere of a captivating new six-part ABC drama series Operation Buffalo.
Inspired by true events, Operation Buffalo (previous working title Fallout), explores a controversial time in Australia’s modern history.
At Maralinga in 1956, atom bombs were not the only things being tested. At the height of the Cold War, the human capacity for loyalty and betrayal were constantly pitted against each other. But not just in terms of espionage. Friend against friend. Lover against lover. Government against its people. If only trust could bloom in an infinite desert. But these are not trusting times.
Operation Buffalo stars Ewen Leslie (The Cry, The Gloaming), Jessica De Gouw (Riot, The Crown, The Secrets She Keeps), internationally acclaimed actor James Cromwell (Succession, Babe, LA Confidential), Adrienne Pickering (Rake), Tony Martin (Blue Murder), Frances Djulibing (Ten Canoes), Shaka Cook (Black Comedy), Shantae Barnes-Cowan (Total Control) as well as Angus McLaren (Packed to the Rafters) and Ryan Johnson (Doctor Doctor).
Highly decorated military engineer Major Leo Carmichael is tasked with supervising construction of the British atomic test towers at Maralinga, in the South Australian desert. Answering only to his commandant General ‘Cranky’ Crankford, Leo is also responsible for the day-to-day running and logistics of Maralinga camp.
When someone disappears from base, Leo must race to find out what happened while also facing the imminent arrival of the British High Commissioner and prominent Australian politicians. He is further tested by the arrival of new meteorologist Eva Lloyd- George, who is asking some pointed questions about activities at the base.
Cranky also begins to ask inconvenient questions about Maralinga, and he forces Leo to join him on a journey to the desert to find the local Aboriginal inhabitants, despite Leo’s persistence that official government policy is that there are no Aboriginal people in the area.
On a trip around the perimeter, Cranky meets an Aboriginal family – matriarch Ruby (Frances Djulibing) and her children Sam and Peggy – as they search for answers about mysterious clouds and the even more mysterious disappearances in their community.
The series is produced by Porchlight Films and was co-created, written and directed by Peter Duncan (Rake).
