The Castle. Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Muriel’s Wedding. These are three iconic comedies that made the world stand up and notice Aussie culture and its sense of humour. Today, surely, that mantle now sits on the shoulders of the hilarious Binge Original global hit, Colin From Accounts, which launched its third and final season at a gala event in Sydney last night.
The show’s stars, including Patrick Brammall, Harriet Dyer, Celeste Barber, Thomas Cocquerel, Emma Harvie, Genevieve Hegney, Michael Logo, Helen Thomson, Darren Gilshenan, Virginia Gay, Nikki Shiels, Mark Trevorrow, Annie Maynard, Justin Rosniak and Tai Hara and Zak the border terrier who plays Colin walked the red carpet tonight at an exclusive screening and live Q&A at Sydney Brewery Rozelle, ahead of the show’s third and final season.
Also in attendance were producers Rob Gibson, Ian Collie and director Madeleine Dyer alongside media and industry guests, including Deirdre Brennan, Kylie Munnich, Mick Ennis and Ben Lee.
Ahead of the launch, a panel including Hegney (who plays Chiara), Thomson (Lynelle), Gilshenan (Lee), Easy Tiger’s Gibson and Foxtel Group’s executive director of entertainment content Dan Monaghan shared their thoughts about the third series and why the show has proven to be such a global hit.
“There were un-PC storylines, edgy dialogue and questionable choices from characters and actors, such as Darren, and yet, somehow, we ended up with a TV show that nearly everyone identified with,” opined Hegney, who chaired the panel.
“It’s been pretty incredible to see where this little Australian comedy has traveled. We picked up nominations and awards here and overseas. We won over audiences all over the globe, and even managed 100 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, which, as we know, is the hardest thing to do because the internet is full of hate.”
‘Last chicken at Safeways’
Monaghan recalled not being able to pick up the show when it was pitched to his former employer Paramount, because “we didn’t quite have a streaming service where you could say the c word this many times, so we weren’t able to go there”.
“It’s Paddy and Harry, their extraordinary writing, but also extraordinary performances from the cast (that make it special),” he added.
“One of the things that’s happened across the three series, and you see it a lot in series three, is the supporting cast is doing a lot of lifting this season… everyone has their own storyline and everyone is fucking hilarious throughout the whole the whole series.”
Gilchman’s character Lee is the partner of Thomson’s Lynelle in the show, two of the whackiest characters at the heart of the series.
When asked which scenes stood out in season three, Gilshenan recalls a moment where he went full frontal.
“Back in the olden days, when I did Fullfrontal, we had what was aptly called ‘the cock sock’. You’d put it over your business, and it looked like the last chicken at Safeways,” he said.
“Whereas these modern devices, now ‘the modesty patch’, resembles a cricket box that has a tan-coloured wetsuit material over it, and when you put it on, you look massive.
“The way this shot was being filmed through the window, and I had a perfectly placed pot plant right in front of my thing…but in between takes, I had to quickly duck off and just get out of shot, which meant the whole crew could see my ass pressed up against the double door sliding glass windows. It was kind of the best of times and the worst of times.
It’s a scene that Thomson (pictured above) won’t be forgetting anytime soon.
“The nude scene has slightly scarred me… every time I had to look out the window, I turn and Darren was just nude, but for this pot plant.”
Thomson recalled “so many beautiful, nutty moments” including scenes about their cult-like groups of Women Against Women Against Men, and its many zany offshoots.
“The gift of that stupid dialog that you have to make work, they’re just so joyous,” she said.
‘Relatable, hilarious, ridiculous’
Easy Tiger’s Gibson said that Colin From Accounts works on so many levels because the characters are relatable in real life, and the show is “hilarious and ridiculous, but also very real and true”.
“For a few years, people were making comedies that weren’t really comedies, but they were fine and were good shows,” he said.
“We came at the right time with a show that was really fucking funny. And it turns out people like that.
He said that Colin in Accounts is a great representation of Aussie humour that is “honest about who we actually are and embracing the ridiculousness of Australia”.
“The New Zealanders do very dry comedy so well. I think we’re a little bit like somewhere between the New Zealanders and the Brits in terms of our sensibilities: a little bit dry, a little bit laconic, and willing to embrace our ridiculousness.”
Since debuting in 2022, Colin From Accounts has become one of Australia’s most beloved comedies. The Logie, AACTA and Gotham Award-winning series, created and written by its stars, Brammall and Dyer, has grown from a homegrown hit into a genuine global phenomenon, finding audiences in the UK, US and over 100 other countries around the world. It is one of Binge’s most successful original scripted series.
To celebrate the final season of Colin From Accounts, Binge is shouting ‘last drinks’ at Sydney Brewery, where fans can get a free sample of Ashy’s Hazy Ale this weekend if they sign up and adhere to the terms and conditions.
Colin From Accounts is produced by Easy Tiger Productions (The Twelve, Territory, Scrublands) and CBS Studios. Executive producers are Gibson, Collie, Brammall, Dyer, Trent O’Donnell, Lana Greenhalgh and Monaghan, with Kevin Greene producing. Trent O’Donnell directs four episodes of the final season, with Madeleine Dyer directing the remaining four.
Commissioned by the Foxtel Group and produced by Easy Tiger Productions and CBS Studios, season three is financed with the assistance of Screen NSW, with post, digital and visual effects also supported by Screen NSW. The series is distributed outside Australia and New Zealand by Paramount Global Content Distribution.
Episodes 1 & 2 of the final season are streaming now on BINGE and Foxtel On Demand.
