Three women have faced court in Sydney over claims of harassment towards actor Craig McLachlan.
The women have accused McLachlan of unwanted kisses and inappropriate touching while working with the actor on the TV show, Doctor Blake Mysteries.
At the time Doctor Blake Mysteries was being broadcast on the ABC, however Seven then bought the rights to the show prior to the accusations coming out.
McLachlan is presently suing the ABC and Fairfax Media after it published reports in January that detailed the 52-year-old had sexually harassed female colleagues from the 2014 stage production of The Rocky Horror Show.
The actor is also suing one of the women, Christie Whelan Browne, who spoke to the organisations and performed the lead role of Janet in the show.
The three women’s claims have been included in the defence documents for the case.
The complaints have been dated to the production of Doctor Blake Mysteries, which stars McLachlan.
Speaking in court, McLachlan’s barrister Matthew Richardson said: “The new complainants have been added, one for the 2013 [Doctor Blake] season, one for the 2014 season, and one for the 2015 season.
“The conduct is mostly verbal, there is one unwanted kiss and one instance of inappropriate touching.”
Further details of the allegations did not come out in court.
In April, Seven announced that The Doctor Blake Mysteries will return this year; however, it won’t be with McLachlan, thanks to his slew sexual harassment charges by his fellow actors.
At the time, Fairfax Media is reported a Seven spokesman had confirmed the return of the show that will have a new plot and will centre around Blake’s housekeeper and love interest Jean Beazley (played by the actress Nadine Garner).
The broadcaster won the rights to the period drama from the ABC last year well before the claims against McLachlan became public in January of this year.
The original complaints surfaced after a 2014 stage production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show where McLachlan played the lead role of Frank-N-Furter.
McLachlan has said he will sue both Fairfax Media and the ABC for defamation following their joint-investigation.
In February this year, producers of The Doctor Blake Mysteries cleared McLachlan of any wrongdoing but admitted the work culture on-set was often “bawdy and crude” which some people may have been offended by.
The findings of the report said: “There were no findings of sexual harassment, sexual misconduct or workplace bullying by Craig McLachlan or any other person on Doctor Blake.
“People highlighted the fact that Doctor Blake‘s workplace culture has consisted of, amongst other things, a workplace humour which has been described by many as sexual, lewd, bawdy, ‘Benny-Hill-esque’ and crude and that some of the behaviour relating to this humour may be offensive to people regardless of the fact no formal complaints have been received.”
