Binge series Colin From Accounts takes Australian TV in new direction

When Harri met Paddy … along came Colin From Accounts, a new Australian rom-com taking inspiration from the real-life love story of its stars.

Colin From Accounts is the Aussie rom-com we’ve been waiting for, according to its creators and stars Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall.

The pair said while Aussies are good at workplace or family comedies, romance seems to have been restricted to reality TV — but Colin From Accounts is set to change that when it debuts exclusively on Binge.

The eight-episode series began back in 2017 when Dyer was in Los Angeles between gigs and needing some space — so her husband and Offspring star Brammall suggested she spend some time alone to write.

Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall are the creators and stars of upcoming Binge series Colin From Accounts.

She then tucked it away in the top drawer until years later when she submitted it as a writing example and again was told it was good by producer Rob Gibson.

But she didn’t think twice about it until a year later when Gibson called out of the blue, telling her Colin From Accounts had a future.

“He said: ‘You know that script I read – let’s do it’,” she said.

“But even then I kept putting him off because I had a lot of impostor syndrome so I wasn’t very good at following up his calls or emails.”

Married in 2021, Dyer and Brammall took inspiration from their own relationship.

The story is about Ashley (Dyer) and Gordon (Brammall), two complex humans who were brought together by a car accident and an injured dog.

Colin From Accounts is about flawed, funny people choosing each other and being brave enough to show their true self.

While in no way autobiographical, the comedy certainly has elements of real life from the couple, who met on set for TV show No Activity in 2016 and live in the US.

They got married last year and adopted daughter Joni, who was born in September.

They came home to Sydney for the show, which will be filmed around the inner city suburbs of Surry Hills and Marrickville.

The pair started shooting on Monday, all the while refining scripts, casting, costumes and going through pre-production for later episodes.

“I’m excited and I think I think I’ve always wanted to have a part in the other side of the camera,” Dyer said.

“I’ve always been maybe annoying on set because I wanted to know what lenses and cameras and shots and stories – I always wanted to know a bit more,” Dyer said.

The pair met on the set of No Activity, in which Brammall starred as Detective Nick Cullen. Picture: Stan

Brammall said Colin From Accounts was an exciting step in a new direction for Australian TV.

“It is a riskier art form because you’ve got to root for these characters, you’ve got to be invested in the love story and you’ve got to laugh – and they’re not easy things to do,” the No Activity star said.

“It’s quite funny that there are so many reality shows about finding love, but no scripted shows.

“When Harri wrote that first script, she really did mine our own life and we just kept stealing from our own lives to make sure that everything in the show was funny, because there’s nothing funnier than real life.”

The series is produced by Easy Tiger Productions and CBS Studios for Binge, Screen Australia and Screen NSW.

Binge Executive Director Alison Hurbert-Burns said she was thrilled to go into production on the Australian original series following the successful debut of the original romantic drama, Love Me.

“Colin From Accounts is a comedy-packed script and a unique romantic story that is grounded by very relatable characters that we hope Australians will love,” she said.

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