Aussie TV drama not renewed for second season despite global success

Aussie TV drama Territory, which soared to the top of Netflix streaming globally, won’t be going ahead for round two. Here is what you need to know.

Aussie TV drama Territory will not be going ahead for a second season.

Confidential can confirm global streaming service Netflix has not commissioned another round of the neo-Western shot in the Northern Territory.

It is understood production company Easy Tiger and cast have been notified of the decision not to renew.

Territory premiered in October, telling over six episodes the story of the Lawson family cattle empire based on fictional Marianne Station.

Dan Wyllie and Phillipa Northeast in Territory.

The cast lived on Tipperary Station in the NT for four weeks during filming, followed by two weeks at Kakadu National Park and the final shoot period in South Australia.

Territory brought together a strong ensemble cast that included Phillipa Northeast, Sam Corlett, Jake Ryan, Sara Wiseman, Joe Klocek, Anna Torv, Michael Dorman, Robert Taylor and Dan Wyllie.

Producer Rob Gibson, of Easy Tiger, and Ben Davies, of Ronde, said the show had been a “huge success in Australia and globally”.

“We’re all incredibly proud of the show,” they told Confidential.

On the eve of Territory’s premiere in October, Northeast described Territory as a “look into a multimillion-dollar industry that underpins Australia that we’ve not really seen on screen”.

(L-R) Ben Davies, Rob Gibson, Greta van den Brink, Sam Delich, Kylah Day, Sara Wiseman, Greg McLean, Clarence Ryan, Sam Corlett, Philippa Northeast, Paul Ranford and Timothy Lee at a screening of Territory in Sydney on October 21. Picture: Getty Images for Netflix

“At the heart of the show it is a family drama,” she said.

“And to me it is very much about generational clashes within a family and trying to find your own identity and your own standing while also dealing with the history of your family.”

Territory reached top 10 in 74 countries in its first few weeks on air, attracting many millions of views.

It received largely positive reviews on release with some comparing it to American hit show Yellowstone with some dubbing the show “Yellowstone in an Akubra” or “McLeod’s Daughters with a bad-boy hint of Sons of Anarchy”.

Michael Dorman and Anna Torv in Territory.

Industry review site Rotten Tomatoes registered an approval rating of 86 per cent.

In his review, The Hollywood Reporter’s Daniel Fienberg wrote: “The six-part drama is almost explicitly an Aussie version of Yellowstone, or else a modern-day version of Australia, with none of those pesky Baz Luhrmann aesthetic trappings.”