Territory on Netflix: Kiwi actor Michael Dorman talks Top End show

As global audiences enjoy a neo-western series set in the Top End, actor Michael Dorman sat down with the NT News to discuss his experience filming in the Territory.

Netflix’s new neo-western drama show ‘Territory’ is set to launch this week. Picture: Supplied.

As global audiences ready themselves for a neo-western series set in the Top End, actor Michael Dorman has reflected on his on-set experience.

Set on a Top End cattle station, Territory is an action-packed show bringing to life desert gangsters, cattle barons, and billionaire miners in an outback-themed epic.

With rifles, akubras, pubs and Indigenous stars thrown in the mix, the series was launched on October 23 on Netflix.

Michael Dorman, who plays Graham Lawson, says intergenerational trauma plays a core role in the show. Picture: Supplied.

A Kiwi actor, Dorman told this masthead audiences in Australia and internationally would be thrilled by the “high octane” show.

“It’s about intergenerational trauma and it incorporates the landscape and the way of life when you’re working on the land amid isolation,” Dorman said.

“You’re so far from everything else and so for me that’s basically what this story is.”

The show’s characters who are grappling over the disputed Marianne Station, are complex too, according to Dorman, who plays Graham Lawson.

Cast members between takes. The show aims to capture the norms and details of life on a Top End cattle station. Picture: Supplied.

Dorman did not hold back when he explained his character’s archetype.

“I would say he’s the f--k up,” he said.

“He’s the guy that you do not want to pass the baton to, he’s the guy that has become so dark on himself, that he feels like he’s a waste of space.

“And then through the course of the story, we get to see him fall to his all time low, find his feet and stand again.”

Dorman, who resides in Los Angeles, said he was surprised by “the scale” of the outback cattle station which left a huge impression on him.

“There’s a primal side to it, (workers) putting themselves at such risk, working with animals that are so unpredictable,” he said.

“Things can go wrong so fast, and when they do go wrong up there, that’s it.

“It’s a very different way of living.”

Cast and crew immersed themselves in the outback for months while shooting. Picture: Supplied.

Dorman joins a finite number of actors who have starred in a major production in Australia’s north – a privilege not lost on the Kiwi.

“How many of us have been to the Top End? I hadn’t and so to go and explore that small piece of (Australia) – it’s magic out there,” he said.

“Vast landscapes, big skies, blasting heat and things like riding horses, hanging out of helicopters, riding motorbikes – we had it all day out there in nature and trying to wrangle snakes and chase after kangaroos.”

Netflix is not the first production company to touch down in the Top End for filming of late, with NCIS: Sydney filming two episodes in Darwin set to premiere this month.

Similarly, Prime Video will release Top End Bub – the follow-up to hit movie Top End Wedding – in mid 2025.

The production company also filmed episodes for season two of Deadloch in the NT.

Actor Robert Taylor plays a leading role in the show. Picture: Supplied.

While Dorman said he was happy to be back with his family after several months away, the Top End remained close to heart.

“It was really special – like, for your spirit,” he said.

“Something I’ll never forget and I’d recommend the Top End to anyone.”

Territory will stream on Netflix on October 24, 2024.

Originally published as Territory on Netflix: Kiwi actor Michael Dorman talks Top End show