Comedy duo Mike McLeish and Fiona Harris take The Drop-off from screen to page
A Caulfield South husband-and-wife comedy duo has turned their award-winning web series about the morning school drop-off into an adult fiction novel that’s sure to have you pining for some playground politics.
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Has the lockdown got you yearning for the days when you could drop your kids off at school and missing those playground politics?
A new book by creative Caulfield South couple Mike McLeish and Fiona Harris could be just what the teacher ordered.
Based on the duo’s multi award-winning web series of the same name, The Drop-off has put a comedic twist on the mundane morning ritual of the school run and proves sometimes it's the parents who behave like children.
McLeish, best known for his charmingly Machiavellian portrayal of Paul Keating in Keating! The Musical, and Harris, who has appeared in countless Australian productions, including Tangle and Offspring, have delved deeper into the lives of the series’ beloved characters (played by McLeish and Harris alongside Christie Whelan Browne, Pia Miranda and Scott Edgar) to serve up fresh laughs and tears in their heartwarming novel.
“We had the great good fortune to be approached by the excellent people at Echo Publishing with the idea of adapting our hit web series, The Drop Off, into an adult fiction novel,” McLeish said.
“And we ain’t talking about lazily transcribing the existing scripts and whacking them all in paperback form, hell no.
“We are talking about taking these characters that we know so well and love so dearly and expanding their world.”
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The Drop-off is about three parents at Baytree Primary who aren’t interested in joining in the world of school concerts and working bees — until the death of the school’s lollipop man changes everything.
A cross between Kitty Flanagan and Liane Moriarty, the novel will make you laugh and cry while reminding us all of the redemptive power of friendship, community, forgiveness and good coffee.
The Drop-off will be available online from April 28 — or you can pre-order your copy now.
To see the series which began it all, visit facebook.com/thedropoffshow/