Austin isn’t a show about autism, but it gets the depiction just right

Austin ★★★½

I was curious about this Australian and British co-production because one of the lead characters in this half-hour comedy – Austin Hogan (Michael Theo) – is autistic. Screen depictions of the neurodivergent are still infrequent and wildly varied.

Michael Theo, from Love on the Spectrum, stars in the comedy Austin.Credit: ABC

Across the years there have been savant clichés (Rain Man), well-observed family dramas (Atypical), and a cliché-leaning medical procedural (The Good Doctor). Autism is a spectrum, and so are shows that feature autistic characters. But when the depiction is ill-judged, it’s particularly jarring, even offensive. Thankfully, this eight-episode series is well conceived and consistently amusing.

In part that’s because the character of Austin is part of a busy storytelling mix. He’s an accelerant of change for Julian Hartswood (Ben Miller), a successful British children’s book author whose long career, in concert with his illustrator wife Ingrid (Sally Phillips), comes unstuck when he pompously endorses a defence of free speech online only to discover that he’s signal-boosting a neo-Nazi.

At a cursed Canberra book signing post-online uproar, the one attendee is Austin, a 28-year-old forklift driver with ample evidence that the unaware Julian is his long-lost father.

Austin is not a show about autism. It has an autistic character in one of the lead roles, but the central focus is the father and son connection between Julian and Austin. “How long can you commit to the bonding process?” Austin soon asks, and for Julian, the answer changes when his London publisher notes that the story of a man meeting the autistic son he never knew he had could help rejuvenate his battered image. It’s an exploitative response, and one the show has fun with even as Julian comes to his senses.

As a sweetly farcical comedy, the show is a success, and it gets the character of Austin right simply by basing him on the actor playing the part. Theo is autistic, having stood out in his screen debut on the ABC’s documentary series Love on the Spectrum.

Both Miller and his fellow co-creator, director Darren Ashton, have been in conversation with Theo for several years, developing a character that reflected his outlook (Theo is also credited as a script consultant). This is a representation that starts on the personal level – Austin represents Theo – and works outwards. It’s neither forced nor confronting.

Austin lives with his overly protective mother, Mel (Gia Carides), and daggy grandfather Bill (Roy Billing), and the story nods to difficulties he might have navigating the everyday while being mildly autistic.

Ben Miller and Sally Phillips in Austin.Credit: ABC

Mel reminds Austin that he has “no-go locations” and he carries a card to hand out in case his circumstances get too trying and he has a public meltdown. It’s a depiction that leans to the idiosyncratic: Austin is even-keeled, unaware of sarcasm and given to organisational tasks; he’s making a top 50 ranking of national flags when Julian phones him early on.

Austin’s bluntness is good-natured comic punctuation and his setbacks stem from misunderstandings and lingering reminders of Julian’s narcissism. The narrative never dwells on Austin because it has a knack for comically brief diversions – Rob Collins scene-stealer alert – and a witty parallel story of Ingrid coming to grips with Julian’s youthful deceits and her unexpected new freedom to work with others. Change, ultimately for the better, is the emotional ballast of Austin, and it makes for an uplifting journey. The lack of strictures may annoy some, but this is a big-hearted comedy made with an obvious affection for Theo. In this instance, that’s more than enough.

Austin is on ABC, Sunday, 8pm, and iview.

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