Journos get the picture, so the story goes

The second season of Secret City, based on the books by veteran journalists Steve Lewis and Chris Uhlmann, premieres tonight.

Chris Uhlmann and Steve Lewis, creators of Secret City. Picture Kym Smith

In 2011, Steve Lewis and Chris Uhlmann sat atop some of the highest journalistic pedestals in this country. Lewis was then a two-decade veteran of Canberra writing for News Corp’s metropolitan newspapers, and Uhlmann was co-hosting 7.30 on ABC.

So why, with their impressive audiences, did they decide to turn their hands to writing political thrillers, and ultimately television drama?

“One motivation — in our first book The Marmalade Files in particular — was that there were a whole raft of what you would call ‘Canberra rumours’ that you could never stand up as news, so we thought we might have a crack at them in a novel together,” said Uhlmann, now Nine’s political editor.

“We did really want to deal with the big things facing our ­nation — such as the decline of mainstream journalism, the loss of faith in our political institutions, and the big dance between nations where Australia finds itself caught between China and the US — but in an entertaining romp that ­people wanted to read.” The second season of Secret City, titled Under the Eagle and loosely based on the pair’s three books, prem­ieres on Foxtel tonight before making its international debut on Netflix later this week.

Lewis and Uhlmann are credited as story consultants, with Australian actor Anna Torv once again starring as journalist-turned-political operative Harriet Dunkley (adapted from the male Harry in the books), alongside two-time Oscar nominee Jacki Weaver, Wentworth’s Danielle Cormack, Don Hany and Marcus Graham.

The phenomenon of journalists being lured to the bright lights of television isn’t unprecedented. The Wire’s David Simon, previously a long-time police reporter on The Baltimore Sun, is the category’s patron saint. Locally, self-described “reformed journalist” David Hannam began his career at ABC TV news and current ­affairs before a prolific writing­ ­career across series such as All Saints, Neighbours and Nowhere Boys. Fairfax journalists such as Malcolm Knox (Romper Stomper, the forthcoming Les Norton), Mark Dapin (Wolf Creek 2 on Stan) and Secret City’s Belinda Chayko are well represented. And indeed some circle back. Former Canberra Times journalist and co-creator of SBS’s Sunshine, Lisa Cox, has since joined The Guardian as environment reporter.

But the logic has more underpinning it than simply a surplus of insider stories begging to be fictionalised, according to the recently elected president of the Australian Writers Guild, Shane Brennan. He argues journalists bring temperamental and professional advantages.

“It is one thing to talk about writing to a deadline as journalists in newspapers and news media are able to do, which is great, but as a TV script writer, it is really, really important to have the ability to let go of your writing and move on,” said Brennan, the former showrunner of NCIS, creator and former showrunner of NCIS: Los Angeles, and veteran of Australian television, who began his career as a cadet on The Bendigo Advertiser.

Anna Torv and Don Hany in a scene from the Foxtel drama Secret City: Under the Eagle

“Often, a lot of new screenwriters hang on too long to their writing. They work it for too long, and when I talk to them I say ‘get it done and move on; don’t get bogged down and waste months of your creative talent’.” 

Lewis, who has also worked for News Corp’s The Australian but is now a Canberra-based political and media consultant, said his and Uhlmann’s ambition for ­Secret City was no less than to lift the status of Australian political thrillers to that of the Scandinavian series such as Borgen, or American examples such as The West Wing and House of Cards.

“There is a big demand for content, and our ambition is to see Secret City established as a franchise with global appeal,” he said. “We developed characters ­audiences are prepared to invest in — whether they really like, or really hate them. And we have so many more great stories we want to tell involving Australia, China and America.”

Foxtel’s executive director television Brian Walsh agrees: “We are very proud of the new ­instalment … The Secret City brand looks like establishing itself as a franchise for us — maybe not every year. (But) the original ­creators from which the series was based, Uhlmann and Lewis, have a couple of other cracker ideas that could sit under the ­Secret City banner,” he said.

At the end of the pair’s interview with The Australian, Uhlmann chided Lewis about one topic not discussed: money.

“Ask Steve why we haven’t made the $5 million he promised before we started this enterprise,” said Uhlmann.

“Baby steps,” said Lewis, ­before adding: “It has been enormously rewarding writing three books and contributing to two brilliant TV series — but neither of us are yet giving up our day jobs.”