Three seasons on, the Nation Building Authority hasn't overseen a single project

Created by the team at Working Dog, Utopia is now into its third season. And, as actor, writer and director Rob Sitch observes, there's a Groundhog Day quality to it. Its fictional government department, the optimistically titled Nation Building Authority, keeps initiating and planning to oversee major infrastructure projects. But, for a range of reasons – red tape, shifting political priorities, the discovery of an endangered native grass – they never come to fruition.

That's one of the golden rules of the savvy satire, created and written by Sitch, Santo Cilauro and Tom Gleisner: "The NBA will be involved in things, it will consult on things, but the purpose for which it was invented is never achieved," says Sitch, who plays NBA chief Tony Woodford.

Staff at Utopia's NBA are highly skilled at achieving nothing.Credit: ABC

Yet, in spite of the fact it hasn't produced a single concrete outcome, the NBA's value has increased. It's now in bigger, brighter offices with jazzier furniture, more plants and mounds of muffins served at meetings. It's become a valued arm of government and, driven by public-relations manager Rhonda (Kitty Flanagan), it can stage an attention-grabbing launch function.

While the NBA's lack of progress has been a series touchstone from the outset, other guidelines have evolved.

Great branding, but no action at the NBA.Credit: ABC

• There's no evil in the NBA: "The office is full of good people," explains Sitch. "That's why Tony can't get angry. He's never given an official warning to anyone because, technically, they've never done anything wrong. The system is insane and the pressures on the system force more insanity in. But he can't blame anyone."

• No private lives: "We never follow the characters home," explains Sitch, "because it breaks the spell of being frustrated, of trying to achieve something in that office context. We don't know where anyone lives. I think we have mentioned once that Nat (Celia Pacquola) is single. It makes it tougher, because there's a lot of fun in personal life, but it needs to stay in that office bubble."

• The worst people get the best outcomes. Speaks for itself.

Other practices have evolved over the years and one of them is the time taken to write the scripts. The new season took about 18 months: ideas scribbled on whiteboards, stories clipped from newspapers, thoughts developed and then maybe discarded, drafts written and rewritten.

Good intentions: From left, Kitty Flanagan, Rob Sitch and Celia Pacquola in Utopia.

Sitch sighs that the process hasn't gotten any easier. "There's a rule of thumb: double the writing time every series. When you do the first series, there's some low-hanging fruit. The next time, you take a bit longer because you go, 'Didn't we do that?', or something close. You have more false starts. You've got to give yourself enough time to say, 'This isn't going anywhere interesting: the first five scenes are great, but it doesn't develop enough'."

Among the subjects scrutinised this season are futurism, start-ups, defence and privatisation. The scripts, which can run 70 pages for 23 minutes of air time, are about 1000 words longer than they were in season one, because the writers have learned how to layer more effectively, to make them denser and faster.

Meetings abound in Utopia.Credit: ABC

"The DNA of an episode is two silos," Sitch explains. "Something for Nat, something for Tony, a thematic office underpinning and then something completely trivial, say Healthy Heart Week." So, for example, while Tony's advocating for the "intermodal", a proposed solution to a transport problem that everyone refers to dismissively as "the freight thing", Nat is applying for a promotion and others are excited by a visiting Scandinavian "thought leader" who's promoting the possibilities of rooftop honey. A new couch that Tony doesn't want or need has also been ordered for his office.

This season features more of HR consultant Beverley (Rebecca Massey) and some new staff: project manager Ashan (Dilruk Jayasinga) and receptionist Courtney (Nina Oyama). But some things remain the same. Government liaison guy Jim (Anthony Lehmann) stills swings by with a broad smile and a revised agenda; Tony's PA, Katie (Emma-Louise Wilson), remains indomitably upbeat; and his assistant, Scott (Dave Lawson), tries hard to be helpful. Rhonda, however, is getting a bit tetchier with Tony's reluctance to recognise the value of her input.

Rob Sitch and Kitty Flanagan star in Utopia season three.Credit: Hwa GOH

It's hard not to admire the ambition and acuity of a satire focused on bureaucratic process and structural complexities, on the machinations and priorities of politics, on the impact of buzz words and rebranding, and on what Sitch calls the "distractibility" of our media and leaders.

They're not exactly sexy subjects, nor ones that are generally regarded as juicy material for comedy. Utopia changes that. To employ a maxim that Rhonda might appreciate, it resets the agenda. And, as a bonus, with its delicious escalations of absurdities, it's really funny.

The optimistically titled Nation Building Authority plans to oversee major infrastructure projects, but is mired in inaction.

Questions for Rhonda, the Nation Building Authority's public relations guru.

When and why did you decide on a career in communications?

I realised I had a talent for making bold claims unsupported by evidence a few years back when working as a lobbyist for the multi-vitamin industry. Since then I've fallen in love with the time-honoured art of shaping a message, creating talking points, changing topic at will.

What kind of training was required?

I spent two years as chief of staff to a former state minister. My role was leaking cabinet documents and issuing denials – but it provided an excellent background.

What is the golden rule for a successful PR campaign?

Never treat the public as stupid. They are, of course, but you've got to at least look like you're taking them seriously.

What aspect of your work do you find most fulfilling?

Formulating policy and document shredding.

What have you learned in your time with the NBA?

Building infrastructure is too important to be left to engineers and economists. What's the point of a new toll-road if it doesn't have the right comms team to design its logo?

If you had to give NBA chief Tony Woodford one piece of advice, what would it be?

Don't speak until you've taken a moment to collect your thoughts, formulate an appropriate response. Then still don't speak.

Which NBA project do you believe will be of most benefit to the country?

The (soon-to-be-announced) Adelaide to Rockhampton Very Fast Train. It crosses 11 marginal electorates in less than half a day.

What goals have you yet to realise?

Alcohol-free weekdays are still proving a challenge.

What is your five-year plan?

I am currently working with the gambling industry on a campaign to have online betting ads classified as "community service announcements". I think we're close.

What do you do in your leisure time?

Spin classes. (That's actually a joke. I opened with it during my keynote address at the Gov-Com 2017 conference. It brought the house down).

WHAT Utopia

WHEN ABC, Wednesday, 9pm