The Secret Life of Us

Plot

The show revolves around a group of friends in their mid 20s to early 30s who live in a St Kilda block of flats. Their interaction with one another, relationships with other friends, and romantic interests, along with their personal and career developments, are featured.

The actual block is 14A Acland Street, St. Kilda and the rooftop is at the Belvedere Flats on the Esplanade in the same suburb.

History

The Secret Life of Us had its genesis in a telemovie; a 22-episode first season was commissioned by Network 10 before the movie screened.

The show had a budget of $5.3 million dollars during its first season. Ownership was jointly split between three of its producers/financiers; Southern Star Group, Optus Television and Network 10. Additionally, the UK's Channel 4 provided funding for the show's first three seasons, although they are not mentioned among the copyright holders in the credits. Channel 4 pulled out after the third series and the fourth series was not aired in the UK. As its popularity rose in Australia during the first season, issues arose between the show's creators and Network 10, which saw higher ratings when it screened before 9:30. This necessitated cutting scenes with sexual themes.

The inclusion of a prominent Aboriginal character (Kelly Lewis, played by Deborah Mailman) attracted comment at the time of the series' broadcast, and has since been cited as a landmark in the history of media representations of Indigenous Australians.

The series has been noted as significant for its inclusion of a central, gay coming out narrative in its first season (Richie Blake, played by Spencer McLaren).

The show's ratings began to dwindle following the departure of several key actors and the introduction of new characters and cast members. This began in the second season with the departure of Joel Edgerton and Damian De Montemas. It was the third season that featured a particularly high character turnover, and included the departure of key original cast members Claudia Karvan and Abi Tucker. Production ended in 2004 with the completion of the fourth season. The decision had been made to discontinue production after the first three episodes of the fourth season aired in Australia to disastrously low ratings. At that time, the program was removed from its primetime slot. The unscreened episodes from that final season were broadcast with little publicity in late 2005.

Five main cast members – Sibylla Budd, Spencer McLaren, Dan Spielman, Nina Liu, and Gigi Edgley – left at the end of season three and original lead Samuel Johnson left early in season four, followed by Michael Dorman three episodes later. Original cast members Deborah Mailman and David Tredinnick continued, and seven new regular characters were added for season four. The changes were part of a larger overhaul which had the arrival of a new producer, a new script producer, and a new writing team.

Cast

Main / regular

• Claudia Karvan as Dr. Alex Christensen (Seasons 1–3, Episodes 1–50, 64–66)
• Deborah Mailman as Kelly Lewis (Seasons 1–4, Episodes 1–86)
• Samuel Johnson as Evan Wylde (Seasons 1–4, Episodes 1–72)
• Abi Tucker as Miranda Lang (Seasons 1–3, Episodes 1–56)
• Joel Edgerton as Will McGill (Seasons 1–2, Episodes 1–30, 42–43)
• Spencer McLaren as Richie Andrew Blake (Seasons 1–3, Episodes 1–66)
• Sibylla Budd as Gabrielle Kovitch (Seasons 1–3, Episodes 1–66)
• Damian De Montemas as Jason Kennedy (Seasons 1–2, Episodes 1–44)
• David Tredinnick as Simon Felix Trader (Seasons 1–4, 86 episodes)
• Michael Dorman as Christian Edwards (Seasons 2–4, Episodes 31–75)
• Dan Spielman as Dr. Patrick A.K.A. "Tidy" (Season 3, Episodes 45–66)
• Nina Liu as Chloe (Season 3, Episodes 45–66)
• Gigi Edgley as Georgina "George" (Season 3, Episodes 52–65)
• Sullivan Stapleton as Justin Davies (Seasons 3–4, Episodes 62–86)
• Stephen Curry as Stuart Woodcock (Season 4, Episodes 67–86)
• Brooke Harman as Bree Sanzaro (Season 4, Episodes 67–86)
• Nicholas Coghlan as Adam Beckwith (Season 4, Episodes 67–86)
• Alexandra Schepisi as Lucy Beckwith (Season 4, Episodes 67–86)
• Anna Torv as Nicola "Nikki" Martel (Season 4, Episodes 67–86)
• Ryan Johnson as Zelko Milanovic (Season 4, Episodes 73–86)

Recurring guests

• Benjamin McNair as Joseph (Season 1)
• Jessica Gower as Samantha Conrad (Season 1)
• Tasma Walton as Leah (Season 1)
• Oscar Redding as Eric (Season 1)
• Catherine McClements as Carmen (Seasons 1–2)
• Terry Kenwrick as Mr Loman (Season 1)
• Leverne McDonnell as Kelly's Boss (Season 1)
• Todd MacDonald as Nathan Lieberman (Seasons 1–3)
• Damian Walshe-Howling as Mac (Season 1)
• Steve Mouzakis as Paolo (Season 1)
• Kenneth Ransom as Brad (Season 1)
• Alice Garner as Caitlin (Seasons 1–2)
• Vince Colosimo as Anthony 'Rex' Mariani (Seasons 2–3)
• Amanda Douge as Jennifer (Season 2)
• Debra Byrne as Pia (Season 2)
• Jacek Koman as Dominic (Season 2)
• Mary Coustas as Peace Picabo (Season 2)
• Diana Glenn as Jemima Taylor (Seasons 2–4)
• Daniela Farinacci as Francesca (Season 2)
• Murray Bartlett as Nick (Season 2)
• Rhys Muldoon as Frank Goodman (Seasons 3–4)
• Torquil Neilson as Jake (Season 3)
• Pia Miranda as Talia (Seasons 3–4)
• Pamela Rabe as Luciana (Season 3)
• Nathan Page as Charlie (Season 3)
• Mark Priestley as Marcus Nelson (Season 4)
• Jonathon Dutton as Jeff (Season 4)
• Aaron Pedersen as Corey Mailins (Season 4)
• Ben Mendelsohn as Rob (Season 4)
• Nicholas Bell as Marc (Season 4)

Episodes

Main article: List of The Secret Life of Us episodes

Series ratings

Home media

The first three seasons of The Secret Life of Us were made available on Region 2 in the UK; season one was released in two parts via VCI in 2003, where as the second and third seasons were distributed by Revelation Films in 2007.

On Region 4 in Australia, all four seasons have been released between 2004 and 2005. The first season was originally released by Shock Records, while the remainder seasons were made available under Liberation Music DVD. A complete series set was distributed by Umbrella Entertainment in 2010, before releasing all four seasons individually in 2012. Via Vision acquired distribution rights and released a complete series set in 2020.

References

References

1. Michael Idato, "Ten's Secret Is Out", ''Sydney Morning Herald'' 21 August 2000, p. 48
2. https://www.screendaily.com/channel-4-boards-southern-stars-secret-life/403351.article
3. Copyright notice in the credits for ''The Secret Life of Us'', 2001-2005.
4. Michael Idato, "Secret Life Re-signed", ''Sydney Morning Herald'' 10 September 2001, p. 45
5. Moses, Alexa. (26 April 2002). "Aboriginal actors want share of the action". Sydney Morning Herald.
6. King, Andrew S.. (2009). "Romance and Reconciliation: The secret life of indigenous sexuality on Australian television drama". Journal of Australian Studies.
7. O’Meara, Damien John. (2024-03-05). "Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and nonbinary representation on Australian scripted television in the 2000s and 2010s". Media International Australia.
8. Browne, Rachel. (14 September 2003). "The secret life of . . . who?". The Sun-Herald.
9. "Top drama/comedy series before 2004 - In the archive - Australian content - Television - Fact Finders - Screen Australia".
10. "Top drama series - In the archive - Australian content - Television - Fact Finders - Screen Australia".
11. "The Secret Life of Us: Series 1 - Part 1".
12. "The Secret Life of Us: Series 1 - Part 2".
13. "Secret Life Of Us Series 1 [Region Free]".
14. "The Secret Life of Us Series 1".
15. "The Secret Life Of Us - The Complete Series 2 [DVD]".
16. "Secret Life Of Us Series 2 [Region Free]".
17. "The Secret Life of Us Series 2".
18. "The Secret Life of Us Series 3 [DVD]".
19. "Secret Life Of Us, The- Series 3 [Region Free]".
20. "The Secret Life of Us Series 3".
21. "Secret Life Of Us Series 4 [Region Free]".
22. "The Secret Life of Us Series 4".
23. "The Secret Life Of Us Boxset".
24. "Secret Life of Us The Complete Series".