Premiering on SBS, The Unusual Suspects is a story about friendship, scheming, and very expensive jewellery.
When a $16 million necklace is taken from self-made businesswoman Roxanne Waters’ home in an elaborate heist, the ensuing police investigation exposes cracks in Eastern Sydney’s sparkling façade.
Mediaweek spoke to producers Angie Fielder and Polly Staniford of Aquarius Films about representation on screen, working with SBS, and planning a heist.
Bringing the Show Together
Fielder says that when SBS approached Aquarius Films with the project that they were immediately interested because of the way the show featured strong social messages wrapped up in a really fun package.
Fielder: “SBS actually brought the project to us, which doesn’t happen that often. It was a very short concept, it was basically a couple of paragraphs on a page. It was an original idea by Jessica Redenbach who at the time was working in-house at SBS. They brought it to us and asked us ‘do you think there’s anything in this idea, and if so would you like to make it into a show?’.
“It really spoke to us, it was this amazing story about the power of female friendship and it explored the class divide in Sydney, it also unpacked the plight of the immigrant domestic help worker, and all of that was wrapped up in this really fun package of a jewellery heist caper.”
Sara Beasley (Miranda Otto) and Evie (Aina Dumlao)
Representation On-Screen
The Unusual Suspects marks the first major representation of Filipino-Australians on Australian television, something that Aquarius Films took very seriously.
Staniford: “It was really important to us that the characters that we created had real depth and also were different to each other, because we didn’t want to lean into stereotypes or to do anything that felt cliche. At one point we had discussed the idea that the women were from all different backgrounds, but then we felt we’d only have the opportunity to explore one Filipino character. It was really important to us that we had a broad range of different Filipino characters from different backgrounds that had different stories.
“A big focus for us was getting that right and making sure that the story is really true to the culture. Bringing on Filipino domestic workers and nannies and Filipino women who live in Sydney who could share those stories and really add all the details, that was really important.”
Planning a Heist
When you think of the heist genre, a lot of tropes spring to mind. Fielder and Staniford say that while at times they worked with the themes of the genre, other times they went their own way.
Fielder: “We really wanted to lean into the genre element, we wanted to make a hybrid genre piece, but in leaning into the genre elements we also wanted to push everything further and explode some of those tropes. There are definitely elements in it where you know you’re in a classic heist genre – we have the great montages of the planning of the heist. Anyone who loves the heist genre will absolutely love the show because it really does pay tribute to those tropes, but it also then subverts and really pushes the boundaries of those tropes and does unexpected things.”
Staniford: “It was also really important to us that the messages and the themes, and the unpacking of some of the more social realist aspects weren’t left by the wayside because of the genre stuff. Even within the genre elements, we’re still honouring the story – right to the end it’s still a story about these women and about their stories. It was tricky and it involved lots of rethinking. Both the script and the edit had to tell that story in a non-linear way.”
Sara Beasley (Miranda Otto)
It also turns out that when you’re working on a show about a heist, you pick up some unexpected skills along the way.
Fielder: “We realised in order to write a show with a heist in it, you actually have to plan a heist! We were like ‘wow, we know how to do this now”. We were doing all kinds of research and wondering if people looked at our Google search history, would we all have ended up in jail? It totally looked like we were trying to crack safes and do all of that sort of stuff. So it was very funny.”
International Appeal
With About Premium Content on board as a distributor for the show, Staniford says she thinks the show will appeal to audiences in any Western countries that rely on overseas foreign workers.
Staniford: “It’s definitely an internationally facing show. You can imagine it being set in Beverly Hills, and the Eastern Suburbs have that Beverly Hills-esque feel about them – you know, the lives of the rich and glamorous. You could easily imagine a version where they could re-make it over there, or they could easily take ours.”
Heather Mitchell, Miranda Otto, Aina Dumlao, Michelle Vergara Moore, Lena Cruz and Susie Porter
Working with SBS
The pair both agree that SBS brought far more to the table than just the original idea for The Unusual Suspects.
Fielder: “SBS were great. They brought the project to us, so without them we wouldn’t have the project. But they’re absolutely the right partner for this kind of show, their mandate is to explore the experiences of a multicultural Australia. They’ve been great, they’ve really partnered with us on making sure that the cultural elements of this story are deeply embedded in the DNA of the project.”
Staniford: “Of all the networks at the moment, SBS are taking the most risks. I think they’re really pushing genre stuff, I think they’re making really exciting content. They’re making the kind of content that all networks should be doing in terms of pushing diversity, telling untold stories, but not doing it in a preachy way. They’re mixing up genres and making really elevated, internationally facing series, and they’re doing it well.”
The Unusual Suspects premieres Thursday June 3 at 8:30pm on SBS and a full series drop on SBS On Demand