RFDS is back for a second season after a year-long hiatus and for star Rob Collins, who plays Dr Wayne Yates, it was a relief to step into the uniform once more.
Speaking on the Mediaweek and Chattr podcast, The Entertainment Hotline, Collins admitted that there was a moment when it looked as though it wasn’t going to lift off once more.
“I remember that feeling, going ‘Oh no!’ because it looked for a hot minute there that we weren’t going to go again,” he admitted. “So, I’m just so happy that we’re here and hopefully we’ll get a few more.”
Even though he is a core member of the cast, Collins revealed that he is always “the last to know”.
“I’m also terrible. I leak like a sieve in terms of my information,” he joked. “So, maybe the production was like, ‘Let’s not tell Rob if we don’t want this information to be disseminated.'”
Luckily, the series made a return and Season two will pick up one year after Eliza (Emma Hamilton) left Broken Hill behind. Much has changed, with lives at RFDS South East progressing at a rapid rate. This year, the determined team will face some of their most confronting challenges to date – in the air, on land, with each other, and within themselves – set against the isolation, beauty and brutality of the outback.
RFDS Cast. Seven
Rob Collins’ character will depict the experience the Indigenous community face in the health sector
In terms of his own character journey, Collins said that “We’re in uncharted territory in terms of what you’re used to seeing on Australian screens”.
“The whole team are really dedicated to telling the story in an authentic way,” he said. “With Wayne’s storyline, in particular, we’ll see that cross-section of when Indigenous people come into contact with that health sector. It’s always a sad story and Indigenous people are overrepresented in that respect.”
He added: “You see it in all its complexity and ugliness… There have been moments where I’ve read the script thinking, ‘Wow, this is a common belief. We are going there and telling the story in such an open and unapologetic way.”
Further, this season also grapples with the widespread issue of men’s mental health as well as racism, which Collins feels we “don’t really see a lot of on TV”.
“It deals really openly with racism in a way that doesn’t pull any punches,” he said. It’s done in a way that’s genuine and not placarded and just shows that issue for what it is and that it doesn’t just affect Indigenous characters, but also non-Indigenous characters as well.”
For fans of the first season, Collins insists that “people who already love the show, will love this season too”.
“There’s all the familiar elements there,” he said. “There’s a lot of heart and warmth that underpins the entire show. But we’re having conversations that might be uneasy conversations to have, but necessary ones to have. And the fact that we’re having it on a network such as Seven, to be able to get into people’s living rooms, is, to me just such a privilege. And I find it incredible that we’ve been able to do that.”
Collins. Seven
Rob Collins believes that First Nations people will find Wayne’s storyline familiar
Collins, who helmed the NITV and Network 10 series, The First Inventors, said that many of the community will see parts that are “particular to them and their lived experience”.
“There is not a single First Nations person that will see some parts of the show and might not be triggered by that sort of content,” he said. “But, I’m confident that we have honoured that story.
“We drew on a lot of personal experience and a lot of that is hurtful. A lot of that deals with being marginalised, being pushed aside, being overlooked, being treated as a statistic, all those familiar feelings. I’m just really proud of what we’ve been able to do and really excited to see how people are going to react to it.”
RFDS is executive produced by Endemol Shine Australia Head of Scripted Sara Richardson, Imogen Banks and Julie McGauran for Seven and season two was written by Ian Meadows and other prolific writers including Claire Phillips, Magda Wozniak, Kodie Bedford and Adrian Russell Wills.
Listen to the full chat with Rob Collins on The Entertainment Hotline Podcast here.
Season 2 of RFDS premieres on August 15 on 7 and 7plus at 9.15 pm.