Territory (originally announced as Desert King) is a new Netflix Australian drama series about power, family, land and legacy.
Just three days after release, the series went to the top of the Netflix TV chart in Australia.
The family drama is set on the world’s largest cattle station is left without a clear successor, and generational clashes threaten to tear the Lawson family apart.
Sensing this once great dynasty is in decline, the outback’s most powerful factions – rival cattle barons, desert gangsters, Indigenous elders and billionaire miners – move in for the kill.
The series has been referred to as “Dallas with dingoes’, while fans of the US western family saga Yellowstone will find much to like about Territory.
Territory was filmed across the Northern Territory and South Australia from September-December 2023. Netflix and the producers have spared no expense in hiring the best director and cinematographer to capture the natural beauty and the brutal drama of family conflict.
Territory is an Easy Tiger and Ronde production for Netflix.
Anna Torv in the Netflix drama Territory
Who’s who in Territory cast
Emily Lawson played by Anna Torv
Graham Lawson played by Michael Dorman
Colin Lawson played by Robert Taylor
Marshall Lawson played by Sam Corlett
Susie Lawson played by Philippa Northeast
Hank Hodge played by Dan Wyllie
Sandra Kirby played by Sara Wiseman
Nolan Brannock played by Clarence Ryan
Campbell Miller played by Jay Ryan
Rich Petrakis played by Sam Delich
Sharnie Kennedy played by Kylah Day
Lachie Kirby played by Joe Klocek
Uncle Bryce played by Hamilton Morris
Keeley Redford played by Tuuli Narkle
Ethan Hodge played by Conor Merrigan-Turner
Dezi Played played by Spencer
Elton played by Matthew Sunderland
Daniel Lawson played by Jake Ryan
See also: How new Netflix original Territory is taking outback Australia to the rest of the world
Production team
Executive Producer Ian Collie
Executive Producer Ben Davies
Executive Producer Rob Gibson
Producer Paul Ranford
Series Music by Johnny Klimek, Gabriel Isaac Mounsey
Series Cinematography by Simon Duggan
Series Editing by Dave Redman, Sean Lahiff
Series Casting by Anousha Zarkesh
Series Production Design by Matthew Putland
Series Art Direction by Tuesday Stone
Supervising Art Director Daniel Willis
Series Set Decoration by Lauren Richards
Series Costume Design by Mariot Kerr
Territory tops the Netflix Australian TV chart in its release week
MEET THE CHARACTERS
EMILY LAWSON – played by ANNA TORV
Born into the notorious cattle thieving Hodge family, Emily grew up in the shadow of the wealthy Lawson dynasty and Marianne Station. For Emily, Marianne is more than just the biggest cattle station in the world, it’s an identity – and it means legitimacy and respect for a woman determined to escape her upbringing and claim real power in a male dominated cattle industry.
A strong, smart cattlewoman, Emily fought hard for her place at the Lawson table. Marrying eldest son Graham, Emily keeps the peace as best she can, supporting Graham’s battle with alcoholism while enduring the open hatred from her father-in-law, the family patriarch, Colin. But for Emily, her persona is split in two – at heart she is a Hodge masquerading as a Lawson; as she grows closer to her wild brother Hank, the other side of Emily re-emerges – the rebellious, adventurous, dangerous, hot-headed Hodge of her youth. With her marriage on the rocks, her affair with old flame and dangerous cattle baron Campbell Miller flares. There is a ruthlessness to Emily – she’s prepared to fight tooth and nail for every gain and it inevitably puts her at loggerheads with Colin, who would rather see Marianne burn to the ground than see it in the hands of a Hodge. Emily’s determined to protect her daughter Susie’s future at Marianne at all costs, but although Emily will always say she’s doing the best she can for her family, truth be told there’s a cold-eyed ambition to her too – and the death of Daniel Lawson brings an opportunity for Emily to poke holes in the old patriarch’s armour and get one step closer to controlling the biggest cattle station in the world.
GRAHAM LAWSON – played by MICHAEL DORMAN
The eldest of the Lawson boys, Graham was the most naturally charming of the two – a crack shot, great rider, easy with the girls and an emotionally sensitive, loveable larrikin. But being the son of hardened Top End cattle baron Colin Lawson was never easy, and Graham and Daniel were encouraged to compete against each other for their father’s love and respect. It made Daniel a jealous, cruel man who shaped himself in the shadow of his father, while the more sensitive Graham retreated into himself. Insecure and anxious, Graham turned to alcohol and after Colin chose to skip Graham as the natural heir apparent in favour of Daniel, booze became a crutch. A way to hide his hurt, to push his feelings down. His alcoholism drove a wedge in his relationship with his son Marshall, and it’s in danger of ruining his second marriage to Emily, too.
Determined to prove himself, Graham is trying to clean up his act. And now with the golden boy Daniel dead and Colin forced to re-evaluate his succession plans, Graham senses that he might have an opportunity to prove himself and live up to the expectations of the Lawson family name.
Robert Taylor in Territory
COLIN LAWSON – played by ROBERT TAYLOR
Colin is an old school cattleman – with a clear-eyed view of the world and his place in it. The patriarch of Marianne Station, Colin’s age means he’s been forced to consider his succession plans – and with his favoured son now dead, he harbours a deep fear that none of his surviving family will be able to carry the Lawson name and be entrusted with the station.
He’s a brutal, unforgiving cattleman and ruling his kingdom with an iron fist comes at a cost – he’s beset by enemies at all sides, and even his own family struggle with loyalty to a man who is often cruel, violent and seems to consider love a weakness rather than a strength. Deep down, Colin’s gruff bravado hides an old man terrified of the future – of modernisation and the legacy of the Lawson family name.
After Daniel’s death, Colin’s heart is almost broken – Daniel was the heir apparent, and now the kingdom is rudderless. For Colin, giving Marianne to his eldest and only surviving son, Graham, is tantamount to failure, and there’s no way he’ll ever see it in the hands of a woman like Emily Lawson, so his gaze moves to Marshall; the last ‘true’ Lawson, a high-headed, rebellious young man who could make a truly great cattleman and carry the Lawson legacy if Colin can bring him into line – even if it means using sheer brute force.
MARSHALL LAWSON – played by SAM CORLETT
Marshall Lawson has spent most of his youth on the run from his family legacy. He left Marianne as a teenager after he had enough of watching his dad drink himself to oblivion and his grandpop Colin and uncle Daniel prey on his father’s sensitivity. After his mum died and his dad focused on a new family with Emily and stepsister Susie, Marshall couldn’t see a reason to stick around, and sick of the toxic legacy of the Lawsons, he made a promise to himself to never to go back. He put his lot in with his best friends Rich and Sharnie – two equally adrift, rebellious spirits looking for adventure – and found freedom in living life on the edge.
Running with Rich and Sharnie has made Marshall tough – not just physically, but mentally. He’s fiercely independent and is determined to be his own man and carve out his own destiny. He decided early on to keep his Lawson name a secret from Rich and Sharnie, worried that they’d treat him differently if they knew – but Daniel’s death reveals his secret, and he’s pulled back into the Lawson family saga. The trio’s good times start to unravel as Marshall and Sharnie begin to acknowledge they have feelings for each other while Rich’s jealousy grows. Returning to Marianne, Marshall is yet again faced with a line of broken Lawson men and a kingdom searching for its prince.
SUSIE LAWSON – played by PHILIPPA NORTHEAST
A naturally sunny, upbeat personality, Susie is the only daughter of Emily and Graham Lawson. Born into the establishment, Susie has spent most of her young life in boarding schools and now attends agriculture college – it’s all part of a carefully cultivated plan designed by Emily to ensure that Susie has the grounding to take on the notoriously male dominated cattle industry. But Susie is not her mum’s little girl anymore and has grown into a fierce, independent young woman, impatient to step up and earn her place for real in the Top End. When she arrives for her uncle Daniel’s funeral, she has news that creates a schism in her relationship with Emily – she’s quit school so that she can be full-time at Marianne Station. It puts her at loggerheads with her mother, but Susie is intoxicated with the wild, crazy Top End – a thrilling change to the classroom. Instantly clicking with rich boy Lachie Kirby, Susie embarks on a relationship despite their families being sworn enemies.
It isn’t all smooth sailing for Susie – her youthful confidence hides a naivete that only too quickly becomes clear. The problems in Marianne Station are deeper than she ever really knew, entrenched in generations of trauma, pain and Top End masculinity – her father’s alcoholism puts a strain on her family, her troubled stepbrother Marshall is estranged, and everybody’s terrified of her stubborn, chauvinistic grandfather Colin, who could never bear to see a woman in charge of anything, let alone the world’s biggest cattle station. But Susie is stubborn in her own way, and she slowly puts her smarts to good use as she works to establish her future and inject a little hope into a broken station and family.
DANIEL LAWSON – played by JAKE RYAN
When Daniel Lawson died, very few in the Top End shed a tear for him. As the youngest Lawson son, Daniel always had a cruel streak. It was obvious when he was a kid – jealous of his older brother’s natural charm, Dan fought dirty to get what he wanted. For Dan, life has always been a competition – whether it’s inheriting a station, earning his father’s love or becoming the hardest cattleman in the Top End – and the only way to win is to punch first before the other guy punches you. Colin respected it, knew that to run the biggest cattle station in the world you have to be a killer. Daniel won the battle for the inheritance but like his father, he ruled with an iron fist and wasn’t a popular cattleman. Knowing that Marianne Station was in big debt, he had secret plans that his father would never have approved of – deals with his father’s enemies that put a target on his back.
SANDRA KIRBY – played by SARA WISEMAN
Mining magnate and billionaire, Sandra Kirby is the most powerful person in any room she cares to walk into. Politicians, cattle barons and industry titans all fall at her feet for the simple reason she controls the natural resources which “keep the world’s lights turned on”.
She learnt the cattle industry from her hard-nosed father, but she’s far outstripped him – moving into mining and expanding exponentially. She turned his operations into an empire and although her wealth knows no bounds, she hasn’t got to the top through money alone. She’s tough, strategic, clever, manipulative, ambitious and unafraid of anything the world has to throw at her. Perhaps her only weakness is her son, Lachie, who she protects and manipulates in equal measure. But she’s privately worried that Lachie may be just a little too young, too pampered and – perhaps worst of all – too weak to run her empire.
A master manipulator and strategist, Sandra loves watching others squirm and gets perverse pleasure out of others’ discomfort. Her eye is fixed firmly on owning Marianne Station. For Sandra, cattlemen like Colin Lawson are dinosaurs that she would love to see ground into dust. Destroying the Lawson dynasty is a personal vendetta, a generations old grudge inherited from her father, and with a secret billion-dollar plan to turn Lawson land into a nuclear waste dump, she has everything riding on taking Marianne Station for her own.
HANK HODGE – played by DAN WYLLIE
Hank Hodge is the biggest cattle thief in the Top End. Born a Hodge and proud of it, Hank’s an outsider – but unlike his sister Emily, being an outcast is a source of pride for Hank. He spares no love for the establishment, and by proxy, for the Lawson family. In fact, stealing Lawson cattle is one of Hank’s favourite pastimes. Hank would never say it out loud, but when Emily left the Hodge family to marry Graham Lawson, it broke his heart. Not only did he lose a sister in arms, but he lost a potential business partner – with his brawn and Emily’s intelligence, they were a winning team. Although Emily’s rejection of her family hurt Hank, he’ll still always be loyal to her. You can say what you like about Hank, but a lack of loyalty isn’t one of his flaws.
Training up his son Ethan, Hank loves to see if he can get a rise from any of the establishment types that like to fob him off as an idiot – because beneath all the bravado is a cunning man with the smarts and heart to get away with almost anything. He’s a smart thief, he knows his rules and regulations, and knows how to sidestep the law. So far, it’s kept him out of prison and alive, but his eye for other men’s ladies, quick temper and shit talking might one day get him into more trouble than he knows how to handle.
NOLAN BRANNOCK – played by CLARENCE RYAN
The owner of Laggan Downs station, Nolan is a proud cattleman who is respected throughout the Top End – for an Indigenous man. He’s known for being a man of his word and has been carefully paying his dues for years as a contractor for bigger stations like Marianne. It’s still rare for a black man to own his own station in the Top End – and it’s put him at odds with many of the racist cattlemen, including Colin Lawson, who believes that Laggan Downs is really Lawson land. Nolan needs capital to grow his station into a real contender in the Top End, but he has a secret weapon – he owns the coastline which gives him a unique opportunity to broker a secret and very lucrative deal for a port with Sandra.
But Nolan also lives between two worlds. He’s torn between his responsibilities to his Indigenous Community and his elders like Uncle Bryce, and the mostly white-owned cattle industry that values money and power over all else. Navigating these two worlds hasn’t been easy, and when Acacia Plains Traditional Owner Keeley Redford forces him to mentor young Indigenous kid Dezi, it’s an uneasy match. Keeley hopes it’ll be the making of both of them and a chance for Nolan to step up for his Community and reconnect with his Indigenous roots.
CAMPBELL MILLER – played by JAY RYAN
On the face of it, Campbell Miller looks every bit the Top End cattle baron – slick, neatly dressed, at ease glad-handing with politicians and billionaires and, after Daniel’s death, the new President of the Cattlemen’s Federation. Campbell is good at spinning his rags to riches story – a poor young kid with an entrepreneurial bent who worked his way up from nothing to owning a good handful of profitable stations and becoming part of the establishment. But Campbell’s good news story hides a darker past. Truth is, he made most of his money stealing cattle, providing standover services and playing dirty – and although he may look like the clean Top End establishment cattleman, behind closed doors Campbell runs a vast criminal network stretching across the Top End.
He’s as smart and charming as he is ruthless and dangerous. He’s been in love with Emily Lawson since they were kids – she was his first love and his first heartbreak – and when she married Graham, Campbell’s determination to win her over only strengthened. In his heart, Campbell fears that no matter how much he tries he’ll never truly be part of the establishment to old dynasty families like the Lawsons. It makes him increasingly dangerous as he seeks to strengthen his empire. He and Emily may have rekindled a steamy affair, but it’s all or nothing for Campbell – whose ambitions and desire for power know no bounds as he searches to win Emily’s love once and for all and to seize the jewel of the Top End, Marianne Station.
LACHIE KIRBY – played by JOE KLOCEK
The son of Sandra Kirby, Lachie’s lived under the shadow of his emotionally manipulative mother and the legacy that he stands to inherit. Earnest, naive and a little listless, Lachie isn’t quite sure how to approach his future – but then he meets Susie and the thunderbolt is instant.
A privately educated city boy, he revels in newfound freedom as he hangs out with Susie in the wild cowboy world of the Top End – having his first fist fight (and winning!), losing his virginity to Susie and making a wild friend in Ethan – but ultimately, he’s hopelessly out of his depth. A union between a Lawson and a Kirby, sworn enemies, is never going to be easy and eventually tragedy strikes – forcing Lachie to step up and reveal to his mother that he’s more than just a pretty face.
RICH PETRAKIS – played by SAM DELICH
Impulsive and fast-talking Rich lives life on the less than legal edge with his mates Marshall and Sharnie. He grew up rough, never knew his real father, and dealt with a stepfather who abused him both physically and sexually. So he escaped from a difficult childhood with drugs and gangster films, dreaming of making it big and got out from his family as soon as he could. He never looked back.
There’s a devil may care attitude to Rich that can feel intoxicating, but it hides a troubled soul whose thrill seeking is a substitute for dealing with his past. He comes from a world where you don’t talk about that stuff – you just bottle it up, hide it, numb yourself with drugs and booze. But one day, you’ll crack – and Rich is on a one-way road to nowhere looking for trouble, about to blow a fuse. Finding Sharnie and Marshall has been good for him, but Rich’s self-destructive streak means the good times rarely last long. His paranoia threatens to break the friendship, and when he discovers Marshall is the heir apparent to Marianne Station, he turns his jealousy into an opportunity to move up in the world.
SHARNIE KENNEDY – played by KYLAH DAY
Sharnie came from an ordinary, working-class Indigenous family, in Queensland. The kind of family where it’s a given that you’ll finish school, get a job, marry, have kids and live the suburban dream. But for Sharnie, that life felt like its own kind of prison and she broke free, finding herself in the Top End running with Rich. She’s smart enough to know it can’t last forever, but she loves the adventure. For all his faults, Rich really can be a lot of fun, and when they found Marshall, they created a tight knit little outfit that knows how to run wild. But there’s a spark between her and Marshall that she’s been trying to ignore, and as time wears on drives a wedge between the trio. Although she loves Marshall, she can’t help but worry that ultimately Marshall’s a rich kid cocooned by his family with a destiny at Marianne Station he’ll never escape. Sharnie wants to make it in the world on her own terms and she’s beginning to see that neither Rich or Marshall can offer her the freedom and independence that she craves.
KEELEY REDFORD – played by TUULI NARKLE
Legally trained and passionate, Keeley is one of the Traditional Owners at Acacia Plains and is the spokesperson for the Community. Hard willed and sick of seeing the same old broken promises that cut the Indigenous Community out of any profits, Keeley strikes a deal with Sandra Kirby but slowly discovers that Sandra might not be telling her the whole truth.
ELTON – played by MATTHEW SUNDERLAND
Elton is a Top End enigma, living off the land with his rifle and his dingo. Nobody quite knows who he is or where he comes from, but everybody’s scared of him. There’s something creepy about him – dangerous, reptilian, especially when he smiles and fixes his eyes on your soul. And Elton knows who killed Daniel Lawson… it’s this knowledge that gives him real power in the battle for Marianne Station – a wild card whose only real agenda is total and complete chaos.
UNCLE BRYCE – played by HAMILTON MORRIS
Uncle Bryce is a revered elder of the Acacia Plains Community. He’s been around a long time and is increasingly frustrated by the broken promises from the white community – politicians, cattlemen, billionaires are all cooking up the same lies in Uncle Bryce’s eyes. He can be bad tempered, quick to anger, and uncompromising in his views, but truth is too many times he’s seen white people take advantage of good will and use legal loopholes to sidestep the Community’s needs.
He’s deeply suspicious of Sandra Kirby and sceptical of what Keeley can achieve. Uncle Bryce wants to keep his Community’s traditions alive, but has watched the allure of power and money, and years of lies and false promises destroy lives. He worries that Nolan’s on the wrong path – in danger of chasing a white man’s dream and turning his back on his people. But he has hope in kids like Dezi, who he encourages to stay connected with his Elders and deep down, he harbours hope that Nolan will be able to find his way back to his roots too.
ETHAN HODGE – played by CONOR MERRIGAN-TURNER
Ethan might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he’s fiercely loyal to his father Hank. Born and bred in the Top End, Ethan’s rough around the edges and an eager acolyte to Hank’s various other-side-of-legal schemes.
DEZI – played by TYLER SPENCER
Young Indigenous kid Dezi is a lost, cheeky troublemaker on the wrong path until Keeley puts him under cattleman Nolan Brannock’s charge. A begrudging mentorship forms between Nolan and young Dezi – and although Dezi might initially struggle with Nolan’s expectations and balancing station life with the needs of his Indigenous elders, he slowly becomes a trusted member of Nolan’s crew without losing his Indigenous roots.
TERRITORY EPISODE GUIDE
Episode 1: “The King Is Dead” Written by Timothy Lee
As the great Marianne Station readies for a huge muster, a tragic discovery is made and the station is left without an heir. Tempers flare as the family grieves and patriarch Colin searches for a new successor, surrounded by enemies who seek to own Marianne Station for themselves.
Episode 2: “Cleanskins” Written by Kodie Bedford
Emily cuts a deal with Colin to bring Marshall home in return for a piece of the inheritance for Susie; Nolan is given a new young charge in troublemaker Dezi; Graham goes for Cattlemen’s presidency; and trouble brews for Marshall, Rich and Sharnie as Colin’s standover men chase them.
Episode 3: “From Dust Til Dawn” Written by Steven McGregor
Marshall, Rich and Sharnie find themselves in the firing line of Campbell Miller; Emily tries to strike a business deal with Sandra and draws the ire of Colin; while Nolan considers a lucrative offer from Sandra that could make him a truly powerful player in the Top End.
Episode 4: “Cornered” Written by Michaeley O’Brien
Graham slides to rock bottom; Marshall and Sharnie go on the run; Elton reveals to Emily the true identity of the killer.
Episode 5: “The Muster” Written by Steven McGregor
Emily makes a deal with Elton while the Lawsons reunite for a big muster; Campbell seeks revenge and tragedy strikes the Lawson family.
Episode 6: “Long Live the King” Written by Timothy Lee
After an accident, the Lawson family is in freefall; Rich seeks brutal revenge against Marshall; a grieving Lachie reveals Sandra’s ultimate plans; and the Lawsons must join forces with Nolan and the local Community to confront an enraged Campbell and stop Sandra.
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION: DEVELOPING THE STORY
The sunny skies and surf on Bondi Beach may be some 3,800kms from a remote, dusty cattle station at the Top End of Australia – but that’s where the stage was set for the explosive new drama series, Territory.
Back in April 2020, Ronde Media’s Ben Davies was on a regular Bondi coastal walk with fellow producer Rob Gibson, Easy Tiger Productions’ CEO, when he floated an idea he had been mulling for some time, of a dynastic family story set on a cattle station in the Northern Territory.
After years of producing factual and observational documentary series following the lives of the men and women catching cattle deep in the NT and the stations owners they worked for, Davies knew there was depth of story and personalities to be mined in a world rarely seen in the drama series space – and Gibson agreed.
Davies said: “Through my work in the documentary and factual genres, I learnt pretty quickly about the culture of cattle station owners and the dynasties in the Top End. I started playing with some of the heritage and legacy and what I knew about the various rivalries and began to formulate some of the characters and a concept.
“During Covid, Rob and I would go on regular, long clifftop walks around Bondi when I first floated the idea. Easy Tiger do great drama, so chatting with Rob was fantastic and we both got excited about the prospect of doing a big scale, high stakes action drama set on a cattle station, in a part of the country you don’t often see on screen.
“It was a complete contrast as we were surrounded by the Bondi crowd, people moving past us in their active wear, wet suits, carrying their surfboards while Rob and I were dreaming up stories about people in jeans, boots and flannelled shirts in the Top End.
Gibson continued: “Ben was completely right – no one has really told a story on a canvas like that. In this age of international television, it just felt like the perfect thing to do – a great dynastic family story, set it in the Top End, showcasing a part of Australia to the world, and quite frankly to Australia, as many still haven’t been up to that remote part of the world. It’s a fascinating, fantastical place in so many ways. We knew there were opportunities for great visual storytelling.”
With Easy Tiger Productions on board as partners, Gibson introduced writer Timothy Lee (Mystery Road, Mystery Road: Origin, Bump) to Davies in June 2020 and they started to develop the story, the Lawson family and the colorful characters that surround them.
“Tim and I started working through ideas around what would ultimately form the series – but it was very much the early stage. I’d tell him about the world up there, the characters, bona fide stories about the rivalries and the cattle thieving. He then started to take on his own vision and the writing process begun,” Davies said.
SPENDING TIME IN THE TOP END
With story development underway, co-creator Tim Lee sent himself to the NT for a full immersion.
“It was important for Tim to see it for himself and understand the innovative ways that these rivalries play out,” Davies said. “By putting himself in that world, the people themselves were able to tell him the stories about everything from how the business works, the hierarchy of characters, the desire for legacy, the importance of land ownership, the scale and its identity. Also, some of the language – they’ve got their own accent and vernacular that needed to be part of the scripting.”
Rob Gibson said: “We knew it was critical to the success of the show that we depicted the world in a really authentic way. You can’t tell a story like that, about a place like that, if you haven’t been there. Tim was totally game and excited at the prospect of going up there… probably slightly trepidatious as well, because it does sound pretty frightening when you haven’t been out there – the distances, the characters, everything slightly weird and wonderful. But Tim threw himself into it and it was invaluable to the process of development.
Timothy Lee said: “I met as many big personalities and Top End types as I could and just went in Louis Theroux-style, asking lots of questions and soaked in everything they could give me, all the attitudes, the world, the stories…
“Some of the stories were occasionally pretty confronting but it was really valuable. They were so ‘stranger than fiction’, but they were gold and gave me plenty of fodder to work with.”
Gibson said: “It took us a long while to get Tipperary Station on board, and it’s a testament to Ben Davies, who had that relationship having worked up there before. David Connolly is a man who’s very focused on the business of the station, and that’s obviously the most important thing for him to be doing. But through a long sequence of conversations, correspondence and meetings, we were able to bring Tipperary on board the adventure with us. It was critical that we have that base of an outback cattle station from which to shoot the show.”
Davies added: “I’d always envisaged Tipperary as an incredible place to shoot it because it is, I would have to say, the most well-resourced cattle property in the world.
“Just driving in, it takes 40 minutes from the turn off to the Station’s gate. To drive across it can takes hours and if you really want to move around the place, you need a helicopter, which is a necessary part of station life and mustering’.
“Something with such expanse and scale is exactly what we’re looking to sell the vision of the world’s biggest cattle station.
“There’s a tarmac, a polo field, an incredible equestrian centre, its own store and school – and then this huge expanse of land which runs from the coast deep inland towards the Stuart Highway.”
Producer Paul Ranford added: “Tipperary Station also allowed our cast and creative teams to immerse themselves and draw from the experience of living on an active cattle station for a month. To watch and learn from the residents, ringers and staff of Tipperary Station. This was an important part of building the show, to be able to live amongst this community to hear their unique melody and economy of words, to see their style and how they moved and held themselves.”
Director Greg McLean is no stranger to the Territory having filmed horror/action film Rogue there in 2007, “I remember being fascinated as a kid by seeing images of giant barramundi and crocodiles and danger in the red dirt – to me it was a place of real magic and wonder which inspired me to make Rogue.
BUILDING THE WORLD OF TERRITORY
The cast and crew were fully immersed on a working cattle station as production went into full swing. Over 200 cast and crew lived on Tipperary Station for those first four weeks of the shoot, utilising the station’s home and shearer’s quarters in addition to setting up a “camping village” was set up within the Tipperary compound, with over 100 camper vans, amenities, mess kitchens, caterers, unit and logistics crew and cleaners assembled at Tipperary from around the country.
Greg McLean said: “Shooting on Tipperary was always the goal – it has thousands of head of cattle, machinery, trucks, choppers – pretty much everything we needed to tell the story.
Ranford added: “It was a fast exchange of ideas and culture which was both a challenge and a privilege. A coming together of hundreds of people across Australia to collaborate, live, work and learn from one another. Two industries – agricultural and the arts working side by side”.
“We had to quickly understand a lot about how their world and systems work and why they do things a particular way,” McLean continued.
Davies added: “Many of our extras were real ringers – cattle men and women from the station – at first, they were unsure how their world was going to be depicted, but soon understood we wanted them to be part of this to bring authenticity.”
Ranford said: “We felt welcomed and very lucky to be invited into their Station community, to be able to experience and live alongside the Tipperary staff and residents. We were very appreciative that this was their home and we needed to respect their place as if it was our own. Cattle stations are a 24/7 operation, rising before dawn and often quiet with lights out not long after sunset. We had to ensure our filming was nimble enough to respect this, react to the station daily operations and either keep up or get out of the way.”
BUILDING A HOMESTEAD
While Tipperary had most of the elements the production needed to shoot in and around – the cattle yards, equestrian arena, stables, the runways and its expansive land – one sticking point for McLean and producers was the need for Marianne Station to also have a Lawson homestead, where Colin resides and the Lawson family history sits within its walls.
As much of Tipperary’s homesteads and buildings were of a more recent period, it was necessary to set build at Tipperary an exterior homestead to portray the Series’ central story of the Lawson family legacy.
McLean said: “There wasn’t that one iconic building at Tipperary that we felt would speak to the audience as a building from the ‘olden days’. In our story, the station was founded by two brothers in the1880s, so we needed to have that historic family home.”
Ranford added: “Under the design and eye for detail from Production Designer Matt Putland and his incredible dream team of art directors, construction and scenic teams, set dressers and greenspeople, the ‘Lawson Homestead’ emerged from the ground in eight short weeks.”
“Tipperary has these beautiful, manicured lawns so we had to negotiate to be able to erect the house there. Then the incredible art department built this incredible homestead in a record time,” McLean said. It was so well done that sitting on the porch, you felt like it had been there for 100 years. But it had been there for eight weeks. It was extraordinary.”
MUSTER MOMENT
One particular Tipperary shoot day that will stay with McLean is the Lawson Family muster, which plays an important part of episode 5, where the Lawson’s put aside family conflict and come together, herding an incredible 3000 cattle down the station’s runway, past the “Lawson Homestead”.
“We had to work out how we’re going to shoot this huge cattle mastering sequence – we walked through all the locations and storyboarded the sequence,” McLean said.
“Then we had to work with Tipperary Station’s skilled cattle men and women to figure out how you physically move the cattle and who’s going to be in the scene – who’s an actual Ringer doing the actual cattle mustering on camera, how the actors fit in safely within that choreography, where the cameras and crew are able to be and then where the muster is going to end up. As a whole, it was kind of a five-stage process to do the sequence
“It was like a military campaign – we had five different camera units working around one group of cattle being mustered for real, including drones in the air and a control vehicle on the ground where I would sit with five monitors on radio talking to each of the units.
“As we’re all shooting this, we were all moving together down through this landscape. It was very, very tense day, because we had to get all the elements and get it right.
“My job was just to be really quiet because everyone knew their role that day and what they were doing but, of course, things can go wrong. You’re dealing with 3000 cattle and at the end of the day, they’ll do whatever they want!
“It was a real exercise in planning and collaboration that couldn’t really come off without the skill of Tipperary’s cattle wranglers working seamlessly with our crew like the gripping team, stunt team, wrangling team and our safety teams. Those guys and gals are the best you can get.”
Davies added: “Being at Tipperary and having access to that head of cattle, it allowed us to do old-school filmmaking because it wasn’t CGI – we haven’t put the cattle in afterwards. They’re all real, in the thousands and the choppers are really flying low over the top of them. It was a throwback to the old style of Hollywood filmmaking when things were created in-camera.”
KAKADU NATIONAL PARK
After a memorable 4 weeks on Tipperary Station, the production moved to Kakadu National Park, some 200kms away.
Kakadu would be the setting for the series’ opening and closing episodic moments and as a sacred ancient place for its Indigenous story and characters.
Paul Ranford said: “The Traditional Owners – the Nadji Family, Buntji Clan of Hawk Dreaming and the Djabulukga Association and with the support of the Kakadu National Park, provided the Series with the opportunity to film in stunning pristine landscapes, ranging from escarpments, caves, floodplains and billabongs.
“Importantly it gave our Series a fertile landscape in which to set our Indigenous story and characters and to be able to tell these sacred traditional stories with stunning integrity. We felt truly privileged to be invited onto these ancient and spiritual lands by the Traditional Owners of Kakadu.”
McLean added: “We were on a recce in Kakadu and were fortunate to be invited by one of the Kakadu National Park Rangers, to visit his father for lunch and to discuss our story. His father Jonathan Nadji, a Traditional Owner instantly knew a place that would work and invited us to a special place that instantly gave us everything our story needed”
SHOOTING IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA
With shooting in the NT wrapped after 6 weeks, the production moved from North to South across the country, back to South Australia, with locations including Nolan Brannock’s Laggan Downs; Bethel Creek Station, the home of Hank and Ethan Hodge; Sandra Kirby’s stunning, designer residence (later to be perched atop an ancient escarpment); the interiors of the Lawson Family Homestead; the Young Turks outpost and the iconic Bull Bar, a watering hole where the Top End characters meet for a drink, a brawl – or both.
McLean said: “The challenge was matching locations that felt Northern Territory in architecture and texture in South Australia. Our locations team found places that would match with our exterior locations in the Northern Territory perfectly. We found some absolutely beautiful houses – there’s so many gorgeous homes in in Adelaide and we were lucky enough to find a couple of really spectacular places with great owners who were happy to have us come in and paint their walls and move things around.
Ranford added: “The SAFC and Screen NT were incredible partners to work with to mount an ambitiously complex series like Territory. The NT gave us the incredibly diverse and culturally significant and ancient landscapes along with ‘Marianne Station’ and the authentic world of Tipperary Station and its people. SA gave us a base, the production and post facilities alongside matching locations across the Adelaide Plains of Kaurna country and Adelaide environs and diverse architecture allowing us to flesh out the rest of the Series and set the interior world of our story.”
TERRITORY LOCATION GUIDE
TIPPERARY GROUP OF STATIONS, NORTHERN TERRITORY
One of the largest cattle stations in the world, the iconic Tipperary Station in the Northern Territory is the setting for Marianne Station and home to the Lawson Family.
Located about 194km from Darwin, Tipperary’s two adjoining sister properties are Douglas West and Litchfield – all three stations operate as a single entity referred to as the Tipperary Group of Stations, occupying an incredible area of 386,000 hectares (954,000 acres).
Cattle breeding and backgrounding are the main enterprises at Tipperary. With huge areas of recently developed pastures and access to the fertile Litchfield floodplain, the Group enjoys capacity to carry one of the Territory’s largest cattle herds.
Tipperary is divided into 72 paddocks with an average size of 30km2 and, along with neighbouring Litchfield, has six permanent steel yards, one set of portable yards, 20 aluminium tanks and 15 bores. The area has a wide variety of natural watering points in the form of springs, creeks and swamps although some can dry up prior to the wet season.
The property shares a boundary with Litchfield National Park and Litchfield Station to the north, Ban Ban Springs and Douglas Stations to the east, unclaimed Crown Land to the south and the Malak Malak Aboriginal Land Trust to the west.
KAKADU NATIONAL PARK, NORTHERN TERRITORY
Set within Kakadu National Park, Cannon Hill was the setting for the series’ Sorry Place location and where Uncle Bryce and the Traditional Owners taught Dezi the importance of Country; Daniel Lawson met his untimely death; and Young Turks Marshall and Sharnie fought off Campbell Miller’s men.
The Kakadu National Park is a cultural landscape and home to Aboriginal people for more than 65,000 years. It is one of the largest national parks in Australia, covering almost 20,000 square kilometres, featuring lush rainforests, rocky gorges, serene swimming pools and the oldest Aboriginal rock art in the world.
The park is dual World Heritage-listed for its outstanding natural and cultural values. Today, the Aboriginal people work hand-in-hand with Parks Australia to manage Kakadu, using a mix of traditional ways and modern science.
Since the late 1970s Kakadu’s Traditional Owners have leased their land to the Director of National Parks to be jointly managed as a national park.
WANGI FALLS, LITCHFIELD NATIONAL PARK, NORTHERN TERRITORY
Wangi Falls, found within the Litchfield National Park, is the picture-perfect location where Susie and Lachie’s relationship is further explored. Wangi Falls is one of the most popular swimming holes in the Park. Referred to as the “jewel in the crown of Litchfield”, the falls flow all year and framed by a large, deep pool.
LEE POINT, DARWIN, NORTHERN TERRITORY
Located in Darwin’s northern-most suburb, Lee Point is situated just minutes from the Casuarina Coastal Reserve – one of the NT’s most popular National Parks. It is on the traditional Country and waterways of the Larrakia people. Lee Point is the setting for Nolan Brannock’s impressive Laggan Downs coastal land.
CRAB CLAW ISLAND RESORT, DARWIN, NORTHERN TERRITORY
Nestled on the water’s edge of Bynoe Harbour, Crab Claw Island Resort was the setting for Emily and Sandra’s clandestine meeting in episode one.
MALLALA, ADELAIDE PLAINS, SOUTH AUSTRALIA
The locality of Mallala, within the Adelaide Plains region, was home to some of the biggest locations of the South Australian shoot, including Nolan Brannock’s station Laggan Downs, the Young Turks’ camp and Hank Hodge’s Bethel Creek property. Mallala is a tiny wheatbelt town about 55kms north from the Adelaide city centre.
BALHANNAH, ADELAIDE HILLS, SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Balhannah is a picturesque town in the Adelaide Hills and home to Sandra Kirby’s architectural, stark minimalist residence. Balhannah is 30kms southeast from Adelaide.
TAPEROO, LEFEVRE PENINSULA, SOUTH AUSTRALIA
The suburb of Taperoo is situated on the LeFevre Peninsula in the west of Adelaide. It’s where the series’ Community story was based – at the Taperoo Community Centre and also the setting for Uncle Bryce’s home.
Territory director Greg McLean with executive producers Ben Davies and Rob Gibson
CREATIVE TEAM BIOGRAPHIES
GREG McLEAN, DIRECTOR
Australian filmmaker Greg McLean’s career began when he created Australia’s most iconic horror movie, Wolf Creek. His debut feature was a franchise-starting box office hit that appears regularly on’ Scariest Movies of all Time’ lists.
He then wrote, directed, and produced the thrillers, Rogue and Wolf Creek 2, before helming The Darkness, for Blumhouse and The Belko Experiment, for producers James Gunn and Peter Safran. This was followed by Jungle, a survival thriller based on the best-selling book.
Expanding into television, he promptly established himself as one of the country’s most sought-after creatives. He was Executive Producer and showrunner on two seasons of the Wolf Creek spin-off series, for Stan.
That success was followed by directing episodes on high-end television projects, including Jack Irish, The Gloaming, Bloom, La Brea, The Twelve and Scrublands.
In 2023, he joined fellow filmmaker Patrick Hughes and screenwriter James Beaufort to establish Huge Film, developing and producing their slate of genre movies and TV projects.
BEN DAVIES, CO-CREATOR AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCER / RONDE
Highly experienced creator and producer of prime-time TV, Ben has close to 30 years in the TV industry. He is founder of production company, Ronde.
Ben’s credits include Bondi Rescue, which he created 18 seasons ago. He is also the producer and co-creator of numerous prime time series, including: upcoming Netflix drama series Territory; heartfelt factual series Big Miracles (Channel Nine), new reality format Billion Dollar Playground (Binge/Foxtel), observational documentary series Outback Ringer (ABC), hit comedy-drama series Here Come The Habibs (Channel Nine), comedy-panel series Show Me The Movie (Channel Ten, hosted by Rove McManus), landmark Australian documentary series The First Inventors (Paramount/Ten and NITV), ob-doc series Aussie Truck Rehab (Warner-Discovery), Bondi Boardriders Vs The World (Red Bull TV), travel series Three Blue Ducks, (Channel Ten, starring Masterchef judge Andy Allen), comedy factual-entertainment series Australia Now and Then (hosted by Shane Jacobson, on Network 7) and spin-off series Bondi Rescue – Bali (Ten).
His company, Ronde, is inspired by unique characters. The imperfection and complexity of humanity, in stories where conflict, betrayal, love and redemption roar across the screen.
ROB GIBSON, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER / EASY TIGER PRODUCTIONS CEO
Rob Gibson is CEO/Producer at Easy Tiger Productions, with credits including the AACTA award-winning Foxtel courtroom drama The Twelve, the Binge, BBC and CBS Studios international comedy sensation Colin From Accounts, Stan’s hit crime mystery Scrublands, ABC favourite Jack Irish starring Guy Pearce, Nine’s long-running comedy-drama Doctor Doctor, and Lindy Chamberlain: The True Story.
Rob is currently in post-production on the highly anticipated Netflix drama Territory.
Prior to joining Easy Tiger, Rob was the Head of Originals at Stan, where he built the originals business and was responsible for award-winning, critically acclaimed originals No Activity, Wolf Creek, Bloom, The Other Guy, and Romper Stomper, among others.
Prior to joining Stan, Rob worked as a film and television producer both in the US and Australia, and was formerly a media and entertainment lawyer, working for Allens Linklaters, Foxtel, Festival Records and Fairfax Media.
IAN COLLIE, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/ EASY TIGER PRODUCTIONS FOUNDER
Ian Collie is one of Australia’s most experienced producers and the founder of Easy Tiger Productions.
Ian’s most recent projects include Stan’s Scrublands and Paramount+ drama One Night. Ian’s other credits include the AACTA award-winning Foxtel drama The Twelve, multiple
Logie-award winning Binge comedy Colin From Accounts, the iconic ABC comedy Rake (five seasons with ABC TV), and Nine’s Doctor Doctor (aka The Heart Guy, five seasons).
He has produced two series and three telemovies of the crime drama Jack Irish, and the telemovie The Broken Shore, all based on the award-winning novels of Peter Temple. Ian is also the producer of SBS dramas Sunshine and The Principal and ABC TV telefeature Hell Has Harbour Views.
He was nominated for a PGA Award for his work producing the Disney feature film Saving Mr Banks starring Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks. He is currently producing an Indian/Sydney drama Four Years for SBS slated for production in 2024.
PAUL RANFORD, PRODUCER
Paul is a producer with over 30 years’ experience working across film and television.
Recent credits include the Warwick Thornton-created AMC+ vampire series Firebite, from See Saw Films; the AACTA and Screen Producer Australia award-winning series Stateless, for ABC-TV/Netflix from Matchbox Pictures/NBCUniversal, starring Cate Blanchett and Yvonne Strahovski; and the AACTA nominated feature True History of The Kelly Gang, from Porchlight Films/Film4 UK, from director Justin Kurzel and starring Russell Crowe, Charlie Hunnam and George MacKay.
Other recent credits include Ambience Entertainment’s Storm Boy; Peter Rabbit, from Sony Pictures/Animal Logic; and the acclaimed series Secret City and Deadline Gallipoli, also from Matchbox Pictures/NBCUniversal for Foxtel.
His other production credits include Fury Road: Mad Max IV; Mao’s Last Dancer; The Rover; Matrix II & III – Revolutions & Reloaded; Star Wars Episode II and The Quiet American.
See also: Territory preview screening for cast and crew of next big Netflix Australian original
Territory cast and crew at a preview screening
MATT PUTLAND, PRODUCTION DESIGNER
Matt is one of Australia’s most in demand designers. He has just completed Territory, the Netflix contemporary drama, and The Artful Dodger, set in 1850s Australia with an all-star cast, streaming on Disney+.
He has most recently been AACTA nominated for his work on The Artful Dodger and for the magical fantasy adventure The Portable Door, a Jim Henson Company film starring Oscar winner Christoph Waltz.
Matt’s extensive range includes raw honest design as seen in his work with Ivan Sen on Mystery Road (2012) and Goldstone (2015), as well as high concept design in Predestination (2014) and Winchester (2018), both directed by Peter and Michael Spierig.
His work with the Spierig brothers won him an AACTA award for Best Production Design for Predestination and an APDG Award for Best Production Design on Winchester.
Matt’s other feature film credits include Jungle (2016), the re-telling of Yossi Ginsberg’s harrowing Amazonian jungle adventure, shot partly in Bogota, Colombia, starring Daniel Radcliff; as well as Australia Day (2016) and Streamline (2019).
He has also accrued credits on television series such as Seasons 1+2 of Harrow (ABC), Tidelands S1 (Netflix), Wanted S1 (Matchbox), and the Disney Series Nautilus (2022).
SIMON DUGGAN, DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY, ACS, ASC
Originally hailing from Wellington, New Zealand, Simon Duggan began his career shooting commercials at Ross Wood Film Studios in Sydney, Australia with directors such as Alex Proyas, David Denneen and Bruce Hunt.
Duggan has since shot hundreds of international campaigns, most notably with director Noam Murro, with whom he’s lensed dozens of award-winning commercials, along with the feature film 300: Rise of an Empire.
Duggan’s extensive commercial work has earned him two Best Cinematography Awards from the AICP and multiple awards from the Australian Cinematographers Society. Duggan’s first foray into features, Craig Monahan’s The Interview, earned him the Best Cinematography Award from the Film Critics Circle of Australia. He’s since lensed over a dozen features, including three films with director Alex Proyas (I, Robot, Knowing, Garage Days), and two films directed by Len Wiseman (Live Free or Die Hard, Underworld: Evolution).
His work in Baz Luhrmann’s feature adaptation of The Great Gatsby garnered Duggan a Best Cinematography Award from the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards along with a Gold Award from the Australian Cinematographers Society.
Duggan then shot Mel Gibson’s acclaimed war drama Hacksaw Ridge, earning him another Best Cinematography win at the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards and a Golden Frog nomination at Camerimage. He most recently worked on Disenchanted with director Adam Shankman.
Duggan’s upcoming credits include the series Territory for Netflix, The Georgetown Project with directors M.A. Fortin and Joshua John Miller, and George Miller’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.