Underbelly returns to Channel Nine in 2022, based on the real-life mystery that captivated the nation. Underbelly: Vanishing Act tells the story of the bizarre disappearance of Melissa Caddick, the high-roller who allegedly embezzled over $40 million before vanishing into thin air. It’s a mystery that has left Caddick’s family, clients, and the police questioning everything they thought they knew about her.
Underbelly: Vanishing Act stars Kate Atkinson (Wentworth, Jack Irish, SeaChange) as Melissa Caddick, alongside Colin Friels (Water Rats, BlackJack, Mystery Road), Tai Hara (Madam Secretary, Home and Away, Hyde & Seek), Maya Stange (Love Child, A Place to Call Home, Wolf Creek, Rake), Ursula Mills (Out of the Blue), and Sophie Bloom (Love Child, Amazing Grace, Reef Break).
Produced by Matt Ford and Kerrie Mainwaring, written by Matt Ford and Michael Miller and directed by Geoff Bennett, Underbelly: Vanishing Act is produced by Screentime (a Banijay Group company).
The last time Underbelly was on Nine was with the miniseries Underbelly Files: Chopper in 2018.
The first part of the mini-series achieved a metro ratings audience of 903,000, coming first in its timeslot in front of Seven Network’s coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics.
The second part of the mini-series dropped more than 200,000 viewers and achieved a metro ratings audience of 696,000, coming second in its timeslot behind Seven Network’s coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Award-winning actor Aaron Jeffery, winner of two Logies, played the Chopper. Australian film and television legend and two-time Logie Award-winner Michael Caton played Chopper’s father, Keith.
New Zealand-born Jeffery is best known for roles in hit Australian dramas Wentworth, McLeod’s Daughters and Water Rats as well as Kiwi drama Outrageous Fortune. Jeffery was no stranger to the Underbelly series after portraying Frank “Tink” O’Rourke in Underbelly: Badness and Geoff Leyland in Underbelly Files: The Man Who Got Away.