Casting news for new crime series Scrublands based on novel by Chris Hammer

Luke Arnold, Bella Heathcote and Jay Ryan will direct Scrublands, a television adaptation of Chris Hammer's novel for Australia's Stan. Scrublands is set in the isolated country town of Riversend, brought to its knees by endless drought, where a charismatic and dedicated young priest (Jay Ryan) calmly opens fire on his congregation, killing five parishioners. A year later, investigative journalist Martin Scarsden (Luke Arnold) arrives to write a simple story about commemorating the tragedy, but when his instincts kick in and he digs beneath the surface, the previously accepted story begins to fall apart and he finds himself in a race to the death to bring the truth to light.

The production of the crime series is a joint assignment between the Nine Network and its streamer Stan. Easy Tiger, who bought the rights to the story in 2018, is producing in partnership with VicScreen.



Arnold (pictured) is best known for his role as John Silver in the Starz pirate drama Black Sails. He also starred in the Australian drama series Glitch for two seasons. Arnold also appeared as INXS singer Michael Hutchence in the 2014 two-part miniseries INXS: Never Tear Us Apart.

Ryan starred as Vincent Keller in The CW's Beauty and the Beast (2014) reboot series alongside Kristin Kreuk. He also starred in the first season of Top of the Lake starring Elisabeth Moss, the Canadian drama series Mary Kills People and the Australian miniseries Fighting Season.

Heathcote (pictured below) starred in the second and third seasons of Prime Video's dystopian alternate history series The Man in the High Castle, the historical drama series Strange Angel and the thriller series Pieces of Her with Toni Collette, among others.



Zane Ciarma (Sando), Adam Zwar (Wilfred), Victoria Thaine (Nowhere Boys), Robert Taylor (Longmire), Stacy Clausen (Preacher), Genevieve Morris (Bloom (2019)) and newcomer Ella Ferris are also cast for Scrublands.

Greg McLean (The Gloaming) is directing and Felicity Packard, Kelsey Munro and Jock Serong are writing the series. East Tiger's Ian Collie and Rob Gibson, David Redman and Packard are producing and The Nine Network's Michael Healy and Andy Ryan and Stan's Cailah Scobie and Amanda Duthie are executive producers.

Jack Irish and Rake creator Easy Tiger is leading production and UK-based distributor Abacus Media Rights handles international sales.

The series is Nine Network and Stan's second joint assignment, following Bali 2002, which explored how everyday heroes from Bali, Australia and elsewhere braved a devastating tsunami to bring order and hope.

"Following the immense success of Bali 2002, Stan is delighted to once again be working with the Nine Network. Scrublands promises to be a powerful and compelling crime thriller series. Easy Tiger has brought in a remarkable cast of Luke Arnold, Bella Heathcote and Jay Ryan and we look forward to working with them on Scrublands.”

“Joining forces with the teams of Stan and Easy Tiger for Scrublands has enabled us to realize an ambition we have had since the publication of Chris Hammer's novel in 2018,” said Nine Director of Television Micheal Healy. "We are confident that the creative team led by director Greg McLean and lead writer Felicity Packard will adapt Scrublands into a well-watched television drama for audiences worldwide."

Easy Tiger founder Ian Collie and CEO Rob Gibson added that "from the moment we opened Chris Hammer's suspenseful page-turner, we knew Scrublands was destined to become a crime series people want to see."

Abacus heads to the London TV Screenings this week, and Founder and Managing Director Jonathan Ford said: “Once again Stan has commissioned an ambitious and compelling thriller which we are delighted to bring to the international market following its Australian launch. Scrublands has not just all the makings of a winning drama - a great script, strong characters and an excellent cast - but being based on a bestselling novel, Scrublands is already known worldwide and we can't wait to bring this series to our customers."