Deadloch

Synopsis

In season one, the beguilingly sleepy settlement of Deadloch, on Tasmania's coastline, is shaken when the body of a local man turns up dead on the beach. Two female detectives reluctantly take charge of the investigation together: the fastidious Senior Sergeant Dulcie Collins, and the brash and reckless Detective Eddie Redcliffe from Darwin, aided by overeager Constable Abby Matsuda and ditsy Officer Sven Alderman. The murder coincides with the town's annual "Winter Feastival" — a celebration of local arts, cuisine and culture. The investigation forces Dulcie and Eddie to cope with each other's drastically opposite investigation styles, as they discover secrets being hidden in a town struggling to disguise the deep rift that's slowly splitting it and the lives of its residents.

In season two, returning home to Darwin to investigate Bushy's death Eddie and Dulcie are thrown into a murder case of a local icon.

Cast and characters

Main

Kate Box as Dulcie Collins, Senior Sergeant in Deadloch's police force, a former detective who demoted herself at the wishes of her wife, Cath.

Madeleine Sami as Eddie Redcliffe, a detective originally from Darwin, with an unconventional, and at times gratingly obnoxious but sometimes subvertingly inspired, take on police work.

Alicia Gardiner as Cath York, the possessive wife of Dulcie Collins, with deep relationships with most of the women of the town.

Nina Oyama as Abby Matsuda, an excitable and enthusiastic, yet diffident, constable.

Recurring (series 1)

Holly Austin as Skye O'Dwyer, the lesbian daughter of Victoria and Sam O'Dwyer, who recently returned to Deadloch to open a restaurant.

Tom Ballard as Sven Alderman, a gay officer usually handed the less important tasks that allows him to slack on the job.

Astrid Wells Cooper as Claire Connelly, a therapist and artist residing in Deadloch, and choir leader of the town's women's chorus.

Duncan Fellows as Ray McLintock, a peculiar town resident, working at Vic's cafe, has a pet donkey, and becomes romantically involved with Eddie.

Kris McQuade as Victoria O'Dwyer, the wife of long-missing Sam O'Dwyer, who runs a local cafe.

Shaun Martindale as Phil McGangus, a surly, homophobic entrepreneur and the spokesperson for residents of the town who feel pushed out by its changes in recent years.

Kartanya Maynard as Miranda Hoskins, an Aboriginal girl who feels less-than-comfortable in Margaret Carruthers pressuring her into a funded scholarship.

Mia Morrissey as Nadiyah Zammit, Skye's wife.

Naarah as Sharelle Muir, a barmaid with an antagonistic attitude towards police.

Pamela Rabe as Margaret Carruthers, Deadloch's de facto matriarch, descended from the family that colonised the area, with a complicated relationship with the Aboriginal people her ancestors displaced.

Katie Robertson as Vanessa Latham, the self-assured yet ditzy wife of Trent Latham.

Nick Simpson-Deeks as James King, Deadloch's arrogant and misogynistic forensic examiner, who is engaged to Abby.

Recurring (series 2)

Luke Hemsworth as Jason Wade

Jean Tong as Leo Lee

Genevieve Morris as Pat Heffernan

Steve Bisley as Frank McCallister

Shari Sebbens as Miki Evans

Damien Garvey as Superintendent Col Culkin

Anthony J Sharpe as DJ Darrell

Ling Cooper Tang as Lynn

Bev Killich as Colleen Darrell

Talijah Blackman-Corowa as Allira

Episodes

Production

Series 1

Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan are the show runners and producers of the series. "The Kates", as they are nicknamed, were inspired to write a comedy from a set-up similar to that of the UK series Broadchurch after they both watched the series, so much so the working title of the project was "Funny Broadchurch". Actress Nina Oyama told the Sydney Morning Herald: "The show is first and foremost a crime show, because of the way it’s laid out, and the way people will keep returning to it will be for the crime-based and mystery-based reasons ... But it's also very funny.” There was also an intention in the production to subvert some of the typical genre tropes, and reverse who are usually considered the victims in society. There is a sub-plot of a First Nations storyline around local teenagers played by Leonie Whyman and Kartanya Maynard.

Deadloch was written by McCartney and McLennan along with Kim Wilson, Christian White, Anchuli Felicia King, Kirsty Fisher, and Madeleine Sami. Production on the series got underway in February 2022. Directors on the series included Ben Chessell, Gracie Otto, and Beck Cole. Production is by Andy Walker for Prime Video, Guesswork Television, and OK Great Productions, with Fiona McConaghy as co-producer. McCartney, McLennan, Kevin Whyte, and Tanya Phegan were executive producers. The score was written by Amanda Brown.

Filming took place in southern Tasmania, outside Hobart, around Cygnet, Snug and Kingston.

Series 2

Deadloch was renewed for a second series on 8 July 2024.

The second series is also written by the Kates, directed by Beck Cole with Gracie Otto, and produced by Andrew Walker. Cinematography is by Rob Marsh and Drew English, and original music was composed by Amanda Brown. Angie Higgins and Julie-Anne De Ruvo were editors on the series.

Continuing from the series one finale, detectives Dulcie Collins and Eddie Redcliffe are in the Top End investigating the death of Eddie's ex-partner, Bushy. The Kates' writing was informed by Aboriginal advisers, including writer Jada Alberts and former police officer and writer Veronica Gorrie. The story includes several Aboriginal characters, including Miki played by Shari Sebbens, and makes reference to issues encountered by Aboriginal people in the Territory.

Filming took place in Darwin and the Top End, in the Northern Territory of Australia. The Kates visited the small town of Bynoe (population 98) during their scouting, and saw a huge crocodile in captivity behind a pub. They spoke of their fascination with crocodiles, after seeing them close-up during filming. They deliberately chose locations that the audience would recognise in Darwin, including the wave pool and sunset from the beach, and made frequent references to the humid weather there. Filming began on location in September 2024, mostly around Batchelor (population 371), afterwards moving production to a studio in Brisbane.

Broadcast

Deadloch premiered on Amazon Prime Video on 2 June 2023 with three episodes, followed by new episodes weekly up to 7 July 2023.

Series two premiered on Prime Video on 20 March 2026.

Reception

Series 1 of Deadloch was received positively. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 23 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.0/10. The website's consensus reads: "An irreverent twist on the crime procedural, Deadloch's addictive mixture of mystery and mordant humor makes most of its corpse-strewn competition look comparably stiff."

In a favourable response from Luke Buckmaster of The Guardian, he gave the series four out of five stars, and praised creators Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan – "They are moving into the next phase of their career, with Deadloch, a narratively richer series that’s dark and dramatic, and often also very funny." In a positive review from Pemi Bakshi of Grazia magazine said that "the eight-part series blends humour and commentary to bring us a wickedly entertaining take on the detective show genre." In a somewhat more mixed review for website Screen Hub, Stephen A. Russell gave a rating of three stars out of five and commented that "While Deadloch's far from dead on arrival, its enervating lack of structural ambition did kill a lot of the buzz I had going in." The series was a worldwide hit, reaching the top 10 on Prime in over 165 countries, including the UK and the US.

Luke Buckmaster also gave the second series four out of five stars, calling it "every bit as wonky, devilish and potty-mouthed as the first".