Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries — news, coverage & facts — IJR

Background

Head writer and producer of the series, Deb Cox, has said that she and Fiona Eagger were looking to adapt a crime novel for television and believed the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) were looking for a prime-time crime series for their network. The producers were disappointed by what they initially found and Cox explained: "It takes so long to raise the finance and script and produce a television series, so you need to feel it's worthwhile—both financially and philosophically. It was hard to find a reason to bring stories about psychotic killers and serial murderers to the screen." Cox and Eagger then came across Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher murder mystery series and were drawn to them because of their diverse fan base.

Eagger said that they were curious to discover what made the series appeal to all generations. Eagger told a writer for If Magazine, "We were a bit curious to know what it was about it that could appeal to a 16-year-old and a 70-year-old. Phryne is one of the first feminists. She chooses to live alone, she chooses not to get married. She's got many lovers. She's a bit of a James Bond action hero—she's much better dressed than James Bond though." Cox and Eagger realised that the novels reflected their moral values and fit in with their style of storytelling, so they began adapting them.

Cox and Eagger initially thought adapting novels would be easier than writing an original screenplay, but soon discovered that it was not. Speaking to Andrew Wrathall from Fancygoods.com.au, Cox stated, "It takes a whole new set of skills to preserve what's most important in the stories, rationalise the impossible, gather what's left into a cohesive whole and still reflect the boundless worlds of imagination encouraged in the readers' minds by a few hundred words on paper—in a way that's achievable in production terms!" She added that the restrictions tested their limits of creativity and inventiveness. Greenwood was invited to the first brainstorming session for the series and provided the producers with answers to their questions, and helped with the historical background to the novels. The author would read the scripts and help make corrections. Cox praised Greenwood's ability to write for the screen and accept the changes they made to the novels.

In June 2011, it was announced that the ABC had commissioned a thirteen-part series to air on their ABC1 channel the following year. The drama was originally titled The Phryne Fisher Murder Mystery Series, but was changed on the advice of distributor All3Media, who wanted to avoid having to tell international broadcasters how to pronounce Phryne's name.

Costumes

The costume designer for the series was Marion Boyce. She told ABC's Darren Smith that she loves the 20s and 30s and thought the opportunity to work on a show in her hometown (Melbourne) was "fantastic." Boyce had eight weeks' pre-production, but she said that she began putting stuff together early on. She stated, "After those eight weeks, we had 16 days to complete the next two episodes. It was a fast and furious process, and the series included circuses, bohemian nightclubs and the docks. Each episode is quite different from the rest." The costume department included one cutter, one sewer, a costume coordinator and a buyer who was also an art finisher. Boyce called the team "incredibly talented", as they had to do a lot of different jobs. The team, Mandy Murphy and Gareth Blaha, the head of the ABC's Costume Department, along with two milliners, made some of the hats. Boyce and her team created around 120 costumes for the series, including sleepwear, daywear, nightwear and special-occasion outfits.

Boyce explained that while vintage pieces were incorporated into the series, the department designed the majority of costumes. Cox told Alexandra Spring from Vogue Australia that some of the costumes were sourced from eBay and vintage shops. Cox said "Once you go back to the 1920s, things have either deteriorated or they are too small because the women were smaller, so it means a lot of it has to be made from scratch." The fabrics were taken from Boyce's own collection and fabric stores in Melbourne and Sydney. The designer admitted that parting with some of the fabrics was difficult, as she had had some of them for around 25 years. Boyce told Smith that at the end of filming, the costumes that were hired were returned: those made from fabric bought by the ABC were sent back to them, and those made from fabrics out of Boyce's own collection came back to her.

Boyce explained that Phryne is "completely fluid" and has "an extraordinary amount of energy", so she wanted her outfits to move with her when she went from room to room. When it came to Dot, Boyce designed her wardrobe with her religion and position in society in mind. Dot's clothes are more buttoned up, so she does not show off her body parts. Boyce commented, "She was a really nice contrast to Phryne and a lot more conservative. Dot has nice tweeds and cardigans."

International broadcast

Distribution of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries was acquired in 120 territories worldwide. The Canadian broadcaster Knowledge Network began airing the series at 8:30 pm on 5 October 2012. The UKTV network acquired the broadcasting rights to Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries in the United Kingdom in September 2012. Series 1 premiered on the network's Alibi channel on 11 February 2013.

French broadcaster France 3 acquired Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries in January 2013, while Alibi and the Knowledge Network renewed their deals to air Series 2. Alex Farber of Broadcast reported that Norway's TVNorge, Poland's Canal+, and Eastern Europe's Viasat networks had also picked up the show. In Germany, it is still (by 2023) aired by both ARD ONE and Servus TV. The series began airing on Italy's Rai 1 channel on 31 July 2013.

The series first became available in North America on Acorn TV only. Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries premiered in the United States on PBS in 2013 with further stations broadcasting the series in the Autumn, and others more in 2014. The series premiered on Ovation in the US as well along with the PBS broadcast in 2016. But the series still continues to air past the point it went off on PBS after it ended.

Miss Fisher Uncovered, a behind-the-scenes special for American audiences featuring interviews with cast and crew, and author Kerry Greenwood, was broadcast in the U.S. in August 2015.

There has been minor censorship on at least some American Public Television stations. In the episode "Murder in Montparnasse," Miss Fisher had posed for a full frontal nude painting as a young woman. When the painting was seen in the episode, portions of it were blurred. There was no blurring on Netflix.

As of July 2017, the series had aired in 172 territories.

As of March 2018, Netflix held broadcasting rights for all three series in several countries, including the United States, Denmark, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada. It also held rights for the first two series in the Australian market in association with ABC TV and ABC Commercial.

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries

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Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries

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