Recently I had the joy of binge watching Glitch, a new Australian drama created by Tony Ayres & Louise Fox that aired throughout July. Glitch has been often compared to Les Revenants (which has been remade into the American show The Returned), however I have not seen those shows to compare. The show starts off in a small fictional town where police officer James Hayes (played by Patrick Brammell) is called to the cemetery to investigate a disturbance.
The development of Glitch has been a long process, actor Rodger Corser has even defended the show to the media. In an interview to The New Daily Corser has stated; “This [Glitch] is definitely not ‘Oh great, we will do an Australian version of another show’. From what I know this show was pitched before that [The Returned] came along. Sometimes it’s a long process from getting a first draft to getting funding”. Whether the concept has been done before, there is something fresh and new about Glitch that I just cannot put my finger on. It might be a combination of the Australian aesthetic, the gothic feel, great actors and, of course, a thrilling script (written by Louise Fox, Kris Mrksa and Giula Sandler.
The visuals of this series is what stood out to me the most while watching Glitch. What can only be described as Australian gothic, this series uses dramatic lighting and art direction to real capture the mood. Shot during the summer nights in the Victorian town of Castlemaine, this allows for dramatic natural lighting without relying on artificial ones. I appreciate the stylisation of Glitch that was made possible by the cinematographer Simon Chapman (The Loved Ones, The Little Death) and art director Juliet John (The Boys, The Bank).
The ABC took a new approach with this show, catering to the Netflix culture; all episodes of this show was made available on their own catch-up service iView while also airing weekly on ABC1. This is a unique approach, allowing everyone to view their show in their preferred method. This show was shadowed in mystery, the idea of waiting between episodes sounded painful to me. The question I ask myself is; “is this the solution broadcast networks need to take to battle against Netflix and torrents?” I do not know the answer (yet) but I think this could be the future of television.
