What happens when one fateful event disrupts decades of life built by your own hands? And how do you repair it?
Dalliance, co-created and produced by TV WEEK Logie Award winner Heather Mitchell, aims to explore just that – and, in so doing, brings together some of Australia’s biggest stars, including Home and Away star Georgie Parker.
An outside perspective
Heather stars as Dina, a career woman who hasn’t had room for much else in her life, including love. She’s lonely, enigmatic and reserved – an intriguing character who draws you in immediately.
When Dina meets the charming Billy (Hugo Weaving), a spark ignites. Their encounter is full of great conversation, champagne and a ride home – where Dina is shocked to be introduced to his wife, Ruby (Georgie Parker).
“We wanted to explore the idea of one of the characters being an outsider, and what it means when an outsider comes in and threatens the dynamic of a close group of friends,” Heather, 67, tells TV WEEK.
“Dina is at the point of her life when people might be slowing down, retiring or travelling. But her career is everything and her reputation, too.”
The connection between Dina and Billy could end there. But there’s something familiar about Ruby – she’s approachable and offers a thread of friendship. Soon afterwards, their rapport is tested when Dina asks for a favour. What happens next sets off a shocking chain of events.
“We wanted to create this instantaneous rapport and what happens when that gets disrupted? Is it taken away and what is the truth?” Heather says.
“They’re women who have different things going on in their lives and neither of them are fools.”
A winning combination: How Heather Mitchell pulled in Georgie Parker and Hugo Weaving
Also gripping are the support stories of marriage, divorce, betrayal and romance as a tight-knit group of 60-somethings, played by the likes of David Wenham, Catherine McClements and Wayne Blair, explore life’s messy realities.
Viewers will likely relish seeing Heather and Georgie in the same show – and their on-screen chemistry, Heather says, is partly due to their real-life friendship.
“We met in our 20s, back when radio plays were a thing,” Heather says. “We spent about a week at the ABC, running in and out of the studio.”
“We’ve been friends for a long time and we had talked about the show a bit. But I saw her in a play recently and thought, ‘Why don’t I ask Georgie to be in it?’ So we did and, thankfully, she could take time off Home and Away. We had a lot of fun.”
Heather also reunites with Hugo – they’ve worked together in multiple projects, including Bodyline (1984) and Love Me (2022), for which Heather won a Silver Logie. She says there was no one else they considered for his role in Dalliance.
“The character needed to be enigmatic and fun… all the qualities that Hugo gives us,” Heather says.
“So we only wanted him. Hugo and Georgie got along famously, and we truly had an enormous amount of fun doing this together.”
Dalliance is available August 27 on Paramount+
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