Series synopsis
Lowdown is an Australian comedy television series that premiered on ABC TV on April 21, 2010. It ended on October 25, 2012. It was created by Adam Zwar, Amanda Brotchie. It stars Adam Zwar, Kim Gyngell, Paul Denny and Beth Buchanan.
Lowdown shines a torch on the life of a man whose job it is to feed the public's insatiable appetite for celebrity gossip. Alex Burchill, the author of the Lowdown column which appears in the once great but now ailing tabloid newspaper – the Sunday Sun. Each week Alex interviews celebrities for his column, and each week at least one of those celebrities ruins his week. Sometimes the celebrity gets drunk and punches Alex out. Sometimes the celebrity gets him arrested. Usually the celebrity sleeps ...
Premise
Lowdown shines a torch on the life of a man whose job it is to feed the public's insatiable appetite for celebrity gossip. Alex Burchill, the author of the Lowdown column which appears in the once great but now ailing tabloid newspaper – the Sunday Sun. Each week Alex interviews celebrities for his column, and each week at least one of those celebrities ruins his week. Sometimes the celebrity gets drunk and punches Alex out. Sometimes the celebrity gets him arrested. Usually the celebrity sleeps with his girlfriend, Rita. It may not sound like much of a life, but it invariably leads to great copy and the readers love it. In fact, it's the only thing standing between the Sunday Sun and oblivion.
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- Adam Zwar as Alex Burchill
- Kim Gyngell as Howard Evans
- Paul Denny as Bob Geraghty
- Beth Buchanan as Rita Heywood
- Dailan Evans as Dr James Sawers
- Geoffrey Rush as Narrator (voice)
Guest cast
- Charlotte Gregg
- Judith Lucy as Self
- Martin Sacks as Tony Marino
- Eliza Szonert
- Martin Sharpe
- Rob Sitch as Self
- Sullivan Stapleton as Oliver Barry
- Erin Cornell as Bianca
- Craig McLachlan as Ben Hollander
- Anthony Ahern as Wasp Warneke
- Julia Zemiro as Hope van der Boom
- Ashley Zukerman as Dylan Hunt
Episodes
This series spans 2 seasons with 16 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 8 | April 21, 2010 | June 9, 2010 |
| Season 2 | 8 | September 6, 2012 | October 25, 2012 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Wasp in Translation Celebrity tabloid journalist and Lowdown columnist Alex Burchill scores a highly coveted interview with the environmentalist, Tantra-loving, Buddhist rock God, Wasp Warneke on one condition... he doesn't ask about Tantra. |
April 21, 2010 |
| 2 |
Bonk Bonk, Who's There? Publicist to the stars Hope van der Boom, briefs Alex before he interviews actor, sex-symbol and family man Oliver Barry. The interview is awkward and uncomfortable, despite the fact that Alex and Oliver share a birthday. |
April 28, 2010 |
| 3 |
Zirco Goes Berko Temperamental tennis star Mitch "Zirco" Zicopoulos has pulled out from a warm-up tournament citing a sore finger, leaving 20,000 fans out of pocket. Alex's editor is convinced Zirco is faking his injury and sends Alex and Bob to find the truth. |
May 5, 2010 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Pretty Pollie Alex has a chance to impress the new editor of the Sunday Sun when some erotic photos of the morally conservative Minister for Families fall into his lap. |
September 6, 2012 |
| 2 |
Hack in Business After missing out on the biggest story of the year, Alex has a chance to redeem himself by entrapping a fornicating film director. But a road rage incident throws a spanner in the works. |
September 13, 2012 |
| 3 |
One Fine Gay Alex is commandeered into ghost-writing a controversial column for a high profile footballer who has decided to come out. |
September 20, 2012 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | ABC TV |
|---|---|
| First aired | April 21, 2010 |
| Last aired | October 25, 2012 |
| Runtime | 30 minutes |
| Status | ended |
| Schedule | Thursday at 21:30:00 |