Operation Buffalo (TV series)
| Operation Buffalo | |
|---|---|
| File:Operation Buffalo Poster.jpg The Australian Broadcasting Corporation's official poster for the ABC TV production, Operation Buffalo | |
| Genre | Dramedy |
| Written by |
|
| Directed by | Peter Duncan |
| Composer | Antony Partos |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Peter Duncan |
| Producers |
|
| Editor | Mark Perry |
| Camera setup | Martin McGrath |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production company | Porchlight Films |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | 31 May 2020 |
Operation Buffalo is an Australian television comedy-drama series written and directed by Peter Duncan that screened on ABC TV from 31 May 2020.[1]
Synopsis
The series is inspired by true events of British nuclear bomb tests in the 1950s at remote Maralinga, in outback South Australia, specifically the four tests codenamed Operation Buffalo. Major Leo Carmichael, an Australian Army engineer and World War II hero, has to keep the secret military base functioning smoothly. His job of testing the most dangerous weapon in the world is made no easy task, with his absent-minded General, “Cranky” Crankford, new meteorologist Dr Eva Lloyd-George, who starts asking questions, and the federal government and press watching his every move. Despite the land being deemed 'uninhabited', Leo is faced with the arrival of a family of Aboriginal Australians who are curious about the giant clouds that explode occasionally.[2]
Cast
- Ewen Leslie as Major Leo Carmichael[3]
- Jessica De Gouw as meteorologist Eva Lloyd-George[3]
- James Cromwell as Commanding Officer General "Cranky" Crankford[4]
- Tony Martin as Attorney-General Richard Wilcox[3]
- Alan Dukes as Philip Lachlan MP
- Sam Parsonson as Jilly
- Alexander Bertrand as Murphy[3]
- Brendan Lovett as Dr William
- Benedict Wall as Jones[3]
- Adrienne Pickering as camp nurse Corrine Sydell[3]
- Frances Djulibing as Ruby[3]
- Shantae Barnes-Cowan as Peggy[3]
- Shaka Cook as Sam[3]
- Bojana Novakovic as Molly[5]
- Harry Greenwood as Baxter[3]
- Matthew Backer as Dr Myer
- Natasha Bassett as Nurse Alice
- Nicholas Hope as Dr Breston
- Lucy Velik as Yvonne[3]
- Philip Quast as Prof Quentin Ratchett
- Julian Garner as St. John Moore
- Angus McLaren as Dalgleish[3]
- Sean O'Shea as Dr Lewis
- Roland Powell as News Narrator
- Christina Sankari as Lydia[3]
- Mackenzie Thomas as Emma Carmichael
- John Gaden as Swanny
- Sibylla Budd as Lorraine Carmichael
- Jack Runwald as Harry Carmichael
- Ryan Johnson as Agent Martin[3]
- Andrew Ryan as Agent Cartwright
- Michael Denkha as Doug
- Wakarra Gondarra as Tom
- Brandon Walters as Billy
- Socrates Otto as Terry Ryan MP
- William Zappa as Sir Rupert Edgely, British High Commissioner
- Mackenzie Fearnley as Dave
- Erroll Shand as Lenny
- Heather Mitchell as Caroline Syddell
- Olga Miller as Holly
- Kevin MacIsaac as Bernie
- Dean Gould as Driver
- Luke Pegler as Nick
- Nicholas Boshier as Colone Barry
- Tiriel Mora as Hugh Blackett
- Roy Billing as Mungo
- Victoria Haralabidou as Maria
- Henry Nixon as Agent Whicker
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date [6] | Australia viewers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Episode 1" | Peter Duncan | Peter Duncan | 31 May 2020 | 688,000[7] |
| 2 | "Episode 2" | Peter Duncan | Peter Duncan | 7 June 2020 | 595,000[8] |
| 3 | "Episode 3" | Peter Duncan | Peter Duncan | 14 June 2020 | 608,000[9] |
| 4 | "Episode 4" | Peter Duncan | Peter Duncan | 21 June 2020 | 591,000[10] |
| 5 | "Episode 5" | Peter Duncan | Peter Duncan | 28 June 2020 | 573,000[11] |
| 6 | "Episode 6" | Peter Duncan | Peter Duncan | 5 July 2020 | 593,000[12] |
Production
The six-part series is filmed in South Australia. French distributor and production company APC Studios helped fund the project and provided worldwide distribution.[13]
Critical reception
The series received mixed reviews, attaining a score of 5.0 on IMDb.[14] Luke Buckmaster from The Guardian gave the series three stars out of five and described the series as, "much more fickle: sometimes funny as a comedy, sometimes effective as a drama, but rarely satisfying as a combination of both".[4] Wenlei Ma from News.com.au thought much better of the series, writing: "as much as sombre images of death and destruction can evoke emotional reactions, nothing hits the point as hard as the glaring judgment of satire done well – which is exactly what Operation Buffalo is".[15]
References
- ^ Knox, David (1 May 2020). "Airdate: Operation Buffalo". tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
- ^ Knox, David (31 July 2019). "Cast revealed for ABC miniseries Fallout". TV Tonight. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Dark clouds in the desert – Who's who in Maralinga?". TV Soap. No. 13. 22 June 2020. pp. 42–43.
- ^ a b Buckmaster, Luke (31 May 2020). "Operation Buffalo review – Maralinga nuclear testing rendered as part-drama, part-farce". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ^ Morris, Anthony (29 May 2020). "TV Review: Operation Buffalo – a darkly comedic take on dubious historical moment". ArtsHub Australia. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ^ "Operation Buffalo – Listings". Australian Television Information Archive. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
- ^ Knox, David (12 June 2020). "Timeshifted: Sunday 31 May 2020". tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
- ^ Knox, David (19 June 2020). "Timeshifted: Sunday 7 June 2020". tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
- ^ Knox, David (26 June 2020). "Timeshifted: Sunday 14 June 2020". tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
- ^ Knox, David (3 July 2020). "Timeshifted: Sunday 21 June 2020". tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
- ^ Knox, David (10 July 2020). "Timeshifted: Sunday 28 June 2020". tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
- ^ Knox, David (17 July 2020). "Timeshifted: Sunday 5 July 2020". tvtonight.com.au. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
- ^ Knox, David (7 September 2019). "Cast revealed for ABC miniseries Fallout". TV Tonight. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
- ^ Operation Buffalo at IMDb
- ^ "Operation Buffalo will make you want to laugh and retch at the same time". News.com.au. 31 May 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2020.