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TEN announces Milperra massacre miniseries

TEN has commissioned a new six part Australian drama series, Bikie Wars: Brothers in Arms, a dramatisation of the infamous ‘Milperra Massacre’ of 1984.

TEN has commissioned a new six part Australian drama series, Bikie Wars: Brothers in Arms, a dramatisation of the infamous ‘Milperra Massacre’ of 1984.

The fatal feud on Father’s Day between the Comanchero and Bandido gangs in the car park of the Milperra Viking Tavern resulted in the deaths of six gang members and a 14 year old bystander.

To be produced by Screentime, the series will be written and produced by Greg Haddrick (Mary Bryant, The Society Murders, Underbelly, Cloudstreet) and Roger Simpson (Satisfaction, Stingers, Halifax F.P.).

A Press Release states, “From its beginnings in the closed world of Sydney’s motorcycle gangs to its inevitable end in tragedy, Bikie Wars: Brothers in Arms tells the gripping true story of two men’s journey from loyalty to rivalry…to deadly consequence based on the bestselling book by Sandra Harvey and Lindsay Simpson, Brothers in Arms.”

Harvey, a former Four Corners producer, previously wrote My Husband, My Killer prior to her death in 2008.

David Mott, Chief Programming Officer at TEN said: “Bikie Wars: Brothers in Arms is one of the most sought-after properties in television. This event mini-series will shine a light on this fascinating tribal culture and its code of honour – as intriguing now as it was when the word Milperra became synonymous with one of our blackest days.”

Des Monaghan from Screentime added: “I am delighted that Roger Simpson has joined us to tell this remarkable story. The Milperra Massacre is a unique moment in our history and in many ways marks a time when the culture of bikie gangs began a period of fundamental change.”

The saga was previously the subject of a 2002 documentary One Percenters Search For A Screenplay plus an episode of Seven’s Gangs of Oz.

The miniseries will air on TEN in 2012.

26 Responses

  1. this was a bad day , we all lose some-one in life.
    i lost a few friends from that day & afterwards inside.
    i always knew there’ld be a movie.
    so long ago, but only yesterday.

  2. My name is marnie and i was the young girl who owned the horse directley behind the viking tavern i was deverstated to learn that this was happenning i was not allowed to go up and get my horse from there so i thought bugger the law and snuck up between 3 houses up the road and jumed the back fence and snuck up to my horse put her bridle on and rode her out of there being pulled up by police and given the 3rd degree at this point it was still all pritty much going on there were police every where i was so scared later on when it was all calm i took my horse back to her paddock went back home and me and the rest of my family went back up there to count 13 bullet holes in the fence and looking over it seeing the dead was haunting there is a lot more to this story then just the bikies there are the ones that had nothing to do with what was going on in there were others affected in other ways such as me i will never forget what happen that day and still have the memories in my head of seeing them all laying there still to this day my mother lives just a few blocks away and still to this day we talk about the viking massacre and now the viking is called the mill but i will always no it as the millperra viking hotel bring out the serious intresting to see how they produce it good luck with it ill be one who watches

  3. Really bad taste……. does anyone have respect for the victims who survided, their trauma and some enduring death threats. By the way have they been contacted to give their permission for this to go ahead. Why dredge up that horrific day for them the victims to have to live through it again. Why not look at spending your money on a more worthy cause.

  4. Dave Tice and Mark Evans have a new song and album coincidentally by the same name ” Brother In Arms”
    I wonder if any of there music would suit the 2012 2012 series.

  5. Sounds good to have an indepth look at what happened on that fateful day, I knew one of the chaps who died it was a real tragedy for all involved. I believe Greg Haddrick will do this series tastefully and perhaps let us see what goes on behind closed doors. Channel Ten’s drama is always fast paced, cutting edge stuff. This series should be a winner…

  6. I don’t have a problem with blood & guts dramas, as somebody described it, as long as they’re well made. There is a good mixture of light-hearted shows such as Winners & Loser, Rafters,etc that you can watch if tou prefer. In the end, the audience decides via ratings.

  7. This all happened at our swap meet we were holding, If anyone knows who took the money from our Lamb Spit we had on the day, please let me know haha, seriously!

  8. Can the stations not come up with something a little more lighthearted rather than all this misery they continue to dish on us.
    No wonder people turn to Rafters.
    Enough of the blood & guts television please.

  9. John Edwards is niche as in audience size. Just like the shows you quote Love My Way, Offspring and Rush have never found big audiences. His shows focus on a small element of the population but are never popular with the majority of the people. Let’s see him make a show that gets ratings like Rafters or Underbelly.

    1. John Edwards is with Southern Star. Niche as in audience size or as in genre? No idea how anybody can see Rush and Love My Way as similar genre. Police Rescue couldn’t be further apart from Offspring or Paper Giants if it tried.

  10. There really are other great drama producers in this country besides John Edwards at SS/Endemol and Screentime. Announcements like this are starting to feel very boring when they are supposed to be exciting.

  11. Are they still trying to scrape the bottom of the barrel by trying to imitate the success of Underbelly? Come on bring on something new and different. What happened to Inside Out?

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