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Underbelly cast reunite for Fat Tony & Co.

Updated: Robert Mammone, Vince Colosimo, Gyton Grantley, Les Hill & Madeleine West return for Nine's drama on Tony Mokbel.

UB5-23-09©Original Underbelly cast members will reunite for Fat Tony & Co, Screentime’s next drama project for the Nine Network.

As tipped by TV Tonight last November, this portrays the story of drug king Tony Mokbel.

Robert Mammone will reprise his role as Mokbel and Vince Colosimo returns as Alphonse Gangitano in scenes depicted before his death in the 2008 series.

Also returning are Gyton Grantley as Carl Williams, Les Hill as Jason Moran, Madeleine West as Danielle McGuire, Simon Westaway as Mick Gatto, Gerard Kennedy as Graham Kinniburgh and Kevin Harrington as Lewis Moran plus Shane Jacobson, Stephen Curry, Debra Byrne, Steve Bastoni, Richard Cawthorne, Simone Kessell, Nicholas Bishop and Hollie Andrew.

Filming begins in Melbourne on Monday with scenes involving Mokbel’s capture already filmed in Greece,

No longer branded as Underbelly due to changes in funding with Screen Australia, this will air in 2014.

Robert Mammone stars again as the infamous criminal Tony Mokbel in Channel Nine’s new mini-series FAT TONY & CO.

From Screentime, the producers of the top rating Underbelly franchise, the nine-part drama FAT TONY & CO will uncover the true story of one of Australia’s most notorious criminals, Tony Mokbel.

A miraculous tip-off to the Australian police revealed that Mokbel was living in Athens, Greece under a false name and documents. But how do you find one man in a population of four million? Fat Tony & Co. follows Mokbel from his early beginnings in Melbourne’s underworld to his eventual discovery and arrest in a café in Athens.

Other original members of the Underbelly cast set to reprise their roles in the new series include Vince Colosimo as Alphonse Gangitano, Gyton Grantley as Carl Williams, Les Hill as Jason Moran, Madeleine West as Danielle McGuire, Simon Westaway as Mick Gatto, Gerard Kennedy as Graham Kinniburgh, and Kevin Harrington as Lewis Moran.

Fat Tony & Co. will also feature Shane Jacobson, Stephen Curry, Debra Byrne, Steve Bastoni, Richard Cawthorne, Simone Kessell, Nicholas Bishop and Hollie Andrew.

Screentime’s Executive Chairman, Des Monaghan, and Head of Drama, Greg Haddrick, will be Executive Producers along with Channel Nine’s joint Heads of Drama, Jo Rooney and Andy Ryan, with Peter Gawler and Elisa Argenzio producing the series. Peter Andrikidis, Andrew Prowse and Karl Zwicky will direct the nine episodes, which will be written by Peter Gawler, Adam Todd, Jeff Truman and Michaeley O’Brien.

Andy Ryan and Jo Rooney said they were thrilled to join forces again with Screentime to bring the compelling and intriguing story of Tony Mokbel to Australian television: “With this incredible cast, Fat Tony & Co. will be a must-watch television event.”

Des Monaghan said, “When we first introduced Tony Mokbel, legal constraints greatly inhibited how much we could show. This time there are no such constraints – Fat Tony & Co. is complete and unabridged.”

Fat Tony & Co. will be filmed in Melbourne and Greece, with Melbourne production commencing on Monday. Fat Tony & Co. will screen on the Nine Network in 2014.

15 Responses

  1. David. This has nothing to do with funding changes at Screen Australia. Screentime with the Underbelly series has now exhausted the 20% tax rebate available to it under the Tax Act. So they can’t use the Underbelly title. By creating a new series they will now get the 20% rebate but will have to be careful that they’re not seen by the Tax Office as merely recycling the Underbelly franchise under another name.

  2. It is a shame that the one series so connected to the original won’t bare the same name. Wish they could cut through the red tape and call this one “Underbelly”. It would be nice to have the series book ended that way. Fat Tony and Co, as a title sounds like a joke.

  3. Looking forward to it – specially seeing Simon Westaway again, rarely seen on our screens these days. Love his work.

    None of the Underbellys has been as good as the original – the latest one is pretty ordinary. I only tune in for the theme music, which I love, then head off to The Time of Our Lives !

  4. sorry David but the first Ub is definately still banned in Vic. I work in the Industry, and I was trying to order it, last week & Roadshow advised me it is still banned in Vic. because of 2 names mentioned near the end of the final episode. You would think they could edit it out so it would be released it really is stupid that they dont

  5. I just hope it’s better than Squizzy, which has thus far been the worst of the series, Although It’s not technically an Underbelly, I hope that this one will be the last (esp. now that it’s gone full circle back to the original.)

  6. Hasn’t Tony Mockbell still got an appeal to be heard yet which could effect the screening in Victoria. T he first Underbelly is still banned in Victoria

  7. I am literally jumping (pun intended as my name suggests) out of my seat with excitement right about now, great to see the casts coming back. It will be amazing if Callan Mulvey can come back as Mark Moran, Kat Stewart as Roberta, Damian Walshe-Howling as Benji as well as others. But other than that I’m excited.

  8. That’s great that they got everybody back, would not have been the same with different people playing them. I guess it’s lucky they were all available.

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