Report: Foxtel throws a lifeline to A Place to Call Home
People power appears to have won a reprieve for axed Seven drama, tipped to be revived by Foxtel.
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under Subscription, Top Stories
In one of the more extraordinary network moves, is a report today that suggests Foxtel will back a third season of axed Seven drama A Place to Call Home.
Fairfax reports whispers at MIPCOM in Cannes suggest Foxtel has finalised a deal with Seven to produce a third season of the show, starring Marta Dusseldorp.
Seven axed the popular drama mid year amid suggestions its audience was skewing too old to justify the show’s expense.
But a Foxtel spokesperson told the newspaper, “Foxtel is making no announcements on programming for 2015 until our Upfront [presentation event] on October 30.”
Given the Bevan Lee-created drama was produced internally by Seven its future appeared done and dusted, despite a huge fan backlash with petitions and fan websites demanding its return. Lee had always envisioned the show as having three seasons.
It wouldn’t be the first time an axed Seven show was revived by another broadcaster, with both Neighbours and A Country Practice picked up by TEN, but APTCH would mark a first for Pay TV. It also appears to contradict Foxtel’s mantra that it produces bold, distinctive dramas that distinguish it from Free to Air television.
Fairfax reports Foxtel has secured the show’s cast for a third season.
Share
- Tagged with A Country Practice, A Place to Call Home, Neighbours
21 Responses
What a joke! This is a very sad decision from Foxtel.
Is this the state of made for cable Australian drama?
Great news I hope it does well for Foxtel I think it will be better suited to them then to 7 which moved the show from 1 timeslot to another week after week – On Foxtel it will be broadcast in the same timeslot every week
That is great news for people who have Foxtel. Unfortunately I’m not one of them. 🙁 All I can hope for is when the series is finished on Foxtel they will have a boxed DVD version.
Yes I agree with Dorothy. At the end of the last ep of season two matriach Elizabeth had an epipheny and decided to be less controlling. Surely this epiphany was meant for the end of season three as her controlling ways drive much of the drama. It will be interesting to see how this is handled if the show does come back. One wishes they could just re-edit the last ep of seaon two, but not sure how this would work.
PS to Foxtel re A Place to Call Home – further to my post – the false ‘end’ to wind up the show half way through series 2 needs to be produced again -as it was written by Bevan Lee – to allow series 3 to proceed.
Thank you Foxtel – if you really do take up our great Australian Drama with the same cast then I will be your new client! Hopefully you will take the show beyond the already written series 3 & I urge Brendon Lee to continue writing as this story has a looooong way to go & there a some thousands of fans of this show who will follow it for as long as. Foxtel’;s acknowledgement of our Australian talent is just the thing that is needed & will be so very appreciated – more Australian productions, please. Thousands of viewers are totally over reality shows & mindless American type sitcoms that have been repeated constantly for years!
This is great. I always thought it was too high brow for a FTA network. IMO, it belonged on Foxtel all along.
@Dave – That never actually entered my mind until I read your comment… My God, imagine that. Wentworth is possibly my favourite Australian drama ever.
S3 of Wentworth is completed.
Absolutely fantastic news if this goes ahead. Well done to Foxtel.
APTCH would seem to be an enormously expensive show to produce. i hope they dont pick this up at the expense of wentworth
It’s awesome news! Good to see they have some sense. Would prefer it on Seven but foxtel is fine too.
Yes! Yes! Yes!
That is just brilliant!
I hope we see James true love arrive from the UK. And we need to know how Sarah ends up at Ash Park now.
I don’t have Foxtel and even this will not convince me to pay for it! I will wait for the Blu-ray!
Seven, you are a huge disappointment!
This is a great show but does it belong on Foxtel? If it does find a place there it seems to confirm my observation (and yours David) that Foxtel is becoming just another mainstream channel.
According to the article are Seven and making it with Bevan Lee. This is a first — an FTA network producing a show for a rival. Seven are also given up Lee working on other projects for them for a time.
Foxtel has as lot of older subscribers, they have to serve them too and APTC has a guaranteed audienced.
Foxtel has expanded to 30% of households (mostly through deals with T-Box and Fetch that don’t include premium drama). But that still isn’t going to generate huge numbers.
Hope this is true – I wonder whether the producers regret the tagged on rushed ending (it seemed that way, anyway).
Are you getting in early with an April 1st story?
Hopefully this is the case and goes ahead, I’m sure people will be either very excited or angered that they don’t have foxtel and can’t watch it. Thank god I do. 🙂
This is wonderful news for such an outstanding television Drama… not only are there plenty of story lines to follow: Sarah choosing whether to stay with her husband or move back into Ash Park; Elizabeth going off into the world and finding out who she really is; whether or not the secret of the illegal baby scandal will become a secret no more; whether married life is all it seems to be for Anna and Gino; and whether that manipulating cow Regina is still plotting her moves on Ash Park. I am so very pleased foxtel have come to their sense and ordered a third season… i have a feeling this may deliver bumper ratings for the foxtel channel that makes it and airs it!
It does seem these kind of moves are becoming more and more common.
I hope it happens. I wonder if Bevan Lee will be involved or will contracts get in the way.