Mystery Road is an Australian television crime mystery series whose first series screened on ABC TV from 3 June 2018. The series is a spin-off from Ivan Sen's feature films Mystery Road and Goldstone. Aboriginal Australian detective Jay Swan, played by Aaron Pedersen, is the main character and actor in both the films and in the first two TV series, each of six episodes. Mystery Road: Origin, in which Mark Coles Smith plays a younger version of Swan, is a prequel series, which aired from 3 July 2022.
Season 1 was directed by Rachel Perkins. Swan is brought in to solve a murder, with the local police officer played by Judy Davis. In Season 2, directed by Warwick Thornton and Wayne Blair, which began airing on the ABC on 19 April 2020, Swan is brought in to solve a murder in a different location, with the "local copper" this time played by Jada Alberts. Both series were shot in northern Western Australia.
Contents
Plot
Season 1
Post Mystery Road (2013 film).
Taking place between the events of the films Mystery Road and Goldstone, Mystery Road Season 1 tells the story of Detective Jay Swan (Aaron Pedersen), assigned to investigate the mysterious disappearance of two young farmhands on an outback cattle station, one a local Indigenous football hero and the other a white backpacker. Working together with local police sergeant Emma James (Judy Davis), the investigation uncovers drug trafficking in the town, and a past injustice that threatens the fabric of the whole community.
Season 2
Post Mystery Road (2013 film)
Jay Swan has to unravel the mystery of a decapitated body which turns up in the mangroves, outside the town of Broome. The plot involves drug trafficking and an archaeological dig which discovered the dead body. Swan's ex Mary is involved with an undercover drug runner, placing her in extreme danger.
Cast
Main
Aaron Pedersen as Jay Swan
Tasma Walton as Mary Swan
Tasia Zalar as Shevorne Shields
Season 1
Judy Davis as Emma James
Wayne Blair as Larry Dime
Aaron McGrath as Marley Thompson
Deborah Mailman as Kerry Thompson
Madeleine Madden as Crystal Swan
Meyne Wyatt as Cedric Thompson
Colin Friels as Tony Ballantyne
Rohan Mirchandaney as David Sharma
Anthony Hayes as Ryan Muller
Ernie Dingo as Keith Groves
John Waters as Travis James
Kris McQuade as Liz Rutherford
Ningali Lawford Wolf as Dot
Connor Van Vuuren as Reese Dale
Ben Oxenbould as Vince Pearce
Benjamin Hoetjes as Eric Hoffman
Jessica Falkholt as Genevieve Leclaire
Eddie Baroo as Tyson Zein
Season 2
Jada Alberts as Fran Davis
Callan Mulvey as Simon
Rob Collins as Amos
Gary Sweet as Alkemi
Ursula Yovich as Pansy
Sofia Helin as Sandra Elmquist
Ngaire Pigram as Leonie
Mark Mitchinson as Owen
Stan Yarramunua as Jimmy 2
Rhimi Johnson as Phillip
Keith Robinson as Reverend Tom
Fletcher Humphrys as Dylan Lindwall
Kirk Page as Suzi-John
Eve Morey as Kayla
John Brumpton as Hegarty
Joel Jackson as McBride
Simon Lyndon as Emilio Gordon
Brandon Walters as Shaney
Episodes
Season 2 (2020)
Season 2 began screening on ABC in April 2020. It had its world premiere at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival in late February, in the new Series section devoted to longform television series, along with another ABC series, Stateless.
Production
Season 1
The first series was made on location in and around Wyndham, a town in northern Western Australia. Other scenes were shot at Kununurra and on Aboriginal lands belonging to the Miriuwung, Gajerrong and Balanggarra in the Kimberley. Location shooting took approximately 10 weeks.
Season 2
The second series was filmed in Broome, and in the Kimberley in northern Western Australia, taking 10 weeks. It was Thornton's first time directing for television, and he said that Blair's experience in this medium was vital. He also said that Sen and Perkins had done the hard work creating "this unique world", which gave the directors of Season 2 a strong foundation, so they could focus on the performances.
Reception
Critical reception
Season 1
Season 2
The Guardian reviewer Luke Buckmaster praised the "extraordinary breadth" of the show, in the way it portrays the country "only just beginning to come to terms with its past". He praised Pedersen's performance, which "simultaneously [projects] great strength and great sorrow", as a man "caught between traditions, between worldviews, between laws and lores".
Viewing figures
Mystery Road: Origin season 1 was the most watched program on ABC iView since its launch 18 years earlier.
Awards and nominations
Seasons 1 and 2 of Mystery Road won an Equity Award for Most Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.
Home media
Key
= Indicates availability only on DVD
= Indicates availability on both DVD & Blu-ray
