Trigger Warning: This article contains references to suicide, addiction and euthanasia.
The End — Foxtel’s compelling 10-episode Australian series — has been receiving high praise ahead of its February 2 premiere, with TV Tonight calling it “one of the best local dramas you’ll see this year.”
Likewise, The Australian lavished approval on the See-Saw films produced series, calling it “a compelling drama which also happens to be a deft, acerbic comedy at the same time.”
The review continues, “The End is a bracing reminder of the importance of living here and now, with full engagement in life and with commitment and devotion to those around us. And how to have a few laughs along the way.”
The half-hour dark comedy series stars Dame Harriet Walter (Succession, The Crown, Killing Eve), Frances O’Connor (The Missing, Mansfield Park) and Noni Hazlehurst (A Place to Call Home, Penguin Bloom) and explores three generations of a family living with separate but intersecting obsessions – trying to figure out how to die with dignity, live with none and make it all count. The series covers topics such as suicide, euthanasia, addiction and gender identity struggles.
Writer, creator and executive producer Samantha Strauss first wrote the script for The End as a short film when she was 19-years old and still living at home with her parents.
The plot is inspired, in part, by Strauss’s widowed grandmother who went from feeling hopelessly depressed and wanting to end it all to finding a new lease on life after moving into a Gold Coast retirement village.
Speaking to Foxtel Insider about infusing a dark subject matter with humour, Strauss said, “I kind of think it’s your own world view. I struggle writing really straight drama, because I don’t see the world as a heavy, dramatic place. This is a bit dark and twisted, but it’s also pretty fun. I really enjoyed writing for Foxtel because none of the edges have been shaved off, which can often happen in TV.”
The End also stars Luke Arnold (Home and Away), Morgan Davies (Storm Boy), Ingrid Torelli (Matilda), Roy Billing (Jack Irish), Robyn Nevin (Relic), John Waters (Offspring), Alex Dimitriades (Secret City), Brendan Cowell (Game of Thrones), Brooke Satchwell (Mr Inbetween), Andrea Demetriades (Janet King) , Uli Latukefu (Young Rock), and newcomer, Seb Thornton-Walker.
The End starts Tuesday February 2 at 8.30pm with a double episode premiere on FOX SHOWCASE or you can watch all ten episodes On Demand.
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