Deadloch: Someone’s talking in tongues

Don’t remember them advertising this one on its release last year, but the Australian television series Deadloch definitely deserves a look.

The black crime comedy is set in the fictional town of Deadloch in Tasmania where men are starting to turn up dead — their tongue cut out and strangled.

Ouch.

There’s no shortage of suspects as Senior Sergeant Dulcie Collins takes charge of the investigation, thrust back into the highs and lows of detective work after having taken a step back to focus on her relationship with veterinarian and highly-strung partner Cath.

Reluctant at first, the quiet fastidious Collins begins to relish the return to a more challenging role, that is until a female detective from Darwin is brought in to take charge of the investigation (not sure that is even possible in reality).

That detective is the loud, larger than life, shorts and thongs, Eddie Redcliffe, an absolute hoot,who is as cringe-worthy as she is unconventional.

Not surprisingly, with their different styles, the two fail to hit it off and in frustration Collins complains to the Commissioner as the body count begins to rise.

The murders coincides with the town’s annual Winter Feastival, a celebration of local arts, cuisine and culture.

The investigation force the two policewomen to cope with each other’s drastically different investigative styles, discovering secrets in a town struggling to disguise the deep rift that’s slowly splitting it and the lives of its residents.

The pair are supported by eager-beaver Constable Abby Matsuda and the oddball Constable Sven Alderman, along with arrogant local pathologist James King, who is engaged to Matsuda.

No one is saying it out loud, but it looks like Deadloch has a serial killer.

Created by Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan, the series premiered on Amazon Prime in June, 2023.

The series  and stars Kate Box as Dulcie Collins, Madeleine Sami as Eddie Redcliffe, Alicia Gardiner as Cath York and Nina Oyama as Abby Matsuda and Nick Simpson-Deeks as James King.

Filmed primarily along the southern coast of Tasmania in and around Hobart and Cygnet, there’s eight, 60-minute episodes so far.

Talk is the second series will be set in the warmer climes of Darwin, no doubt with the stellar return of the bogan Detective Radcliffe.

Check out the scene where she loses her things and sets about cutting out some foot-shaped cardboard for soles which she stick tapes to her bare feet, all the while the conversation continues around her.

Inspired stuff.

There’s plenty of gays and lesbians, and an assortment of fringe dwellers, including Duncan Fellows as Ray McLintock, a local wierdo, who works at Vic’s cafe, has a pet donkey and becomes romantically involved with Eddie. Is that possible?

You can catch Deadloch on Amazon Prime.

 

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