Offspring (TV series)


Offspring is an Australian television comedy-drama program which premiered on Network Ten on 15 August 2010. Offspring is centred on 30-something obstetrician Nina Proudman and her family and friends, as they navigate the chaos of modern life. It is filmed in Melbourne's inner north. The show mixes conventional narrative drama and comedy with flashbacks, graphic animation and fantasy sequences.
Debra Oswald wrote the series with John Edwards and Imogen Banks producing with Southern Star Entertainment. Offspring was originally conceived as a two-hour telemovie for Ten, but was spun off into a 13 episodes series after television executives were impressed by the quality of the telemovie. The second season began on 16 May 2011, with a double episode premiere.
Offspring was renewed for its fourth and fifth series on 12 July 2012.
On 3 October 2014, John Edwards confirmed that Offspring would not return for a sixth series in 2015, due to Ten's cost-cutting measures in its production division.
On 30 August 2015, the Herald Sun reported that a sixth season of Offspring would be made - returning after a two-year hiatus.
Production for the sixth series began on 25 April 2016 and filmed through to June 2016. Series 6 premiered at 8.30 PM on 29 June 2016.
Most of the cast returned, although John Waters, who plays Darcy Proudman, is one exception. Two new cast members, 's cast-member T.J. Power as lawyer Will Bowen and Love My Way star Dan Wyllie as Dr Angus Freeman.
On 4 November 2016, the series was renewed for a seventh series set to air in 2017. Production for the series began in March 2017 in Melbourne. Series 7 premiered on 28 June 2017.
In November 2017, Offspring was snubbed from Network Ten's announced 2018 upfronts with no word on whether the show has been cancelled or put on hiatus.

Series overview

Cast

Main

Current supporting cast

The series is filmed in Melbourne's inner-north around the suburb of Fitzroy and is produced by John Edwards and Imogen Banks who also co-produce Tangle. John Edwards was responsible for such successes as Police Rescue, The Secret Life of Us, Love My Way, and Dangerous - also produced with Imogen Banks, and has more recently been producing Rush for Seriously Ten.

''Offspring: The Nurses''

A web series titled Offspring: The Nurses began in 2010 on the official Offspring website. It follows nurses Kim and Zara from the original series and also stars Benedict Hardie, Julia Grace, Laura Gilham, Carl Nilsson Polias, Jodie Sheehy and Matthew Heyward as fellow staff members of the Hospital. Some cast members from the original series have also starred as well.
A second web series follows Zara and this time Justina Noble as Nurse Tyra. Series 2 also starred Benedict Hardie, Harry Milas, Josh Price, Natalie Kaplan, Sonja Kowanjko and Kate Hopkins. While Richard Davies and Lachy Hulme also made guest appearances.

Awards and nominations

Australian Film Institute Awards

TV Week Logie Awards

Equity Ensemble Awards

YearCategoryRecipients and nomineesResult
2013Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama SeriesSeries 1 cast
2012Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama SeriesSeries 2 cast
2013Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama SeriesSeries 3 cast
2014Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama SeriesSeries 4 cast

Series viewership

Season# of EpisodesSeason
Premiere
Season
Final
Average
Audience

Drama Rank
11415 August 201021 November 20101.071#4
21316 May 201120 July 20111.072#6
31318 April 201211 July 20121.014#8
41322 May 201314 August 20130.954#9
51314 May 20146 August 20141.027#9
61029 June 201614 September 20160.921#10

Episodes

DVD releases

The entire series of Offspring has been released on Region 4 DVD via Madman Entertainment. The first and second seasons were released in 2010 and 2011 respectively in box set packaging. In 2012, both sets received a re-release in standard-case packaging, which became the norm for each subsequent season set. Multiple season sets have additionally been made available from Madman Entertainment.

International distribution

Offspring in broadcast in several countries around the world including New Zealand, where it was screened since 2010 on TV One Sundays at 8:30pm. In 2012, it appeared on the GNT network in Brazil and both HOT VOD and HOT3 in Israel, while it was included on Netflix in the United States in 2017.
Many countries in Europe aired the series where in 2011, it was picked up by Sony Entertainment Television in Spain, under the title "Descubriendo a Nina", AXN White in Portugal, as "Descobrindo Nina", and by the TLC network for Norway, Netherlands in July, Russia, screening on Sundays, and Sweden, where it was aired on Thursdays at 9:00pm, while in 2012, it debuted on RTÉ One and is available on in Ireland in a late Sunday night time slot, 2013 on YLE TV2 in Finland Mondays at 10:05pm, and additionally, it appeared in the United Kingdom on Netflix in 2017.