Nine has now locked in the one of the most anticipated shows of the year Underbelly: Squizzy after 7 months of promotion.
Squizzy the 6th installment in the Underbelly franchise will follow The Block Finale on July 28th.
Spanning the years 1915 to 1927, Underbelly: Squizzy chronicles the exploits of Joseph Theodore Leslie Taylor, known to all as “Squizzy” – the vertically challenged crime king whose ego and ambition knew no boundaries.
With an unquenchable thirst for money and power, Squizzy also yearned for respect and fame and was not averse to betraying friends and followers who stood in his way.
A master manipulator, he courted the press and entertained the masses with daring accounts of his criminal exploits, graduating from simple theft to loftier heists that gained him maximum media coverage. He ultimately created a public persona that made him the first superstar gangster of the 20th century.
With rising star Jared Daperis in the title role, the dynamic cast includes Susie Porter, as matriarch Rosie Taylor, alongside Luke Ford, Dan Wyllie, Nathan Page, Richard Cawthorne, Ashley Zukerman, Matt Boesenberg, Diana Glenn, Ken Radley, Andrew Ryan, Fletcher Humphrys and Peter Moon. Camille Keenan, Elise Jansen and Gracie Gilbert play the three very different women who loved, and eventually lost, this complex criminal.
Longstanding series producers Peter Gawler and Elisa Argenzio helm the production, with David Caesar, Andrew Prowse, Karl Zwicky and Shawn Seet directing. Des Monaghan and Greg Haddrick from Screentime, a Banijay Group company, and the Nine Network’s Jo Rooney and Andy Ryan, are the Executive Producers.
Des Monaghan, Executive Chairman of Screentime, said: “Squizzy loved women and they loved him, which may explain why he became such a legendary figure and his story endures. He was to the 20th century what Ned Kelly was to the 19th.”
It will kick off with a double episode Sunday July 28th at 8:30 PM on Nine
source 9