Secret City Season 1

Secret City is a political thriller based on the books The Marmalade File and Mandarin Code by author and ABC journalist Chris Uhlmann. Set in Canberra, the opening scene establishes a dark tone for the Nation’s Capital.

The series opens with a man being chased down Commonwealth Bridge, an ominous Parliament House in the background. The young man swallows a sim card before finally doing something every true Canberran has thought of doing, jumping off the bridge into Lake Burley Griffin. The next morning, Harriet Dunkley (Anna Torv) comes across the police pulling the young man’s body out of the lake.

This is where the plot line begins to thicken. As Dunkley investigates the story of the man in the lake, she is inadvertently thrown into a world of political conspiracy and a power struggle between China and the United States.

Secret city has everything; cloak and dagger tactics, spies, political activists, inter-government cyber attacks and, the expected Canberran stereo-types. Somehow it doesn’t leave the viewers kicking themselves wanting more. There is enough in it to make you want to see the next episode, but not enough to make you want to watch it through the night and into the early hours of the morning. That’s because nothing in the show is original. In Fact, it feels like producer Joanna Werner binged watched House of Cards and decided to make her own version. Even the opening credits are remarkably similar to the opening credits of House of Cards.

The saving grace for Secret City is the outstanding lineup of accomplished Australian and international actors. These include; Anna Trov as reporter Harriet Dunkley, Daniel Wyllie as Mal Paxton, Allan Dale as Prime Minister Martin Toohey, and of course Jackie Weaver as Senator Catriona Bailey. While the plot line for the show is, at time, relatively weak, this team of actors bring the show to life. The chemistry, the dialogue and the nuance of the performance really drive the story.

Overall Secret City is exciting and refreshing for its viewer. The show take the Canberra stereo-type and flips it on its head, before twisting it until it is unrecognisable.

It might not be the best political series you will watch, but it has plenty to offer.