Emmy-nominated actor Bryan Brown (Cocktail, Breaker Morant) and Emmy-winning actress Greta Scacchi (Emma, The Player) star in the lively Acorn TV Australian Road trip drama Darby and Joan, premiering Monday 8 August on Acorn TV, AMC Networks’ acclaimed streamer devoted to British and international television. Two episodes will premiere weekly on Mondays through August 29.

As the series opens, retired Australian homicide detective Jack Darby (Brown) has taken to the open road with his dog Diesel to flee his past, while recently widowed English nurse Joan Kirkhope (Scacchi) is on a reluctant pilgrimage to find answers about her husband’s mysterious death. They couldn’t be more different: the low key, ruggedly charming Aussie and the tightly-wound Englishwoman, but when they collide in the Australian outback and become drawn into a series of unexpected mysteries, this unlikely investigative duo soon realize the most intriguing puzzle they face is each other.

Exploring the world of the real-life phenomenon of “grey nomads” – retirees who leave behind their comfortable homes to set out for adventure on the endless roads of Australia – Darby and Joan shines a light on fascinating and often unseen areas of the continent from isolated, sweeping coastlines to lush hinterland, to small communities in the Outback and a myriad of fascinating characters moving through a world where everyone seems to be searching for something – or trying to escape it. Danger and secrets lurk for those who bother to look. The series asks: can you find yourself in the middle of nowhere?

Filmed in Queensland across the Gold Coast, Scenic Rim, Redland City, North Stradbroke Island, Mount Isa and Cairns, Darby and Joan is executive produced by Claire Tonkin (My Life is Murder), David Hannam (Secret Bridesmaid’s Business), Matt Campbell, Bea Tammer and Catherine Mackin, with series producer Pino Amenta (Five Bedrooms, Wentworth) and supervising producer Toni Malone (My Life Is Murder). The series’ creators are Glenys Rowe and Phillip Gwynne, and its writers are Paul Bennett, Keith Thompson, Andrew Anastasios, Giula Sandler, David Hannam, Adam Zwar, Beck Cole and Ainslie Clouston. The set-up director is David Caesar and the directors are Ben C. Lucas, Mairi Cameron and Jo O’Shaughnessy. The series is produced by CJZ, with major production investment from Screen Australia in association with Screen Queensland.

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