TV SERIES · 2016– · AUSTRALIA
The Kettering Incident
26 archived facts 7 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (26)
- #001
For most of The Kettering Incident, Dr. Anna Macy (Elizabeth Debicki) wears an old "The Saints" T-shirt belonging to Fergus (Henry Nixon). The Saints were a pioneering Australian punk rock band formed in Brisbane in 1973. In real life, Nixon's father, a recording engineer, engineered, mixed and co-produced the band's fourth album, "The Monkey Puzzle."
- #002
Filmed in Australia's island state of Tasmania, the series was one of the highest-profile shoots in the region since The Hunter (2011). Through Screen Tasmania, the Tasmanian Government invested one million dollars of a budget of nearly fifteen million. After it aired, it became the largest television production ever made in the state.
- #003
Series creator Vicki Madden grew up in northeastern Tasmania and, like Anna Macy, the show's protagonist, lived in London. Madden recalls that as a child she saw unidentified lights in the sky one night while walking home with her mother. Many people in Tasmania see similar lights and accept them.
- #004
In May 2017 a second season was in development, but in June 2018 creator Vicki Madden confirmed on Twitter that it was ultimately not picked up by Foxtel.
- #005
The shoot ran for eighteen weeks, from late August to December 2014. Nearly two years passed between the start of filming and the series' television premiere.
- #006
In 2016 it won the prestigious Special Jury Prize at the international Series Mania festival in Paris. More than eighty series from over twenty countries were considered at the festival.
- #007
Series creator Vicki Madden had never seen Elizabeth Debicki in a film before casting her in the lead role. Debicki's name came up at one point during the casting process, and although Madden initially worried about her beauty and about her being too young for the role (she was 23 at the time, while Anna Macy was written as around thirty), her maturity and her admiration for the role eventually won Madden over.
- #008
While filming in Tasmania's contemplative, gothic landscape, creator Vicki Madden was influenced by Scandinavian noir series such as The Killing (2007) and The Bridge (2011). She also drew inspiration from the popular British series Life on Mars (2006) for the story's supernatural side.
- #009
According to Matthew Le Nevez (Brian Dutch), the landscape and low temperatures during the Tasmania shoot affected both the writers and the actors; he said in particular that lead actress and series lead Elizabeth Debicki (Anna Macy) sacrificed her physical health during filming. He said: "For most of the first months, when we were filming in August and September, she was shooting at night until three or four in the morning wearing only one or two layers. Unlike the other actors, she was exposed to the elements."
- #010
Most film productions come to Tasmania in the winter months because of the low light, but the temperatures can push people out of their comfort zones. The series was shot over eighteen weeks from August to December and, according to location manager Brendan Shanley, not a single day was lost to weather. The crew adapted to the changing and variable conditions and did what they could.
- #011
The Kettering Pub seen in the series is actually the Lewisham Tavern, located a little more than an hour's drive from the town of Kettering.
- #012
The series was filmed in and around the town of Kettering and Bruny Island in Tasmania, as announced by then-Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings at a press conference in Kettering in February 2014. The series was a Porchlight Films and Sweet Potato Films co-production developed with the help of Foxtel and Screen Tasmania.
- #013
According to series creator Vicki Madden, the development process took four years from start to finish. Madden spent nearly a year on the first draft alone and then went on to write ten more drafts of the first version.
- #014
Because the series was not renewed for a second season, the fates of some characters were left unconfirmed, such as Matilda Russell (abducted by the killer and never seen again) and Det. Brian Dutch (shot and gravely wounded in the forest). Some subplots also went unresolved, such as Dutch's drug dealing and the small owl-like bird that visits certain characters.
- #015
During filming, the actors were not given the full script. This came about after series creator Vicki Madden spoke early with some directors about certain plot points and details leaked to the actors and crew. Madden decided at that point not to tell anyone where the script was going or what would happen next.
- #016
Amazon Prime Video acquired exclusive US rights to the series' first season from BBC Worldwide North America. It was made available to Amazon subscribers on 30 September 2016, only three months after its Australian premiere.
- #017
Although it is set in Kettering and filmed entirely in Tasmania, most of the series was not shot in the actual town. The scenes set in and around the forest where Gillian Baxter and later Chloe (Sianoa Smit-McPhee) disappear were filmed in Mount Field National Park, about 160 kilometres northwest of the real Kettering; the rock formation shown throughout the series can be found on the Tasman Peninsula, a long drive to the south; the scenes involving logging were filmed around the Norske Skog paper mill near New Norfolk, a long drive to the northwest; and the hospital scenes were shot in Hobart.
- #018
It first aired in Australia on Foxtel's Showcase channel on 4 July 2016. A year earlier, at the 2015 Dark MoFo festival, a preview had been held with the first two episodes of the series shown to selected audiences at nine venues in Tasmania.
- #019
In December 2016 it won three AACTA Awards at the 6th Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards: Best Lead Actress in a Television Drama for Elizabeth Debicki, Best Original Music Score in Television for composers Matteo Zingales and Max Lyandvert, and Best Telefeature or Mini Series for creators Vincent Sheehan and Vicki Madden. It was nominated for five more AACTA Awards: Best Cinematography in Television, Best Direction in a Television Drama or Comedy, Best Guest or Supporting Actress in a Television Drama and Best Screenplay in Television.
- #020
Cinematographer Ari Wegner was working in television for the first time. She had previously shot two feature films, Gri Madde (2011) and Harabe (2013).
- #021
The Kettering Incident was one of two television programmes featuring lead actress Elizabeth Debicki (Anna Macy) released in 2016, the other being the BBC miniseries The Night Manager (2016). The latter began airing on BBC One on 21 February 2016, while this series was first broadcast on Foxtel's Showcase channel on 4 July 2016.
- #022
Lead actress Elizabeth Debicki (Anna Macy) and Sacha Horler, who played Barbara Holloway, would both appear in the film Peter Rabbit (2018) a few years later. Debicki voices Mopsy in the live-action/computer-animated adaptation of Beatrix Potter's beloved children's books, while Horler takes a small role as Taxi Driver Betty.
- #023
Lead actress Elizabeth Debicki played a doctor on screen for the second time. She had also played Dr. Caroline Mackenzie, the base camp doctor, in Everest (2015).
- #024
Elizabeth Debicki (Dr. Anna Macy) and lead actor Kevin MacIsaac, who played Travis Kingston, would appear in Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway (2021) a few years later. The former reprises the role of Mopsy in the sequel to the 2018 live-action and computer-animated adaptation, while MacIsaac has a small role as one of the Pet Shoppies.
- #025
The Kettering Incident (2016) was promoted as the first adult drama to be shot in Tasmania.
- #026
The Kettering Incident (2016) is an Australian science fiction television drama series that first aired on Foxtel's Showcase channel on 4 July 2016. It stars Elizabeth Debicki and Matthew Le Nevez and was directed by Rowan Woods and Tony Krawitz.
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