The stakes are high for Kate (Kate Mulvaney), a provocative artist on trial for the murder of her niece in ‘The Twelve,’ Foxtel’s new ensemble crime drama. And the stakes are just as high for Foxtel itself, premiering the first of the drama’s ten episodes amid a big transition for the company. After all, as defence lawyer Brett Colby (Sam Neill) tells Kate in episode one: the jury — or the audience — is everything.
Last night, Foxtel and AACTA premiered ‘The Twelve’ in Melbourne’s South Yarra Palace Cinemas. It’s clear Foxtel is betting the house here; this was the program’s third premiere in as many weeks. Sydney was the first Australian city to preview the program, after screenings in Los Angeles where Foxtel’s Executive Director of Television Brian Walsh said ‘The Twelve’ was “the talk of the town”.
Walsh was at South Yarra with ‘The Twelve’ star Pallavi Sharda, who plays jury foreperson Corrie, to take questions after screening the first two episodes. Both Walsh and Sharda were keen to highlight the high production values of ‘The Twelve,’ and this was evident in the episodes we saw. It feels like a cinema is where this program truly belongs; you could have told me that was a movie and I would believe you.
The cinematography beautifully frames the drama of ‘The Twelve’ while showcasing urban Sydney. Colour grading compliments this, tonally matching the narrative and creating an aesthetic without veering into ‘Twilight’-blue territory. And the score creates a thrilling sense of foreboding and mystery, with listenable music punctuating key moments. It’s a shame I’ll have to watch future episodes at home; where my iPhone 7’s speakers probably won’t do the mix justice.
Unfortunately, it looks like a decision to have slow motion shots of a school tie floating in the ocean was one made late in production. As the shots weren’t filmed in slow motion but digitally slowed, dropped frames break the spell of ‘The Twelve’ and make the show look cheap. But this stands out only because it’s a rare misstep; the crew deserve huge credit for elevating ‘The Twelve’ to world-class standards and turning everything else they’ve touched to gold.
This skilful production is paying off big time for Walsh, who was able to tout the program’s success with international pre-sales. He says a considered choice to avoid shots of the Opera House or the harbour in the Sydney series will show overseas viewers a different side of Australia. And Sharda, who boasts a cross-cultural career with shoots in the United States and India under her belt, said her foreign co-stars and crew were now asking her about upcoming Australian co-productions. She, too, is hopeful ‘The Twelve’ will challenge a “monolithic” perspective of Australia she hears when abroad.
The crew deserve huge credit for elevating ‘The Twelve’ to world-class standards.
But Walsh says writers are harder to come by in Australia, and we’re losing many overseas to countries like the U.S. Perhaps that’s because he started crying poor last night, telling premiere attendees Foxtel “can’t afford” to commission 20 local productions a year like “juggernaut” Stan, despite having more subscribers. But let’s not get into the weeds. I’m a writer; I’ve written mystery novels. So let’s address the writing.
‘The Twelve’ turns the typical courtroom drama format on its head, actually following the jurors rather than the defendant Kate — although we still see a lot of her story through evidence and flashbacks. The idea comes from Belgian series De Twaalf. Walsh says Australia’s version is an original story, not a copy-and-paste translation, but says the Belgian producers were paid for format rights because he couldn’t have come up with the idea on his own.
So what Australian stories will ‘The Twelve’ follow? Of course, there’s the alleged murder of 14-year-old schoolgirl Claire (Coco Jack Gillies), in the care of Kate who tried her best to be like cool mum Suze from ‘Euphoria’ by letting teenagers drink. Unfortunately for her, it looks an awful lot like grooming to the cops, including Detective Sam Chedid (Louisa Mignone) who gives evidence in episode two, but pops up again after taking the stand to stick around as a key player.
But the actual murder trial, while enthralling, really serves as window dressing to the stories of the jurors themselves. We’ve followed seven home so far out of the 14-person jury (surely setting the stage for two to be booted as the trial unravels), and they all live profoundly crappy lives. But their problems existing on a sliding scale: one juror struggles with domestic violence, another with integration as a migrant; an older juror is a widow, a younger juror struggles with university pressures. Then two struggle with money: one is in debt and another lives in a terrible apartment.
Unfortunately, jury foreperson Corrie, who takes centre stage early on, probably has the least endearing home life. She declares she hates living in her large, lavish mansion where, to be fair, a tragic incident happened that I won’t spoil. But as someone who’s sharehouse was broken into the other month because a squatter thought it was abandoned, Corrie’s rich people problems are far from relatable — regardless of how well Sharda portrays them.
But everyone watching should be able to relate to someone. Walsh says Foxtel now follows a philosophy of “one kitchen, two dining rooms”. That means he’s commissioning shows with an eye to the audiences of both the company’s platforms: Foxtel’s traditional residential offering and trendier new Binge streaming service. While the average age of a Binge subscriber is 34, ‘The Twelve’ will get its first window on Foxtel, with an average subscriber age of 57.
“This just doesn’t happen!”
Pallavi Sharda
The initial targeting of an ‘A Current Affair’ audience is made clear by the inclusion of a terrifying teen trend that would fit right in there. As the trial progresses, we see a graphic and confronting recording of our girl-in-trouble Claire ‘scarfing,’ or strangling herself with her school tie. While ‘The Twelve’ certainly goes for — and achieves — shock value here, moments like these undercut the authentic depiction of the show’s teenage characters.
(Although, ‘scarfing’ did make it into Urban Dictionary in 2007 — search at your peril — so perhaps I’m the one who’s streets behind here. Have my friends been scarfing this whole time and not telling me?)
It’s disappointing, because authenticity is something ‘The Twelve’ strives for. Walsh says he wants the program to reflect “contemporary Australia,” with diverse casting for “the right reasons”. It’s a big change for local industry, still grappling with long-standing challenges around diversity and inclusion, and one apparent to Sharda when she met the rest of the cast at the first table read last year. Seeing the make-up of the room, she remarked: “This just doesn’t happen!”
The titular jury of ‘The Twelve’ spans a wide range of backgrounds and demographics, across race, religion, gender, age and income (and possibly also sexuality and disability, but we’ll have to wait and see here). This allows the program to engage with many contemporary issues, particularly those of prejudice. But, again, there’s inconsistency here. At times ‘The Twelve’ struggles to handle these issues with the deftness and nuance they warrant, with occasional clumsy dialogue or heavy-handed sequences.
In crime dramas, details matter.
It’s a clear reminder these conversations are still new to Australian writers’ rooms. But the cast and crew of the ‘The Twelve’ are certainly well-placed, and willing, to be its’ stewards. Sharda says the cast often spent time in their trailers having “frank conversations” about the complex issues the program tackles, and writers were receptive to feedback. Every detail has been considered, down to the last name of Sharda’s character Corrie D’Souza, which she says was changed to make sense in the context of the White Australia policy.
And in crime dramas, details matter. Watch out for a moment in the first two episodes where the jury walks into the courthouse, past a journalist doing a piece to camera. What initially looks like set dressing turns out to be a key detail and fateful moment; when the report is broadcast later on the evening news, it becomes one character’s undoing. This is where ‘The Twelve’ declares how tight and efficient its writing is, and throws down the gauntlet to viewers hoping to crack the case. You’ll need to pay attention to even stand a chance.
So what can we expect from ‘The Twelve’ across the program’s ten episodes? Sharda says episode four is a big episode for her character Corrie, and Walsh praised the twists in the final, saying episode ten “really comes down to the last two-and-a-half minutes”.
Overall, the world-class production values, thoughtful and considered depictions of contemporary Australia, and gripping plot more than make up for the occasional shakiness of ‘The Twelve.’ I certainly plan to devour the rest of the series and watch those last two-and-a-half minutes, and you should make time to as well.
‘The Twelve’ premieres (for the fourth and final time) tonight at 8:30 p.m. on Fox Showcase. You can watch through Foxtel’s residential service for $49 per month with a 12-month contract, but Foxtel Now’s $25 month-to-month internet streaming offering may be friendlier to student budgets. Friendlier still is Binge, starting at $10 per month — but you’ll have to wait til September to stream the series.
Excellent review, thanks for sharing!