Queer Stories in Australian TV Drama

As screen scholars and practitioners grapple with growing expectations for onscreen diversity, this book examines how such expectations manifest through hidden production processes for queer stories in Australian scripted television.

Through analysis of 18 original interviews with Australian television industry professionals, along with political-economic, content, and textual analysis of queer television content from 2011 to 2021, this book demonstrates how Australian television’s once-pervasive industry perceptions that queer stories would not appeal to broad audiences changed throughout the decade. It traces the lifecycle of scripted television projects across all stages of television production from development to distribution. This book examines how queer representations are negotiated by creatives and executives for distribution through mainstream television networks. While recent Australian hits, such as Heartbreak High (Netflix) and Deadloch (Amazon Prime Video), appear to support the common belief that streaming is driving onscreen diversity, this book reveals how the reality in Australia is much more interesting and complex. With a small and highly regulated television distribution market, a low uptake of cable, and a high proportion of public funding, Australia saw a boom of queer stories appearing in its television drama from 2011, four years before streaming entered the market.

This book is for screen scholars and industry practitioners alike. It illuminates how Australia’s television industry has changed in relation to queer stories appearing onscreen. Screen scholars will gain a deeper understanding of the industrial influences on diverse textual representations. New, emerging, and established screen practitioners will develop new insights into how diverse stories are negotiated through the stages of production.