‘NCIS: Sydney’ Creator On Drama’s Australian Setting, Local Actors & Naval Ships: “We Should Be Swinging For Fences On This”
14.11.2023 - 00:35
/ deadline.com
The Hollywood strikes may have wreaked havoc on the broadcast networks’ fall plans but it also paved the way for a Paramount+ Australia series to snag an unprecedented berth on CBS starting Nov. 14.
The creation of NCIS: Sydney marked the first time one of CBS Studios’ global drama franchises earned an international spinoff. Now, it’s giving CBS the opportunity to have original episodes of an NCIS show before the end of the year. The rest of CBS’ scripted series, including the NCIS mothership and NCIS: Hawaii, aren’t returning until February.
Here, creator Morgan O’Neill talks about the making of NCIS: Sydney, which follow a team of U.S. NCIS Agents and the Australian Federal Police (AFP), who are grafted into a multi-national taskforce to keep naval crimes in check in the most contested patch of ocean on the planet.
DEADLINE The first episode features some pretty impressive scenes of naval ships in the Sydney harbour.
MORGAN O’NEILL One of the really unique things about Sydney is that it’s one of the few big cities in the world with a naval headquarters, which basically controls the entire eastern seaboard of Australia. It’s right in the center of town. It commands the most spectacular views of the Sydney harbour and the Opera House and the harbour bridge. We have a terrific relationship with the Royal Navy, which allowed us access.
Was it a challenge, getting access to those ships?
O’NEILL I mean, you’re negotiating with the pointy end of the armed services. So there’s always a little bit of red tape to push through. But fortunately, we kept finding people who were massive NCIS fans, so they understand that the show has a really broad global reach. They want to be associated with that. It’s fun, it represents