Is This Aussie Outback Drama The New Succession?

This Australian show debuted on Netflix last week, and it’s slowly but surely climbing the ranks. Picture Succession crossed with Yellowstone and set on an Aussie cattle ranch, and you’ll get something like Territory. With six episodes in the first season, here’s everything you need to know before tuning in, plus whether we can expect Territory season 2.

(L to R) Michael Dorman as Graham Lawson, Robert Taylor as Colin Lawson in Territory. (Courtesy of Netflix © 2024)

What Is Territory About?

Set on the world’s largest cattle station in the remote Australian outback, Territory is a new drama showcasing the fight for power when the farm – called Marianne Station – is left without an apparent heir. Showcasing the wild, tough environment of The Northern Territory, it’s a soapy neo-western with generational clashes threatening to tear the Lawson family apart. Rival cattle barons, desert gangsters, Indigenous elders and billionaire miners all move in for the kill, sensing the great dynasty may well be in decline. As Netflix summarises: ‘With billions of dollars at stake, everyone wants a piece of the pie.’

The Cast

• Anna Torv as Emily Lawson
• Michael Dorman as Graham Lawson
• Robert Taylor as Colin Lawson
• Sam Corlett as Marshall Lawson
• Sara Wiseman as Sandra Kirby
• Dan Wyllie as Hank Hodge
• Clarence Ryan as Nolan Brannock
• Jay Ryan as Campbell Miller
• Philippa Northeast as Susie Lawson
• Joe Klocek as Lachie Kirby
• Kylah Day as Sharnie Kennedy
• Sam Delich as Rich Petrakis
• Hamilton Morris as Uncle Bryce
• Tuuli Narkle as Keeley Redford
• Tyler Spencer as Dezi
• Jake Ryan as Daniel Lawson

Sara Wiseman as Sarndra Kirby in Territory. (Courtesy of Netflix © 2024)

Will There Be Territory Season 2?

No news just yet from Netflix on whether we can expect Territory season 2 – but it’s looking likely. Glowing reviews from viewers and the media alike are generating buzz around this Netflix original series, with comparisons to cult-followed shows like Yellowstone and Succession surely pleasing the streaming giant. It’s Netflix’s first foray into the western genre – and we’re sure it won’t be the last.

Where Was Territory Filmed?

Territory was filmed in remote locations across the Northern Territory and South Australia, including UNESCO World Heritage site Kakadu National Park (with special permission from its Traditional Owners) and Tipperary Station, a real working cattle station with its own airfield and school.

(L to R) Anna Torv as Emily Lawson, Sam Corlett as Marshall Lawson in Territory. (Courtesy of Netflix © 2024)

What Is Territory Based On?

Territory isn’t based on a book or a specific true story, but it does explore true-to-life events. Marianne Station is based on the real South Australian Anna Creek Station in northern Adelaide – the largest cattle station in the world. For scale, it’s larger than the US state of New Jersey, and the entire nation of Slovenia – so helicopters and private jets are a popular mode of transport.

The whole series was dreamed up by Ben Davies and Rob Gibson who, on a beach stroll during the pandemic, ‘got excited about the prospect of doing a big-scale, high-stakes action drama set on a cattle station,’ Davies tells Netflix, ‘in a part of the country you don’t often see on-screen.’ Aka, the Northern Territory.

‘It was a complete contrast as we were surrounded by the Bondi crowd,’ Davies added. ‘People moving past us in their activewear, wet suits, carrying their surfboards while Rob and I were dreaming up stories about people in jeans, boots, and flannel shirts in the Top End.’ The Top End, by the way, is the northernmost tip of the Northern Territory, a laidback region with a tropical climate, where the state capital Darwin is located.

Davies has previously worked on cattle station documentaries, while fellow co-creator Tim Lee conducted interviews with Northern Territory locals to help underpin the series with some real world accuracy. ‘I soaked in everything they could give me, all the attitudes, the world, the stories,’ Lee told Netflix. ‘Some of the stories were occasionally pretty confronting but it was really valuable. They were so stranger than fiction, but they were gold and gave me plenty of fodder to work with.’

‘By putting himself in that world, the people themselves were able to tell him the stories about everything from how the business works, the hierarchy of characters, the desire for legacy, the importance of land ownership, the scale and its identity,’ Davies adds. ‘Also, some of the language – they’ve got their own accent and vernacular that needed to be part of the scripting.’

WATCH

All six episodes of Territory are streaming now on Netflix. netflix.com