The Code (2014 TV series)

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The Code
File:The Code intertitle.png
Genre Drama
Created by Shelley Birse
Written by Shelley Birse
Directed by Shawn Seet
Starring <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Composer(s) Roger Mason
Country of origin Australia
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 6
Production
Executive producer(s) Carole Sklan
David Ogilvy
Greer Simpkin
Producer(s) Shelley Birse
David Maher
David Taylor
Cinematography Bruce Young
Editor(s) Deborah Peart
Running time 56 minutes
Production company(s) Playmaker Media
ABC
Release
Original network ABC1
Original release 21 September 2014 –
present
External links
Production website

The Code is an Australian drama television series created and produced by Shelley Birse. Developed from a partnership between Playmaker Media and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, it premiered on ABC1 in Australia on 21 September 2014.[1]

The six-part series, set in both outback and metropolitan areas of Australia, interweaves several plot lines. The first follows brothers Ned (Dan Spielman) and Jesse Banks (Ashley Zukerman), who publish a video of a mysterious outback accident, and Hani Parande (Adele Perovic), who becomes involved with them. The second follows the accident, which sees teacher Alex Wisham (Lucy Lawless) and policeman Tim Simons (Aaron Pedersen) becoming involved in the personal affairs of accused teenager Clarence Boyd (Aaron McGrath). The third covers Ned's journalism office, managed by Perry Benson (Adam Garcia). The fourth chronicles the intrigues of Deputy Prime Minister Ian Bradley (David Wenham), and political staffers Randall Keats (Aden Young) and Sophie Walsh (Chelsie Preston Crayford) while the after-effects of the accident unfold.[2]

ABC in June 2015 renewed The Code for a second season, after getting 'significant funding' from the Australian Capital Territory's film fund, Screen ACT. The new series, scheduled for screening in 2016, would see brothers Ned and Jessy Banks facing deportation to the United States of America to face trial in connection with security breaches.[3]

Synopsis

A stolen vehicle collides with a transport truck in the middle of the desert. Two Aboriginal teenagers in the car are critically injured but nobody called for help because someone involved works for a major stakeholder in a secret research project. The accident would have remained a mystery if it weren't for Ned Banks, a young internet journalist desperate for a break and his brother Jesse Banks, a hacker on a strict good behaviour bond.[4]

Cast

Main characters

Supporting characters

Lindara, New South Wales
  • Aaron L. McGrath as Clarence Boyd, driver of the stolen car
  • Aaron Pedersen as Tim Simons, local policeman at Lindara
  • Ursula Yovich as Kitty Boyd, Clarence's mother
  • Mitzi Ruhlmann as Missy Wisham, Alex's daughter
  • Madeleine Madden as Sheyna Smith, the passenger in the car
  • Tim McCunn as Carl Smith, Sheyna's father
  • Lisa Flanagan as Eadie Smith, Sheyna's mother
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
  • David Roberts as Peter Lawson, political journalist, National News Australia
  • May Lloyd as Isabelle Banks, mother of Ned and Jesse
  • Steen Raskopoulos as Edan, editorial staff member at Password
  • Zindzi Okenyo as Millie Hussey, journalist at Password
  • Sophie Gregg as Trina Daniels, data encryption technician at Physanto
  • Erik Thomson as Niko Gaelle, international black marketeer in arms and stolen IP
  • Victoria Haralabidou as Alila Parande, Hani's mother
  • Michael Denkha as Nasim Parande, Hani's father, bio-tech engineer
  • Steve Rodgers as Malcolm Coover, head of AFP Cyber Crime Unit
  • Lindsay Farris as Dean Carson, AFP Cyber Crime Unit interrogator
  • Kelvin Shone as local policeman at Parliament House

Production

Filming locations

The fictional town of Lindara was filmed in Broken Hill, Silverton in New South Wales, and Cockburn in South Australia.[5][6] The main street and post office of Cockburn doubles as the main street and school in Lindara, while the houses of the Lindara families were filmed in Silverton.

Parts of Canberra were used for filming, including the external of Australian Parliament House and Lake Burley Griffin.[7]

International

The series was acquired by BBC Four in the United Kingdom in April 2014,[8] and premiered on 11 October 2014, less than three weeks after the Australian premiere.[9] Because it aired as back-to-back episodes over three weeks, the final episode aired first in the UK on Saturday, 25 October at 9:55pm BST,[10] over twelve hours ahead of its first Australian broadcast at 8:30pm AEDT on Sunday, 26 October. The series will also be shown on DirecTV's Audience Network in the US, SundanceTV in Latin America, Denmark's DR,[11] Arte in both France and Germany, RUV in Iceland and ARTV in Canada.[12]

Episodes

Series 1 (2014)

No. Title Directed by Written by Original air date Viewers
1 "Episode 1" Shawn Seet Shelley Birse 21 September 2014 771,000[13]

In Lindara, a small town in remote New South Wales, two aboriginal teens are missing; Clarence Boyd, who had been staying in the temporary care of schoolteacher Alex Wisham, had taken his school sweetheart Sheyna Smith on a joyride and collided with a truck. Trapped in the car, Sheyna urged Clarence to flee the scene to escape an attacker from the truck. Later that night, Clarence returns to Wisham's house, bloodied and disoriented. He gives a somewhat incoherent account of having fallen unconscious and later awakening to find that both the car and Sheyna had vanished. The car is discovered the following day, alongside Sheyna's dead body. Alex also finds Clarence's damaged phone, which holds a corrupted, unplayable video of the teenagers.

In Canberra, government officials have heard of the crash, and attempt to discover further information about those involved. Deputy prime minister Ian Bradley gives material to chief of staff Randall Keats, who orders Director of Communications Sophie Walsh to leak it to her former boyfriend, Password journalist Ned Banks. Intrigued, he discovers the initial police report about the crash, phoning Alex to find out more. Though she initially declines to comment, she later sends the corrupted video to Ned, who enlists the aid of his autistic brother, Jesse Banks, to repair the file. Jesse has a talent for using computers, currently on a good behaviour bond following a cyber crime conviction for a hacking incident. Jesse repairs the video, discovering that it shows the collision and its aftermath in which the car is pushed into a gorge with Sheyna trapped inside. While Password publishes the file, Jesse investigates further, finding a single frame on the video that displays the truck's number plate; the registration traces to Physanto, ostensibly a biotech and medical research company, but Jesse suspects it to be a front for some other secretive purpose. Against the rules of his bond, he hacks into the company's servers, downloading some encrypted files, but is noticed by their security, who implant destructive malware and spyware on his system. Similarly, Password is also attacked; the video is removed and Ned receives on ominous email warning him not to repost it. They decide that they must send someone to Lindara to recover Clarence's phone with the original copy; though initially reluctant to leave Jesse on his own, Ned decides to leave, reassured that he will be safe in the company of Hani Parande, who shares similar interests and skills to Jesse. As Ned leaves, Jesse is thrown into a van, and taken away.
2 "Episode 2" Shawn Seet Shelley Birse 28 September 2014 584,000[14]

Ned arrives in Lindara, further investigating the crash. Clarence reveals to him that the delivery truck was escorted by two cars; it emerges that the escort was a security detail led by Andy King, who had pushed the car over the cliff to clean up the scene. In Canberra, Jesse is being interrogated by the AFP; the head of its Cyber Crime Unit (CCU), Malcolm Coover, is investigating the files that Jesse stole from Physanto. Jesse admits to his lack of knowledge concerning the situation, vowing to never speak of the kidnapping again. Meanwhile, Coover tasks AFP investigator Lyndon Joyce with finding Physanto's head of security Andy King. Later that night, an intruder tries to gain entry to Clarence's room; failing, they retreat from the property before they can be identified. The following day, Clarence has gone missing; Ned finds him found submerged in a nearby water hole as a vehicle is seen leaving the area. Lyndon later arrives in Lindara, and encounters Ned. He demands Clarence's phone, making veiled threats about consequences for Jesse should Ned pursue the story further. Worried, Ned rushes back to Canberra, discovering Jesse distraught and in a state of fear.

The following day, Hani tries to soothe Jesse, who is unable to sleep. She shows Ned the encrypted files that Jesse found in his investigation of Physanto, offering to decrypt the files; Ned adamantly refuses, as it would expose her to danger. After Hani leaves, she is seen rendezvousing with Lyndon; it is shown that Hani is now reluctantly working for Coover, tasked with retrieving Jesse's copy of the encrypted files. Meanwhile, Andy meets Trina Daniels, a data encryption technician at Physanto. She tells him that the company has upgraded all data security, showing him her breach report for an upcoming meeting. When she tells Andy that she cannot continue with providing him with Physanto's secrets, he embraces her in a soothing gesture that turns into a strangle hold, suffocating her.
3 "Episode 3" Shawn Seet Blake Ayshford 5 October 2014 477,000[15]
As Trina's body is found, multiple pieces of evidence enhance the proof against Andy, intensifying the AFP's search for him. Meanwhile, Andy attempts to make a deal for half of the Physanto file; he is denied, the full file being demanded. Returning to his car, he finds Lyndon, who is his friend. After a short conversation, Lyndon asks Coover for backup, advising that he is with Andy; Coover orders Lyndon to release him. Andy then travels to the Banks' residence, which is empty; taking advantage of Ned and Jesse's mother's dementia, he discovers Jesse's whereabouts. Meanwhile, Ned arrives at home, discovering that Jesse and Hani went on a road trip, and had forgotten Jesse's medication. At the Password offices, Ned is informed that the cargo being delivered by the Physanto truck was listed in the transport manifest as high grade engine oil. After also being told that Hani's father is a bio-engineer at Physanto, he realises where Jesse and Hani have gone: Karawatha, a country property owned by the Banks' family. Arriving there, Ned informs Jesse about Hani's father, which she neglected to tell him. It emerges that, after her own conviction for cyber crime, she was coerced into being an informant for the CCU, under threat of having her parents deported back to Iran. Refusing to believe this, Jesse demands Ned leave. Shortly after, Andy arrives at the house and demands the Physanto files from Jesse. Hani and Jesse then disable Andy in a joint attack and escape in the van, but Jesse, hurt at discovering that Hani has befriended him for her own ulterior reasons, throws her onto the side of the road and drives away.
4 "Episode 4" Shawn Seet Shelley Birse 12 October 2014 578,000[16]

Hani turns up at Ned's place to find Jesse still absent. She briefs Ned on what happened at Karawatha and urges him to find Jesse before the AFP does. She has been ignoring calls from her AFP handlers and when she later goes home, while questioning her mother, Alilah Parande (Victoria Haralabidou), about the work her father does for Physanto, they are interrupted by immigration officials with a search warrant, ostensibly acting on a tip-off about possible breaches of the Immigration Act.

Sophie Walsh is feeling similarly menaced. She arrives at work to find herself locked out of the network and distanced by her boss, Randall Keats. Later in the day, they are both called into a meeting with Ian Bradley, who warns Sophie about electronic snooping in areas that she has no business in.

Ned finds Jesse and they both go back to Karawatha to check on what happened there after Jesse's run in with Andy King. They find a lot of blood, but their survey of the scene is curtailed by the arrival of Malcolm Coover in a police car. They manage to escape unnoticed.

Andy King has survived the assault on him there. We see him in his vehicle, alive but injured, treating his wounds with a first aid kit. He ignores a call on his mobile, one of several missed calls from black marketeer, Niko Gaelle.

Lyndon Joyce catches up with Hani and pressures her to keep cooperating with the AFP and to try to win back Jesse's confidence. She agrees on condition that she is shown her parents' and her own immigration files. Lyndon eventually brings her the files, which leads her to question her parents about the circumstances of their escape from Iran.

Ned gets news from Alex that Clarence Boyd is having flashbacks of a gas having been released from the Physanto truck. He has lung damage and is now on respiratory support at Broken Hill Hospital. Ned and Jesse travel there. With Jesse's help, they seize an opportunity to search the hospital records for the autopsy report on Sheyna Smith to see if it contains anything mirroring Clarence's condition. They find two versions of it. The second attributes her death to injuries sustained in the crash, but the original lists evidence of lung damage consistent with pneumonitis. Ned and Alex make an overnight visit to Lindara, where they advise Sheyna's mother, Eadie, to apply for a copy of the autopsy report.

Meanwhile, in Broken Hill, Jesse uses the time to decrypt the Physanto files and finds significant information about its work and what was in the truck. In the morning, Carl Smith encounters Jesse celebrating his achievement at the local pub, and targets him. He lures Jesse away to a secluded spot, where he stages a violent assault on himself, framing Jesse as the assailant. Conveniently, this provides the authorities something they can charge Jesse with that will be uncomplicated by matters they would prefer not to raise in open court. Ned returns to Broken Hill just in time to find Jesse being transferred to the custody of the AFP, who transport him to Canberra. Ned follows and tries to visit Jesse at AFP headquarters, but is denied access to his brother.

Ned visits Sophie, where, examining his laptop, they find a message from Jesse with the information he has discovered. Sophie realises the full import of it and gives Ned an insight into its significance. Among Ned's papers, she sees the material on Poulson she had previously given him and notices among it the clue that led Ned to the Lindara story, a scrap of paper bearing the single word "Lindara", which she recognises as having been torn from her work date-planner.

When the AFP find out what Jesse knows, they call Ned in and use their leverage against Jesse to blackmail Ned into dropping the story. Ian Bradley offers to have the charge against Jesse reduced and promises Ned that when news about Physanto's work is eventually made public in a controlled manner, he will have the exclusive news break.
5 "Episode 5" Shawn Seet Justin Monjo 19 October 2014 555,000[17]

Andy King is at the gates of the Pakistani embassy, where he intercepts the arrival of a chauffeur-driven car containing mid-level employees, executive-assistant Salim Malik and his wife Loubna (Shameer Birgess and Monique Kalmar). He tells them he is having trouble contacting a mutual acquaintance, Niko Gaelle, that he will soon have what they want and if they won't deal with him directly, he will find another buyer.

At AFP headquarters, Malcolm Coover and Mason Cole (Andy Rodoreda), representing U.S. intelligence, are showing Ian Bradley security footage of the encounter. Cole tells him the Maliks are not acting for or with the knowledge of the Pakistani government, but are probably acting as middle-men for Iran, North Korea, a rogue African state or suchlike.

Meanwhile, Jesse has been bailed and is home with Ned, who appears to have abandoned his pursuit of the Lindara story. A door knocker leaves an envelope at Ned's front door. The contents, which include his parliamentary press pass, send him to Parliament House, where preparations are underway for a press conference. Sophie confronts Randall with the clue that led Ned to the Lindara story, accusing him of deliberately planting it in the Coulson material for Ned to find and of doing so in a way that would implicate her. At the press conference, Ned asks Ian Bradley a Dorothy Dixer and is rewarded with an appointment for a meeting with Ian scheduled for later that afternoon.

Ned phones Alex Wisham, to tell her that the gas that leaked from the Physanto truck and which scarred Sheyna's and Clarence's lungs was UF6, partially enriched uranium, and that she should tell the hospital to treat Clarence for exposure to it. She goes to the hospital to talk to Clarence's mother, Kitty Boyd (Ursula Yovich), but she finds her and Clarence closing a compensation deal with a Physanto lawyer.

Alex searches the Net for medical information about uranium hexaflouride. She finds her daughter Missy (Ritzi Ruhlmann) and other school children swimming in a water hole near the site of the accident. Dead fish and traces of a strange substance are washed up on the water's edge and she frantically orders them out of the water. She tries to explain the circumstances and the coverup attempt, including the framing of Jesse, to an incredulous Tim Simons.

Meanwhile, Jesse has gone to Tom, the kebab vendor, to ask for his old job back. Hani is there. She makes approaches to Jesse, who rebuffs her, telling her she has lost his trust and that he has succeeded in decrypting the stolen Physanto files. Hani returns home to find Andy King there, who wants her to get him the Physanto file he is after. A struggle ensues, in which Hani succeeds in wounding Andy. Her parents later arrive home to find Andy trying to extract information from her. He then uses her to pressure her father Nasim into getting him access to the Physanto file he is seeking. Hani caves in and tells Andy that Jessie has the files and that he has decrypted them. Andy departs with Hani to contact Jessie, leaving her parents tied up.

Andy, weakened by his wounds, calls Lyndon to come and meet him in a cemetery at the gravesite of his wife, Sharon, an army captain who died recently, aged 39. Lyndon gets to Andy moments after he has collapsed, but he orders an AFP trace on a frequently called number (Niko's) that he finds on Andy's phone. Meanwhile, Niko has found Hani in Andy's ute and takes her somewhere where he can finish what Andy started, holding her to ransom the physanto files from Jesse, who phones Ned for help. He tells Ned that although the police took his laptop, he had enclosed the USB stick in the birthday card he posted from Broken Hill to their mother, Isabelle. They retrieve the USB stick and rendezvous with Niko to trade it for Hani. Their call to him has enabled the AFP to obtain a location fix on Niko's phone and Lyndon arrives there just as the trade is about to occur, which all goes horribly wrong.
6 "Episode 6" Shawn Seet Shelley Birse 26 October 2014 564,000[18]

Ned uses the parking permit he saw on the car in which the exchange took place to determine the identity of Farid, the postgraduate student who decrypted and checked the Physanto files for Niko Gaelle. Ned and Jesse confront Farid at the university — he not only tells them where Hani is, but also that Gaelle will pass the files on to Malik at the Pakistani embassy. Ned passes this information on to his editor at Password, and he and Jesse watch as a paramedic crew picks up Hani from Gaelle's warehouse. Ned and Jesse argue and fight about their next move, with Jesse telling him he is "sacked" as his carer.

Federal police raid the embassy as they intercept a chauffeur they think is Gaelle, but instead they find a lookalike with empty diplomatic bags. Jesse manages to contact Hani, who has survived her torture and is now in hospital, and the two reconcile. Jesse then hitchhikes back to Lindara, where he speaks to Carl and convinces him to drop the assault charges. Ned is looking through Gaelle's warehouse, and hides as a team of government agents enters. The agents take all related documents, delete files from Gaelle's computer, and then as Ned watches, they drag Gaelle in and inject him with a substance which induces a heart attack.

Sophie speaks to Randall who has had a crisis of conscience over the whole Lindara matter. He tells her to speak to Graeme Poulson, the minister who had just returned to work after his wife's suicide due to his affair which Sophie had leaked to Ned. Poulson tells her that the Physanto truck was not transporting uranium out of Lindara, but was intending to bury it in the area. Sophie returns to Parliament House, where Randall tells her he has resigned. He gives her a map of the burial sites, but keeps the other files from Ian Bradley's office and says she should stay "on the inside" to make a difference. Sophie asks him to do one more thing to help them.

Ian Bradley returns to his office to find an e-mail from Randall containing a JPEG image. He opens the attachment, which allows Hani in Canberra and Jesse in Lindara to gain access to his computer. They activate his webcam and record his reaction to the photo of Clarence and Sheyna, which they broadcast to the families in Lindara. Realising he has been compromised, Bradley tries to trash all the Physanto files, but Hani intercepts them and sends them to every printer in the building. Randall also gives Bradley's files to Password for publication. With the evidence of his conspiracy revealed, Bradley resigns.

Ned and Hani pick up Jesse from the airport, and Jesse tells Ned he wants him to move out so he can live with Hani. Unnoticed by them, Farid heads up an escalator, holding a USB stick, presumably containing the laser enrichment files...

Series 2

ABC renewed The Code for a second series in June 2015. The series will consist of six episodes, produced by David Maher, David Taylor, Di Haddon and Shelley Birse.[19]

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Nominee Result
2015 Logie Awards[20] Most Outstanding Drama Series The Code Nominated
Most Outstanding Actor Ashley Zukerman Nominated
4th AACTA Awards[21] Best Television Drama Series The Code - Shelley Birse, David Maher and David Taylor Won
Best Direction in a Television Drama or Comedy Shawn Seet - Episode 1 Won
Best Screenplay in Television Shelley Birse - Episode 1 Nominated
Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama Dan Spielman Nominated
Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama Ashley Zukerman Won
Best Guest or Supporting Actress in a Television Drama Chelsie Preston Crayford - Episode 1 Won
Best Editing in Television Deborah Peart ASE - Episode 1 Won
Best Sound in Television Gerry Duffy, Danielle Wiessner, Robert Sullivan & Grant Shepherd - Episode 1 Nominated
Best Original Music Score in Television Roger Mason - Episode 1 Won
Best Production Design in Television Michelle McGahey - Episode 1 Nominated
ADG Awards[22] Best Direction in a TV Drama Series Shawn Seet - The Code (Series 1, Episode 4) Won
Screen Music Awards (Australia) Best Music for a Television Series of Serial[23] Roger Mason - The Code Nominated
Best Television Theme[24] Roger Mason - The Code Won
ACS Cinematography Awards (NSW/ACT)[25] Drama or Comedy & Telefeatures Bruce Young - The Code (Episode 4) 'Gold Award' Won
NSW Premier's Literary Awards[26] Betty Roland Prize for Scriptwriting The Code - Episode 1, Shelley Birse (Playmaker Media) Nominated
Screen Producers Australia Awards[27] Drama Television Production of the Year Playmaker Media - The Code Won
2014 AWGIE Awards[28] Major Award Winner Blake Ayshford, Shelley Birse & Justin Monjo - The Code Won
Television Mini-Series Original Blake Ayshford, Shelley Birse & Justin Monjo - The Code Won

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Season two of The Code given ACT Government funding, Tom McIlroy, Sydney Morning Telegraph, 2 March 2015.Retrieved: 19 April 2016.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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