Kitty Flanagan and Anne Edmonds’ new comedy will be full of drama
Source: ABC iview / Instagram
Funny women Anne Edmonds and Kitty Flanagan will match wits in a new ABC comedy that takes viewers behind the scenes of an iconic theatre company on the brink of bankruptcy.
Bad Company was announced this week and will air in 2026.
The six-part series is being directed by Tom Peterson, who also shared direction duties on the multi-award-winning ABC comedy Fisk, which was co-created by Flanagan and saw her play the brown-suited and frequently frazzled contract lawyer Helen Tudor-Fisk.
It is Edmonds who is in the writer’s seat for Bad Company. She created the series and plays Margie, the volatile artistic director of The Argyle theatre company who goes head to head with Julia (Flanagan), a high-flying corporate executive brought in to clean up the mess created by Margie’s “unchecked whims”.
“I’m thrilled to be making an ABC comedy about something so close to my heart – the drama behind the scenes,” Edmonds said.
“And getting to make it with Kitty Flanagan? A dream come true.”
Edmonds is hosting the latest season of game show Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Gen on Network Ten, after stepping into the shoes of former host Shaun Micallef.
As well as their successful stand-up careers, she and Flanagan have starred in numerous other television shows – including, respectively, Get Krack!n and Utopia – and are regular guests on the ABC’s comedy quiz program Have You Been Paying Attention?.
Commissioned by the ABC, Bad Company received major production investment from the corporation and Screen Australia. It is also supported by VicScreen, with CEO Caroline Pitcher describing the stars as two of Australia’s favourite comedians.
“The wild global success of Fisk has proven that our distinctive Australian humour can tickle the funny bone of audiences here and overseas,” said Pitcher.
“I can’t wait to see the shenanigans when Anne and Kitty do battle backstage in this clever new series.”
Screen Australia’s Louise Gough agreed, saying she had no doubt Edmonds and Flanagan were going to “raise the curtain, wipe off the greasepaint and cue the spotlight on this biting satire set in the theatre world”.
The series is being produced by Guesswork Television, the company behind shows such as Deadloch, Frayed, Rosehaven, Hard Quiz and Get Krack!n, with Andrew Walker at the helm.
Bad Company is among a slew of new projects announced this month by Screen Australia, representing funding totalling $12.8 million. Others include:
Shiver: An adaptation of Australian author Nikki Gemmell’s novel of the same name, about the “profound transformation” of a young journalist who ventures to Antarctica. Directed by Robert Connolly (The Dry, Blueback), it is said to be the first Australian narrative feature to be filmed on the frozen continent.
Shilling It: A six-part satirical web-series by comedian and writer Henry Stone and TV presenter Tony Armstrong. It centres on a fictionalised version of Armstrong as a television personality caught in “the ethical tug-of-war of lending his name to dodgy social media content brand deals”.
The Killings: Parrish Station: Described as a cosmic mystery intertwined with horror, this six-part series follows a gruesome massacre at a remote research station. It is being directed by Daniel Nettheim (The Tourist) and will screen on Stan, as well as being distributed internationally by ITV Studios.
2 Moons: A science-fiction drama set in Western Sydney exploring the lives of five “ordinary people” as they grapple with a potential apocalypse.
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