Janet King is an Australian television drama program which began airing on ABC1 from 27 February 2014. It was created as a spin-off from the 2011 legal drama Crownies. It follows the story of Senior Crown Prosecutor Janet King (Marta Dusseldorp), tracking her journey in Series 1 in the Department of Public Prosecutions to a Royal Commission into Serious Firearm Crime in Series 2 to the National Crime Commission in Series 3.
Various cast members who appeared alongside Dusseldorp in Crownies also appeared in Janet King. A number of new characters were also created. The show was commissioned for an eight part series and filming began in 2013. A second series aired from March 2016, and a third began in May 2017.
Production
Conception
Shortly before the final episode of the ABC1 legal drama Crownies was broadcast in November 2011, David Knox from TV Tonight reported that the series could continue in the form of a spin-off. The drama had suffered from modest ratings and mixed critical reviews during its 22-part run. ABC1 controller, Brendan Dahill explained "Crownies won't be coming back as Crownies. But we are talking to (producers) Screentime about a spin-off. There are lots of things I love about Crownies and lots of things that were done brilliantly, and I'm really proud of Crownies. I'm genuinely surprised it didn't engage a bigger audience than it did. Genuinely surprised. But I don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. There are plenty of brilliant things in it and we're talking to Screentime at the moment."
Dahill stated that the spin-off would not be season two of Crownies and that it would take the characters in different directions. He told Knox that there were certain elements of Crownies that worked well and he did not want to lose them because of poor ratings. He continued "So what Screentime have come up with is a really great compromise that allows us to keep the best bits, and learn and move on." Knox added that a spin-off is rare in Australian television drama, but not unprecedented. On 20 August 2012, ABC TV confirmed that it had commissioned the Crownies spin-off, Janet King. The series was billed as an 8-part legal and political thriller. Janet King was produced by Karl Zwicky, Jane Allen and Lisa Scott, with Hilary Bonney acting as story consultant. Greg Haddrick, Jane Allen, Kris Mrksa and Shaun Grant wrote the series.
Dahill said he was excited about Janet King and the fresh new direction it would take. Carole Sklan, ABC's Head of Fiction, commented "Screentime has developed an exciting drama series about the fabulous character, Janet King. The series looks at the dilemmas of a contemporary woman who returns to work after a year's maternity leave and is flung into a shocking prosecution that involves layers of intrigue played out at the highest levels of power. Janet King's case leads her through some astounding twists and revelations that impact on her life on every level." Screentime's Des Monaghan said that it had become clear to Screentime and the ABC that viewers had developed "a great deal" of affection for the character of Janet King and the cast of Crownies, so he was "delighted" that there would be a chance to build on that.
On 30 June 2015, it was announced that ABC had renewed Janet King for a second eight-part series. At the ASTRA Conference in September 2016, Dusseldorp confirmed four scripts for the third series had been written. The third series began airing from 25 May 2017, replacing Seven Types of Ambiguity. It focuses on organised crime in the sporting world, with Janet heading up a National Crime Commission investigation. Her former colleague Richard Stirling (Hamish Michael) is now a barrister for some of the athletes involved, while Owen Mitchell (Damian Walshe-Howling) has become the head of the DPP.
Casting
Anthony Soegito from If Magazine revealed that Marta Dusseldorp would return as Janet King, while many of the characters that became established on Crownies would also make appearances. These included; Hamish Michael (Richard Stirling), Ella Scott Lynch (Erin O'Shaughnessy), Andrea Demetriades (Lina Badir), Peter Kowitz (Tony Gillies), Christopher Morris (Andy Campbell), Indiana Evans (Tatum Novak), Jeanette Cronin (Tracey Samuels), Aimee Pedersen (Ashleigh Larsson) and Lewis Fitz-Gerald (David Sinclair). Knox revealed that Vince Colosimo had been cast as Chief Superintendent Jack Rizzoli, while Damian Walshe-Howling was cast as Owen Mitchell, a rising star prosecutor. John Howard, Sonia Todd, Jessica Napier, Deborah Kennedy and Tiriel Mora also have roles in the series. Todd Lasance and Daniel Lissing did not reprise their respective roles as Ben McMahon and Conrad De Groot.