21 02 2022 - Media release

New Australian drama series Safe Home announced for SBS

Safe Home writers Jean Tong, Anna Barnes, Michelle Law

SBS and Screen Australia are thrilled to announce the commission of a new four-part Australian drama series for 2022 – Safe Home.

Continuing SBS’s streak of critically acclaimed original dramas, Safe Home tells the story of Phoebe, a young woman working at a not-for-profit legal centre helping women escape domestic abuse, whose life gets turned upside down when she witnesses a murder on a suburban street.

From Imogen Banks, the award-winning producer of Offspring, Puberty Blues and RFDS, created by Anna Barnes, and written by Anna alongside Michelle Law and Jean Tong and co-producer Emelyne Palmer, this cleverly woven thriller takes viewers on a journey of twists and turns that will keep you spinning until the end. Family violence impacts across race, age and class, and this gripping series explores the stories we tell ourselves about this issue and how they influence our ability to see it in the cold light of day.

This is the first show from Imogen Banks new production company, Kindling Pictures.

SBS Head of Scripted Julie Eckersley said, “SBS thrives on telling bold stories that emotionally connect with audiences. Safe Home delivers on that vision in an incredibly exciting way. It is a compelling and suspenseful drama series that will engage your heart as well as your mind and make you question everything you think you know about family violence.”

Screen Australia’s Chief Executive Officer, Graeme Mason, said, “Anna Barnes is swiftly proving to be one of the country’s most talented stage and screen creatives and has crafted a compelling drama that will shine a light on the incredibly timely and important complexities of family violence. Working with award-winning producer Imogen Banks and writers Michelle Law and Jean Tong, Safe Home is set to be essential viewing.”

Production on Safe Home will commence in 2022 and will be filmed in Victoria. Cast announcements will follow in the coming months.

Safe Home is a Kindling Pictures production for SBS. Major production investment from Screen Australia in association with SBS. Banijay are managing international sales.

Safe Home will air on SBS in 2023.