Channel Ten has surprised Offspring fans by announcing its much-loved relationship drama starring Asher Keddie will be back for a sixth season in 2016 after all.
Keddie, who plays obstetrician Dr Nina Proudman, and Kat Stewart, who plays her sister Billie, have both been signed by Ten to reprise their roles. However, none of the other cast members have been confirmed yet.
Offspring debuted in 2010 and its devoted audience was devastated when series five ended and the storylines were tied up in August 2014. Nina said to her one-year-old daughter on her birthday: “Yes, Zoe, this is your family. And it’s always going to be like this”.
However, series creator and head writer, Debra Oswald, who also worked on shows The Secret Life of Us and Police Rescue, has said she will not be involved in the sixth season.
Offspring was not on Ten’s schedule for 2015 and Keddie had moved on to another role in Ten drama Party Tricks.
But the political drama based in Victorian state parliament, was a flop and a second series was not commissioned.
“It was no secret that we wanted to continue Nina’s adventures and we are thrilled to announce that Offspring will return to Ten for a sixth season in 2016,” chief programming officer, Beverley McGarvey, said on Sunday.
“There are so many more chapters left in Nina’s life. We paused her story just as she had bravely navigated motherhood as a single parent rediscovering the joy and romance of life, while dealing with her fabulously messy family as they went about their unpredictable daily lives.
“The strength and appeal of Offspring lies in the ability of its producers and writers to marry conventional narrative drama with flashbacks and fantasy sequences. We can’t wait to start production on the sixth season.
“We are very proud of everything that Offspring has achieved and we are very excited about bringing the new season to all Australians.”
Offspring is made by Endemol Shine Australia for Network Ten.
Endemol CEO Mark Fennessy said: “We’re enormously proud of this beautifully- crafted drama by the very fabulous John Edwards and Imogen Banks. Offspring is universally loved and we’re delighted to continue the story.”
The production is expected to cost Ten more this time around because once a show has surpassed 65 episodes it no longer qualifies for a Screen Australia rebate, making it 20% more expensive.
But Ten is enjoying renewed success, with improved ratings for both MasterChef Australia and The Bachelor Australia this year.
Keddie, who is now a mother herself in real life, has won multiple awards including the Gold Logie for her performance in Offspring, which has also produced a Silver Logie for Stewart.
There may be as much as two years between series five and six but Ten has promised “Nina’s story and the story of her daughter Zoe, sister Billie, brother Jimmy, mother Geraldine and all her other family and friends is far from over”.
Late last year Edwards told Guardian Australia he had no plans for series six, but Ten always insisted it would return.
“We’re very busy with Gallipoli and another secret project,” Edwards said in October. “We’re developing scripts for Party Tricks and we’re well under way with the second series.”
