The Emmy-nominated crime comedy Deadloch is back for a second season, swapping chilly Tasmania for the sticky Top End of Australia's Northern Territory. Created by Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan, the show retains its darkly comedic and wigged-out police procedural style, with a focus on crocodile tourism and its various entrepreneurial oddballs.
The series begins with a crocodile tour operator referencing a hit Australian horror film: 'So those missing Swedish backpackers did our boat tour and they left and they got Wolf Creeked.' When a dead croc is found with a human body part in its jaw, the official verdict deems it to be the remains of the missing backpacker. However, senior sergeant Dulcie Collins (Kate Box) soon debunks that theory, and she and her partner Eddie Redcliffe (Madeleine Sami) must discover the identity of both the dead human and the dead croc.
Eddie remains a thunderously loud, incongruous, decorum-breaking force of nature, whose dialogue is full of colourful language. Side characters include Abby (Nina Oyama), a sweet and naive young cop, and Leo (Jean Tong), a bored journalist. Steve Bisley joins the cast as Eddie's father Frank, who is loud and belligerent.
Directors Beck Cole and Gracie Otto bring verve and irreverence to the production, with a damp and queasy colour grading that adds to the show's grotesque atmosphere. While the whodunit element may not always grip, the weird and gluggy ambience makes for enjoyable viewing. The show is streaming globally on Amazon Prime Video from 20 March.
