australian television information archive

Tripping Over, a goodie

YOU'RE in your mid-twenties and the world is at your feet. You have big dreams and ambitions but things don't go according to plan. You never know what lies ahead. Sound familiar?

Tripping Over, a well-written, six-part series starring Daniel Macpherson, Brooke Satchwell and Rebecca Gibney is a must for the backpacker generation.

It follows five young people - three from London and two from Sydney - who form a bond after a tragedy during a one-night stop-over in Bangkok.

A blast leaves one person dead but also explodes the lives of those left behind with each of main players left to question their own lives.

Tripping Over is the result of a collaboration between Cold Feet's Mike Bullen and SeaChange producers Andrew Knight and Andrea Denholm.

"This is about that mid-twenties period in your life when you're finished with your youth and you've got another few years before paying off the mortgage and daytime television sets in," Knight says.

"Unknowingly, you make a series of decisions which actually shape the rest of your life and some are good and some are appalling. This is a story about just that. Woven through their stories are the lives of an older generation still living the mistakes of their twenties.

"We also wanted to get an older generation who remembered their twenties," he says.

"We wanted to do something that connected Australia and the UK and young people travelling. We devised a series that felt authentically Australian and British: that audiences in both Australia and the UK could identify with equally," Denholm adds.

Neighbours graduate Daniel Macpherson was ideally placed to star in the series with a large UK fan base courtesy of his role in The Bill.

There is no small irony in his role of Ned ­ an Australian soap star who goes to London to prove his worth as an actor.

He is more than ably supported by Abe Forsythe, who brings great charm to his role of Nic, while Rebecca Gibney and Lisa McCune also have small pivotal roles.

It also features British stars Alexander Moen (Foyle's War), Kathryn Drysdale (Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps) and Paul McGann (Hornblower).

Forsythe, 25, plays an emotionally accident-prone maths teacher on his way to London to surprise his girlfriend.

"Nic doesn't have regrets but it's more the incident that will affect him for the rest of his life. All the characters go through an enormous amount of growth by what happens,'' Forsythe says.

"But that's the appealing thing about this show. This makes any person reassess everything that has happened to them.

"I classify it as life. There are funny moments. Each of the characters have a different reason for going to the opposite ends of the world. Some of them have plans that are disrupted along the way. And that's partly the title of the show Tripping Over.

"But more fundamentally it's emotionally tripping over. You think you know what lies ahead then you fall over and question everything," he says.

Brooke Satchwell, who plays Nic's long-standing girlfriend Flick, agrees. "It's a very honest approach about life. When I first read the script, I questioned many things in my life. 'Where am I going? What do I want?"'

"There are moments of resolve, moments which are triumphant and moments which are devastating as they are in life. But you can't tell what is going to happen in your life.''

But it has not always been tough. Filmed in London, Sydney, Bangkok and Melbourne, Forsythe enjoys the travel as well as the work. "Travelling has been an amazing experience in itself."

"But I'd like to think that I'm a good enough actor to get any role I go for, but it always comes down to whether of not I'm appropriate to play that role."

By Helen Tsitouris
October 22, 2006
The Sunday Mail