The Hollowmen
The Hollowmen is an Australian television comedy series set in the offices of the Central Policy Unit, a fictional political advisory unit personally set up by the Prime Minister to help him get re-elected. Their brief is long term vision; to stop worrying about tomorrow's headlines, and focus on next week's. The Hollowmen was first broadcast on Wednesday, 9 July 2008, on ABC1. Each series comprises six half-hour episodes. On the eve of the first episode's national premiere, the series was approved by the ABC for a second series. The second series was screened right after the first, beginning on 13 September 2008. The comedy-drama satire is produced by Working Dog Productions, which was also responsible for Frontline, The Panel and Thank God You're Here. The music used during the opening credits is an edited instrumental version of the 1987 song "North by North" by New Zealand band The Bats. A special one-off presentation of The Hollowmen was created by Working Dog and played at Parliament House in Canberra on 11 March 2009, in support of the ABC's funding bid for 2009-12.
A scandal with a Junior Minister and poor fashion sense leads to a "blippy dip" in the PMs public image. Murph handles a government crackdown whilst Tony tackles pin-stripes and French cuffs.
Tired of opening other people's buildings, the Prime Minister dreams of leaving his own architectural legacy.
Pressure mounts on the Government to fund an expensive new pill, despite evidence that it may not be worth funding at all.
The PM's plans to increase spending on national security run into trouble when the Department starts talking about cost-cutting. Meanwhile the Unit ends up exploiting some eager High School students who have won a trip to Canberra.
Global warming is hot on the agenda with the Unit taking up the government's new 'carbon challenge'. But a blindsighted promise to raise emission standards with China may cause some serious problems for international relations.
As Christmas approaches the Unit realize that things are looking a little quiet for the Prime Minister. Media opportunities must be found before the new year.
After a radio interview turns into a talk back session where the topic of obesity comes up, the Prime Minister's team of advisers has to deliver the goods after the Prime Minister is accused of always looking into it but never doing anything. He declares that he will soon announce some new measures to tackle the problem. Fine tuning the new measures becomes coming up with some ideas from scratch.
The planned publication of a report on the selection criteria for overseas diplomatic postings threatens to derail the plans to appoint a long standing and demanding senator as ambassador to anywhere but here.
When conflict breaks out overseas, the Central Policy Unit must find a way to intervene without hurting the international relationships. Murph quickly finds that there is a lot of talk, but not much action.
The Prime Minister is worried that his soon to be released budget lacks excitement. The Unit are called in to come up with something suitably impressive.
After a visit to a military base goes wrong the Prime Minister becomes concerned that not enough people are joining the armed forces. The Unit are asked to solve the problem.
With many Australians struggling to find a home, a report into the cost of maintaining Kirribilli House looks set to prove embarrassing for the Prime Minister. How can the Central Policy Unit justify his continued use of this "luxury weekender"?
Plot of this episode is not specified yet. Please check back later for more update.
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| Language | English |
| Release | 2008-07-09 |
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