Is Netflix's Territory based on a true story?
The outback epic is available to stream now.
A host of Australian talent including Anna Torv, Michael Dorman and Sam Corlett are currently starring in Territory, a six-part Netflix epic about the battle to take control of the world's largest cattle ranch.
The series, which was created by Timothy Lee (Mystery Road, Bump) and Ben Davies (Bondi Rescue, The First Inventors, Outback Ringer), begins with the death of Daniel Lawson, the heir to Marianne Station, and follows the ensuing dogfight as external parties battle to take control.
But the Lawsons, for all of their determination, are a fractured group, with outsiders seeking to exploit their long-standing grievances and secrets for their own gain.
Speaking to GQ Australia about working on Territory, Corlett said: "The people involved, like Timothy Lee, the writer, dove in straight away.
"We spoke about our own experiences and family dynamics, and what we wanted to heal from our own family lines. And he was also an avid student of Shakespeare and the Arthurian myths, so it did feel like it was a story with that antiquity.
"I looked at Henry IV, and then also the Arthurian myths with the love triangle that went on with Sharnie, and me, and Rich.
"And then King Lear was very specific to [the relationship between] Robert [Taylor, who plays patriarch Colin Lawson] and Michael [Dorman, who plays his eldest son Graham Lawson]."
He added: "I'd never seen that kind of tapestry of myth and story told in a very grounded Australian way."
Territory is certainly not short of action, but is any of it rooted in reality? Read on to find out.
Is Netflix's Territory based on a true story?
While Territory is largely a work of fiction, one of the inspirations behind the show was Anna Creek Station, which is in northern South Australia, located 846km north of Adelaide.
Anna Creek is the world's largest station, covering 15,746 square kilometres and holding 17,000 cattle.
For context, it is the size of Belgium, and is more than seven times the size of the biggest ranch in the United States, Texas's King Ranch.
Speaking to Netflix, co-creator Ben Davies said that while he and executive producer Rob Gibson were enjoying a beach walk together during the pandemic, they "got excited about the prospect of doing a big-scale, high-stakes action drama set on a cattle station; in a part of the country you don't often see on screen".
"It was a complete contrast as we were surrounded by the Bondi crowd, people moving past us in their active wear, wet suits, carrying their surfboards, while Rob and I were dreaming up stories about people in jeans, boots, and flannel shirts in the Top End," he added.
Like Marianne Station, Anna Creek has also endured its fair share of drama – albeit in less explosive fashion.
In 2015, then Australian treasurer Scott Morrison, who went on to become prime minister, blocked the sale of the estate on which it stands, which was then owned by beef producer S Kidman & Co.
Two Chinese companies were locked in a bidding war, but because the land also sits inside a military weapons testing range, the sale was deemed against the national interest.
Fast-forward to April 2016 when a Chinese-owned consortium entered a bid to purchase the land, but the sale was blocked once again.
However, later that year, it was approved, with mining magnate Gina Rinehart, who is the richest person in Australia, entering into a joint venture with a Chinese real estate company.
But Anna Creek was not part of that deal, and was instead acquired by the Williams Cattle Company.
Sarah Parish, Mandip Gill and Alexandra Burke star in the gripping drama – and for a limited time, you can watch episode 1 on our website.
Territory is available to stream now on Netflix – sign up from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
