|
 On July 1, 2007, shooting started on
the all-star
13 part TV mini-series on Melbourne's gangland war and the rise and demise of
drug dealer and gangland serial killer Carl
Williams.
The program, hailed by pundits as Nine's
attempt to drag itself out of the television ratings doldrums, cost
$1 million per episode and has generated unprecedented hype for a drama
series.
Gyton
Grantley (right) needed to put on a few pounds to portray him.
Other actors with key
roles include Kat Stewart (Roberta Williams) and former Neighbours
star Madeleine West (Tony Mokbel's
partner Danielle McGuire).
Wogs out of Work star George Kapiniaris
plays lawyer George Deteros while Simon
Westaway plays Carlton
Crew elder Mick Gatto although the Age wrote
that he
offered to play himself in the series
— "for a fee".
Film and TV
veteran Gerard Kennedy ditched his Division
4 good guy image to play mobster Graham
Kinniburgh.
Scoring a role in Underbelly
was a big break for
former Heartbreak High and Home and Away regular
Callan (Mark Moran) Mulvey, who four years
before almost lost his life in a car crash.
 Vince
Colosimo
(left) plays Mick Gatto's Carlton Crew boss Alphonse
Gangitano who was shot dead in the laundry of
his Templestowe home 10 years ago.
Colosimo's credits include the
critically acclaimed Lantana and Chopper, while
Kevin (Lewis Moran) Harrington is best known for work in SeaChange and Neighbours
and The Dish.
The
Age also wrote that Gangitano
always wanted to be famous.
He based his life on the characters he
watched and worshiped in gangster movies, played
by actors such as Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and
Marlon Brando.
 He
even fantasised about Andy Garcia playing him in
a Hollywood blockbuster.
Always well presented in expensive suits,
Gangitano could be as chilling as he was
charming.
Dubbed the "Black Prince of Lygon
Street", he was fascinated with violence
and earned his reputation as a feared standover
man running protection rackets around Carlton
and the CBD.
While the private schoolboy turned notorious
criminal might not have lived long enough to see
all his wishes granted, he certainly would not
be disappointed with Vince Colosimo's portrayal
of his life in Underbelly.
 Undrbelly
took four months to film, the shoot taking place
in locations made infamous by real-life events.
The series was shot at more than 150 Melbourne locations, without once
heading inside a studio.
A day on set attended by The Age showed
the murder of Williams' drug rival Jason
Moran (right) and his bodyguard Pasquale Barbaro, which occurred
during a children's football clinic in 2003.
It was filmed where they were
killed, in the car park of the Cross Keys Hotel in Essendon North, echoing
the television reports and newspaper photographs of the day.
Carl Williams told the
Supreme Court in April 2007 that a brutal attack in 1999, when he was
shot in the stomach by Jason
Moran, sent two underworld
factions spinning into a series of bloody paybacks that eventually
cost at least 27 lives.
Williams confessed to arranging the
murder of Jason Moran and Barbaro and also admitted ordering the murder
of Jason's father Lewis Moran as part of his revenge on the Moran family.
Lewis Moran was shot dead in 2004 as
he drank at the Brunswick Club.
A third murder charge against
Williams, the shooting of Jason's half-brother Mark Moran
in 2000, was dropped.
 The Age wrote that Underbelly provides a
realistic re-enactment of the city's gangland feud between 1995 and
2004, which claimed more than 30 lives.
Script writers Greg Haddrick, Peter Gawler and Felicity Packard have
used dramatic licence to introduce characters, shift timelines and reduce
Victoria Police's specially created Purana gangland taskforce to a handful
of people, on the evidence of the first two episodes shown to the media.
Searing violence and some well-placed jokes remind the viewers they are
not watching a documentary, while several cast members playing underworld
identities — particularly Grantley — would struggle in a line-up
against the real thing, if he wasn't already locked away for 35 years.
Martin Sacks, who
grew a moustache to play
Mario Condello, believes Underbelly will pack a
punch.
"The show is
full of extraordinarily colourful characters, so
it should make for great viewing," Sacks
said at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre, which
was being used to film court scenes.
 On July 5,
2007, the Herald Sun reported that a lawyer who
gave up his practising certificate after being
charged with conspiracy to murder feared Underbelly
would kill his hopes of getting it back.
George
Defteros (left), who surrendered his practising certificate after being
charged with conspiracy to murder and incitement to murder three crime
figures, including Carl Williams, says he
would re-apply for his certificate when he was psychologically fit enough.
It had been three years since he practised
law.
The Director of Public Prosecutions dropped the charges against Mr Defteros.
But Mr Defteros was worried Underbelly
would undermine his bid to practise again.
"I'm concerned I will be portrayed as
some sort of mover and shaker in the underworld," he said.
"I don't want to be portrayed as some
sort of gangland stooge.
"I'm simply a criminal lawyer who
acted in the interests of my clients. I want to go back to the law one
day."
Mr Defteros said he had met the producers and they tried to alleviate his concerns, but he had hired a
defamation lawyer to seek further advice.
He said he would act to stop the series if
he believed it linked him to the underworld.
"I will be consulting with my lawyer
who will be writing to the producers and will be acting on advice,"
he said.
"If necessary, I will seek and obtain
appropriate relief in the Supreme Court of Victoria.
"I will do whatever it takes to
protect my family name and my children's name in the future."
Mr Defteros was suing his former business
partner, Peter Pryles, and some media organisations.
 Underbelly executive producer Des
Monaghan said: "We will present the facts as we understand them.
Obviously, anything we do will meet the requirements of the law."
Mr Defteros said many lawyers and some
police had supported him.
"I hope to be in a position to return
to full-time practice in my own right."
After former client Mario Condello was
killed, Mr Defteros upgraded his home's security fearing for his life.
He said he had post traumatic stress
disorder after losing his practice and being financially ruined. To resume
his career he will have to be approved by the Legal Services Board.
Mr Defteros' former clients include Tony
Mokbel and underworld war victims Lewis
Caine, Mario Condello, Graham
"The Munster" Kinniburgh and Alphonse
Gangitano.
 On
September 19, 2007, the Herald Sun
reported that "gangster divorcee
"Roberta Williams
had turned
up at the set of Underbelly,
searching for the actor who would play
her.
Kat
Stewart (right) was not on set that day, but
it had been rumoured Williams -- the
former wife of serial killer Carl
Williams (played by Gyton Grantley) --
wanted to give her a few tips on
gangland life.
Williams,
a convicted drug trafficker herself, apparently stumbled upon the western
suburbs set of Underbelly
the previous month, and asked
to be let in, but left without
argument when told that filming was
closed.
It was
believed other underworld people
portrayed in the series have also
visited the set.
Stewart
declined to comment on Williams'
impromptu visit, but said she felt the
pressure of playing a real person.
"In
terms of meaty scripts and a rich
full-blooded character, it doesn't get
much better than this," she said.
"Roberta
Williams is a dream role. It's a huge
responsibility to do justice to
her."
Underbelly was championed by
Eddie McGuire long before the 1 vs
100 host became the short-lived
chief executive of the Nine Network.
Now contracted to the network, but not
currently on air, Mr McGuire could not
be contacted yesterday to confirm
speculation he had helped Mick
Gatto see early episodes of the
series.
The Age understood the
first will screen at 8.30pm on Sunday
February 10, the time-slot after 60
Minutes. The date is the first day
of official 2008 ratings.
And while the bullets and the blood
featured in the mini-series might not
be real, police were always on set
during filming.
After all, they were among the only
people left who could detail how the
bloodshed unfolded.
Some of the
criminals are in jail and will not be
stopped from watching the series by
Corrections Victoria, unless they have
lost their privileges.
Most of the
others are dead.
On January 17, 2008, the Herald
Sun reported it had seen the two instalments of Underbelly
and, while the story is a melting pot
of true events, the acting is most
convincing.
Underbelly is a slick,
violent and sexually charged
dramatisation backed by a ripping
soundtrack.
It was always going to be difficult
to condense 10 years of gang warfare
into 13 one-hour episodes.
That task has been handled with
aplomb, despite some questionable
scripting of police procedure and some
coincidental events necessary to keep
the narrative flowing.
It's fair to say the real Carl
Williams won't be happy with his
portrayal during the first two
episodes, which revolve around the
rise and fall of Alphonse
Gangitano and the workings of the
secretive Carlton Crew.
Though it will no doubt change as
the series progresses, Gyton Grantley
plays Williams as a scheming moron who
starts out as the "fat boy"
driver for half-brothers Mark and
Jason Moran.
Stand-out performances come from
Gerard Kennedy, as Graham
"The Munster" Kinniburgh,
and Callan Mulvey, who plays Mark
Moran with understated menace.
Strong female characters are few in
the first two episodes.
But just as there is a menagerie of
criminal characters still to be
introduced, hardened and sexy women --
along with dogged detectives -- are
destined to become mainstays as well.
On January 26, 2008, the Herald
Sun reported that production of Underbelly
had been disrupted by lawyer George
Defteros, who the previous day had
threatened a Supreme Court writ.
Defteros is a central figure in the
13-part TV drama due to hit the
screens the following month.
The series was expected to focus on
his relationship with Alphonse
Gangitano.
Mr Defteros engaged top Melbourne
defamation specialist Stewart Gibson.
"Any attempt to depict me as a
lawyer of low impropriety and
unethical behaviour will be met with
legal proceedings instituted by my
lawyers," Mr Defteros said.
"I regard the depiction of the
gangland wars, in particular my role
as a lawyer acting for parties, as
nothing more than farcical and pure
pantomine. We'll be watching it very
closely."
A Nine spokeswoman said there would
now be no direct reference to Mr
Defteros, despite earlier publicity to
the contrary.
"There is no lawyer called
Defteros in Underbelly," Michelle
Stamper said.
But Mr Defteros said he could still
be defamed by implication.
"It's already been advertised
as me," he said.
Mr Defteros also took aim at the
actor who will portray him, George
Kapiniaris of Wogs out of Work fame.
"It is absurd to suggest that
an actor with a comical background
such as George Kapiniaris could have
any appreciation of the legal
obligations and very real stresses
involved in representing people who
have been charged with extremely
serious criminal offences," he
said.
 On
January 20, 2008, the Sunday Herald Sun reported that underworld
matriarch Judy Moran had delivered her verdict on Underbelly: It's rot.
But she applauded the depiction of Carl Williams as a dim-witted "fat boy"
driver.
"They got that right - he seems the
village idiot and that is what he is," Ms Moran said.
Violent scenes depicting her family in
brutal bar brawls and her son Jason's cold-blooded shooting murder of
family friend Alphonse Gangitano were "disgusting lies", she
said.
Ms Moran's husband Lewis and two sons,
Mark and Jason, were among the 27 people killed during Melbourne's
bloody underworld slayings.
She said the series, which airs next
month, painted an inaccurate picture of what was once a "loving,
caring family".
"To me it's just all too fictitious
and stupid," Ms Moran said.
"As a mother I feel sick. I'm deeply
offended. I'm worried for Jason's children. How are they going to think
of their father . . . as a murderer?"
Mrs Moran said she was considering legal
action.
"I haven't had advice , but I can
assure you I will seek it," she said.
On
January 15, 2008, the Herald Sun
reported a court had heard that Underbelly
made it hard for Carl
Williams' former wife Roberta to get
"closure".
Roberta
was
spared
a
stint
behind
bars
for
pleading
guilty
to
a
string
of
driving
offences,
after
her
lawyer
told
the
court
Williams
was
affected
by
the
soon-to-be
aired
series.
"It
is
difficult
for
her
to
put
the
past
behind
her
and
move
on
with
her
life,''
lawyer
Theo
Magazis
told
Melbourne
Magistrates
Court.
"It
is
difficult
for
her
to
put
the
past
behind
her
and
move
on
with
her
life,''
lawyer
Theo
Magazis
told
Melbourne
Magistrates
Court.
Mr
Magazis
said
the
television
show
was
about
Williams'
family
and
she
"has
to
deal
with
that
on
almost
a
daily
basis
and
it
makes
it
difficult
to
have
closure''.
The
court
heard
the
mother-of-three
was
on
a
pension,
received
an
income
of
about
$485
a
week
and
suffered
anxiety
and
depression.
He
told
the
court
that
his
client
had
suffered
emotionally
in
the
past
two
years
as
the
result
of
being
evicted
from
her
family
home
and
the
deaths
of
her
mother
and
sister.
"She
was
evicted
from
her
family
home
in
Essendon
last
year,"
Mr
Magazis
said.
"She
is
someone
who
has
overcome
some
significant
personal
difficulties
over
the
past
12
months."
He
also
told
the
court
that
as
well
as
caring
for
her
own
children
aged
six,
14
and
16,
Williams
also
had
some
responsibility
for
the
children
of
her
sister,
Sharon,
who
died
from
cancer
in
November
last
year.
Williams
was
sentenced
to
a
two-month
prison
term,
fully
suspended
for
a
year,
after
police
twice
caught
her
driving
without
a
valid
licence
in
April
and
May
2006.
Williams
also
had
her
drivers'
licence
suspended
for
one
month
and
was
fined
$700
as
she
also
admitted
to
driving
25km/h
above
the
speed
limit
in
a
100km/h
zone,
diverging
left
without
signalling,
using
a
mobile
phone
while
driving
and
failing
to
inform
Vic
Roads
that
she
had
changed
address.
She
had
pleaded
guilty
to
six
driving
charges.
In
sentencing
Magistrate
Elizabeth
Lambden
said
she
took
into
account
Williams'
circumstances
but
said
the
speeding
change
was
an
aggravating
factor.
Williams,
who
was
dressed
in
jeans,
a
white
cardigan
and
a
blue
and
white
T-shirt,
did
not
comment
to
the
media
as
she
left
the
court.
On
February 6, 2008, the Herald
Sun
reported
that
the future of
Underbelly could be
decided by last-minute legal proceedings.
The Director of Public Prosecutions,
Jeremy Rapke, QC, had secured an urgent viewing of the series before he
decided whether to seek an injunction stopping its broadcast in
Victoria.
A Supreme Court judge called prosecutors
and defence lawyers together after serious concerns were raised about
whether the show could prejudice a jury for the trial of a man
who has pleaded not guilty to a gangland killing.
"I believe (the judge) is aware of
the concerns," a source familiar with the case said.
Although the accused is not named in Underbelly there were concerns the
show could hurt his chance of a fair trial.
"We have a trial starting. We want
to pick a jury and begin that trial. My view is that the courts run the
system, not Channel 9," a lawyer for the accused told the Herald
Sun.
A DPP spokesman would not comment on the proceedings.
"The Director has not yet had an
opportunity to preview the program, and as such is not yet in a position
to comment as to whether he would consider seeking an injunction in
relation to any or all of the program," he said.
"This position may alter after the
Director has previewed the program. He hopes to preview some of the
program shortly."
Use of images of Tony Mokbel
also
caused worries. The bail-jumping drug dealer's face is to be obscured
and references to his name removed, to be replaced with the identity Mr
B.
Broadcasts in other states and
territories will not be altered.
Lawyer Mirko Bagaric said that the producers of
Underbelly needed to be careful to stay with proven facts.
"If it is untested evidence, that
could subject them to contempt of court proceedings," Mr Bagaric
said.
Producer Screentime's executive director,
Des Monaghan, has refused to say whether last-minute legal advice had
prompted the need for any further editing of the program.
"I just don't comment on legal
speculation," he said.
Mr Monaghan would not be drawn on
speculation that the pending extradition of Mr Mokbel would require a
rethink on how he was portrayed in the drama to avoid prejudicing his
trial.
On February
8, 2008, the first local screening of Underbelly
was cancelled on legal advice.
The opening episode was set to screen at a roof-top cinema in St
Kilda, but was pulled by Nine.
The network had been issued with a
subpoena by a Supreme Court judge to produce all episodes of the series
to lawyers acting in a forthcoming murder trial.
Supreme Court Justice Betty King was to weigh Underbelly's potential impact on the trial jury and
demanded the episodes just two days before its scheduled
premiere.
The managing director of Australian Open
Air Cinemas, Alex Khadra-Bosse, said that before the cancellation, the
network had arranged for several stars of the production
to attend the screening.
A network spokeswoman said the decision
was prudent due to court proceedings. However, the show's first episodes
had already been widely seen. Journalists, media buyers, police and
gangland matriarch Judy Moran were among those who had viewed the
series.
On February 11, 2008,
the Age reported that the Underbelly series remained under threat of not airing in Victoria after
a Supreme Court hearing failed to resolve the legal
controversy.
Prosecution and defence lawyers had been
given 24 hours to view the series and return to court the following day to tell a judge if the series
had the potential to affect a forthcoming
murder trial.
Lawyers acting for the network
handed over DVD copies of Underbelly after
a subpoena had been issued against the station's general manager.
When the hearing resumed before Justice
Betty King, the accused murderer's solicitor, Anthony Brand, applied to
adjourn the trial for three months. The accused murderer could not be
named.
Mr Brand said the material in Underbelly
and in a recent republished book, prejudiced his client's position.
Justice King told Mr Brand that his
application meant he would choose not to view the series, yet the trial
would proceed at a later date.
After a short adjournment, Mr Brand
resubmitted his adjournment application and told Justice King he could
not give her an undertaking that when the trial was relisted he would
not apply for a permanent stay of the prosecution against his client on
the grounds of possible prejudicial material in Underbelly.
While the Director of Public
Prosecutions, Jeremy Rapke, QC, was prepared to agree to an adjournment,
senior prosecutor Geoffrey Horgan, SC, said that concession would be
withdrawn unless Mr Brand agreed not to make a permanent stay
application.
Mr Brand refused to give that
undertaking.
After Brendan Murphy, QC, for Nine,
produced the 13 DVD episodes of Underbelly,
Justice King - who said she would try to view some herself - ordered the
parties to reappear at 9am the following day.
On
February 12, 2008, the decision was
made to ban Underbelly from
airing in Victoria until after the
trial of the man accused of murdering
a gangland figure.
Justice
King issued the extraordinary
suppression order after the Office of
Public Prosecutions applied for
broadcast to be delayed on the grounds
of prejudice.
Channel 9 lawyers were in the process
of lodging papers in the Court of
Appeal and applied for an urgent
hearing.
The series was put off in Victoria indefinitely.
The Nine Network was also ordered to pull Underbelly character
profiles from its website, and was banned from placing any episodes on
the internet in Victoria.
The show was not expected to be aired in Victoria before May.
She made her decision during a
preliminary hearing in Geelong.
Justice King said the conversations in the drama would largely be
"a figment of someone's imagination".
"It will be difficult for the viewing public to sift through
what is factual material and what is fictional," she said.
"The series explains to a large degree why the person was
murdered.
"That is really what is the subject for the trial."
The judge said the accused man could be worse off if the murder trial
proceeded after Underbelly had been broadcast.
"What I may be faced with is a permanent stay . . . that the
trial could no longer proceed because of this television series,"
the judge said.
"I do not wish to be the one to stop this program . . . but this
is commercial television, it is not the news, it is not about people's
right to know, it is about the criminal justice system."
Justice King, who watched 12 of the 13
episodes, said it depicted details relevant to the case, making it
impossible for the accused murderer to get a fair trial.
The judge said it would be difficult for
potential jurors to erase the "graphic and compelling" show
from their minds.
Justice King told the court, sitting at
Geelong, that the program would give potential jurors a part-fact,
part-fiction background to the trial.
"The conversations are not
necessarily based upon fact, some are . . . others are of course the
figment of the writer's imagination, however, that may not be at all
clear to the viewing public," Justice King said.
"This is not the reporting of an
event, this is a television series made for entertainment.
"In my view it is more important
that the criminal justice system works than this channel make a
profit."
Justice King said the series could also
affect the future trials of convicted drug baron Tony
Mokbel.
Mokbel's solicitor, Mirko Bagaric, said
Nine was reckless for trying to screen a show about unfinished criminal
cases.
"If the series is aired in Victoria,
then certainly the manner in which Mokbel is depicted could be grounds
to argue that he could no longer get a fair trial in Victoria," Mr
Bagaric said.
Brendan Murphy, QC, for Nine, said a potential court order could
create logistical difficulties for the network.
It became widely accepted that with modern day DVD recorders making it easy for
people to upload TV shows to the net, the first episode of the series
would be available to watch online at some stage
one the evening of its premiere or early
the following day at sites such as
mininova.org. This highly illegal
practice of piracy would serve as some solace to those Victorians keen on
watching the dramatisation of Melbourne's gangland war after its
screening in the state was banned by the Supreme Court. Channel
9 and an estimated one million Victorians viewers had been thrown into
turmoil by a Supreme Court judge's decision to ban the show.
TV sources said Nine had spent in the
vicinity of $500,000 in marketing the show and millions of dollars in
advertising revenue were in jeopardy.
Nine decided to replace the banned screening of Underbelly
in Victoria with the Oscar winning prison film, The Shawshank
Redemption, starring Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins.
The network has not decided on a
replacement series for Underbelly in Victoria.
And a lawyer for Carl
Williams, serving a
minimum 35 years for three gangland murders, said his appeal might be
prejudiced if the series aired on Victorian screens.
The Underbelly suppression order
has derailed, in the short term, Nine's bold campaign to win back lost
viewers, pride and revenue.
Nine last year lost the overall ratings
to Channel 7 for the first time in almost 30 years, and had now slumped
to third position in advertising revenue.
Mitchells Communication Group executive
chairman Harold Mitchell said yesterday the ban would cut deeply.
"There is a financial burden in that
they were selling it at their highest price of about $40,000 for a
30-second (ad) and any replacement program wouldn't be the same value,
so they'd be looking at compensation," Mr Mitchell said.
"Over the period of the campaign
they would have expected to get around $3 million and $4 million in
revenue, and that now is in jeopardy."
Nine's marketing losses could be huge.
Billboard advertising costs up to $100,000 each. A tram emblazoned with Underbelly
advertising is valued at about $60,000.
 On
February 22, 2008, the Herald Sun reported that Channel 9 was conducting
an internal investigation over how copies of Underbelly had been
leaked on to the black market.
The Herald Sun had been
told network bosses in Melbourne want
to know how episodes of the 13-part
series got into the hands of some of
the underworld players portrayed in
the series and the general public.
A Channel 9 source said staff had been
questioned over bootleg copies in circulation. A spokeswoman for the
station said two people had been questioned and denied making any copies
available.
She said only those involved in
programming or selling the series were entitled to view episodes and
Nine was not fearful of contempt charges.
"No (we're not fearful), but whoever
is operating a black market should be. Nine continues to abide by the
court order," she said.
Roberta Williams said she received nine episodes of the
series from a friend.
She received them before the series was
aired interstate, and she believed they were not pirates because they
were complete with Underbelly
promotional labels.
She said she had no intention of passing
on the copies. "I don't want anyone to see Underbelly. But
people are saying to me they've got copies. It seems like everyone has."
On
February 26, 2008, it was reported that Tony Mokbel's Greek
lawyers were expected to argue next week that the controversy surrounding
Underbelly was further evidence the convicted
drug trafficker will be unable to get a fair trial in Melbourne.
But with at least three gangland murder trials yet to run, the
Underbelly series may not be broadcast in Victoria until mid-2009.
Mokbel, facing two underworld murder charges, may be back in
Australia within a month if his March 4 appeal against extradition from
Greece fails.
If extradited, Mokbel will face a committal hearing and possibly two
trials that will not be heard for at least a year.
The current Victorian suppression order imposed by Justice Betty King
against the airing of Underbelly in Victoria relates to one
trial only, which is expected to be concluded by the end of April.
But prosecutors and lawyers, including those involved in the Mokbel
murder case, will consider seeking extended injunctions against the TV
show until all gangland prosecutions are concluded.
A third gangland trial is not scheduled to begin until the second
half of this year.
Director of Public Prosecutions Jeremy Rapke, QC, declined to comment
on whether he would seek further injunctions against Underbelly but has
indicated his opposition to the series adversely affecting a trial that
begins on March 31.
Mirko Bagaric, Mokbel's lawyer who represented him in the original
Greek extradition hearing, said appeal lawyers could use Underbelly's
pending broadcast to bolster arguments he could not get a fair trial in
Victoria.
On
February 29, 2008, it was reported that the
Nine Network claimed a judge was wrong to stop Underbelly
from showing in Victoria, appealing to show at least two episodes.
Nine Network lawyer Ron Merkel, QC, told
the Victorian Court of Appeal the broadcaster should have been
allowed to show at least the first two episodes of the series, which is
based on Melbourne's gangland war.
Nine was appealing against a suppression order placed on the series by
Supreme Court Justice Betty King, which bans the
transmission, publication, broadcast and exhibition of Underbelly in
Victoria.
Mr Merkel told the court Justice King
erred in her decision to place a blanket ban on the screening of the
entire Underbelly series in Victoria.
He argued that her decision was based on
viewing only two edited episodes of the series and another 10 unedited
episodes.
"(It was) an erroneous idea by
putting a blanket ban," Mr Merkel told the court.
"What was being looked at was
unedited versions, not what was going to be screened.
"What her honour was looking at was
not the final broadcast."
Mr Merkel said the Nine Network should
have been able to at least screen the first two episodes of Underbelly.
"What possible way could episodes
one and two impede on a fair trial?" he said.
"The first two episodes were about
events 10 years ago.
"Channel Nine should be able to
publish any part of the series that does not have the potential to
prejudice any part of the trial."
The appeal is continuing before Chief
Justice Marilyn Warren and Justices Frank Vincent and Murray Kellam.
On
March 2, 2008, that Herald Sun reported that Danielle McGuire had seen some of
Underbelly on the internet from her home in Athens.
Mokbel's legal team plans to use the
series as part of its argument at the Supreme Court in Athens this week
against his extradition.
Lawyer Alexander Lykourezos said he
hadn't seen the series, but had talked about it to Ms McGuire, who had
seen some footage.
He said the show added weight to argument
it was impossible for Mokbel to have a fair trial in Australia.
On
March 3, 2008, the Age reported that he possibility of the Underbelly
series being shown in Victoria
before the start of an underworld murder trial that month was in the
hands of three Court of Appeal judges.
Ron Merkel, QC, for Nine,
wrapped
up the network's view that Justice King had been wrong to apply a
blanket ban to all 13 episodes of the series, which has begun screening
in other states.
Mr Merkel said Nine should be be allowed
to show the first three episodes this month, saying the beginning of the
series provided "background and atmosphere" and did not depict
events that could prejudice the upcoming trial.
Nine abandoned a move to use Victoria's
newly created Charter of Human Rights to fight Justice King's decision
on the grounds of free speech.
A judgement will be handed down at a date
to be set.
On
March 5, 2008, the Herald Sun reported
that although he 'dresses, speaks and
looks like an extra out of The
Sopranos',
Tony
Mokbel was furious his life has been
made into a Channel 9 drama.
Mokbel said the Underbelly drama had ensured
he could never get a fair trial in Victoria.
His family
was believed to have seen the show.
Mokbel was particularly furious his
partner Danielle McGuire was also featured in the series.
On March 9, 2008, it was reported that Roberta Williams wanted to knock actor Kat Stewart's lights out when she first
saw her portrayal on Underbelly, but now just feels sorry for
her.
And she said the underworld drama should have used such a better-looking
baby to portray her daughter.
"My sympathies go out to you Kat
because you've made a fool of yourself," Ms Williams said.
"You should have turned it back,
love."
Williams said she first saw red
about the over-the-top shrill portrayal.
"At first I was a bit hurt by the
whole thing. I thought if I ever see her I'd grab her by the throat and
knock her out," she said.
"She should be ashamed of herself
putting on that stupid voice.
"I think it's a ridiculous comedy.
It's stupid. It's like she's a fan of Kath & Kim. I feel
sorry for her,'' she said.
"But that poor girl's been given a
piece of paper to read."
Ms Williams also had complaints about a
younger cast member.
"I love all kids, but my Dhakota is
a glamour. She's the next Megan Gale," she said.
"That baby . . . they could have
picked a nicer looking child."
Ms Williams has lost her house, buried
her sister and fought serious illness since Carl was jailed.
 She said Gyron Gantley was too creepy to
be an accurate portrayal of Carl, but the actor playing Andrew Veniamin
(played by Damian Walshe-Howling pictured right) was spot on.
She hit out at the portrayal of her as
popping ecstacy and canoodling with Veniamin.
"Yes lots of us have tried various
drugs (but) I have never taken an ecstacy in my whole life," she
said. "Do people f--- their brothers? Because that's what Andrew
was like to me."
Stewart, who plays Roberta, said she
regarded the role as a huge responsibility.
"Starting any job is always daunting
but this was particularly so," Stewart said.
"We like to think the real people,
if they are still around, will understand that this is not a
documentary, it is a dramatisation and we are just actors."
Kestie Morassi, who plays foxy lawyer to
the underworld Zarah Garde Wilson, said she regarded her character as an
enigma.
"She is a lawyer so you want to
tread really carefully and they did," she said.
"What I had to work with was the
fact she was a woman in love and fell desperately in love with the wrong
guy."
Morassi said she found the role difficult
"for lots of different reasons, most of which I can't say".
Ms Garde Wilson, who is still fighting to
keep her practising certificate, did not comment.
On March 17, 2008 the Herald Sun reported that the hype surrounding the Victorian airing of Underbelly could soon fade, as all 13 episodes of the gangland drama are now available online.
Despite court orders forbidding the gangland drama's broadcast in Victoria because of an underworld murder trial, viewers can now get access to all episodes via file-sharing internet sites.
While episodes 1-9 have been readily available online and on the streets for some time, share-site Mininova is now offering episodes 10-13 for download, allowing fans access to the complete series before an episode has hit Victorian television.
The availability of the drama, which cost about $1 million an episode to produce, could be a costly blow for Nine.
A Nine spokesperson said the network would not comment while the matter was before the courts.
As well as the prospect of serious copyright charges, those making Underbelly copies risk prosecution for breaching a Supreme Court suppression order banning broadcast in Victoria.
The previous week, police seized dozens of pirated episodes in a major counterfeit DVD bust in Sunshine North. The DVDs carried Underbelly episodes 1-9.
In court, Nine's legal team has suggested that if the Court of Appeal rules in its favour, the first two episodes could be aired in Victoria before the start of the impending gangland murder trial.
On March 16, 2008, Tony Mokbel's Greek lawyer said his client not receive a fair trial here due to the TV series Underbelly.
Mokbel could be back in Australia within months to face trial for murder after he lost his appeal against his extradition in Greece's highest court.
His lawyer Yannis Vlachos said Mokbel would not receive a fair trial due to the Nine Network's series.
"There is a violation of his right for a fair trial because of a TV series,'' Mr Vlachos told ABC Radio.
"It is a very, very, very, very, very, very, great violation of his rights.''
On
March 26, 2008, it was decided that Underbelly would not screen in Victoria after the Nine Network today lost a court fight.
The Court of Appeal upheld a Supreme Court judge's decision prohibiting the million production from airing in Victoria until after an approaching gangland murder trial.
Three judges ruled that it was open to Justice Betty King to decide that airing the program before and during the trial, for an accused killer who cannot be named, was a "serious risk of prejudice".
Chief Justice Marilyn Warren, and Justices Murray Kellam and Frank Vincent, dismissed Nine's appeal after a fast-tracked hearing held earlier in the month.
They took three weeks to made a decision after argument from Nine's legal team and the state's top prosecutor, Director of Public Prosecutions Jeremy Rapke QC, who supported the ban.
Ron Merkel, QC, for Nine, argued the court order would make criminals out of Victorians who accessed episodes through the interest.
He said Justice King was intent on banning episodes of the 13-part series that would not risk a fair trial.
Mr Merkel proposed that Nine would screen the first three episodes, which would not be prejudicial, and then left it up to the DPP to make submissions to the court on other episodes.
The judges today agreed with Mr Rapke that the proposal was unworkable and unacceptable.
They said it would be difficult to believe that Nine, who had help from police during the making the series, would not have been alerted to the upcoming trial.
The judges decided that pixilating faces and using anonymous names for some characters in the Victorian version, as offered by Nine's lawyers, would not stop a jury from recognising characters from the evidence put before them in the murder trial.
They agreed with Justice King that jurors would have difficulty separating fact from fiction.
"We have little doubt that the broadcasting of Underbelly in the weeks leading up and during the trial would create a series risk of prejudice to the conduct of a fair trial," the judgement said.
"The contemporaneous and graphic nature of the portrayal of the central figures in the trial, their relationships with each other and the relevance of these relationships to the alleged motive to murder...are the issues of most concern in this regard."
Justice King made the suppresion order, one of the most extraordinary in Victorian legal history, after concerns were raised by the DPP.
The judge ruled the justice system was more important than Nine's profits.
Justice King later strengthened the order so all Victorians - not only Nine - were banned from transmitting or exhibiting the program, after the DPP alerted her to a Melbourne pub that had broadcast the premiere to patrons via an interstate cable channel.
The appeal judges today ruled that the second order was too wide and unnecessary, and reworded the broadcast ban so it applied only to Channel Nine and not to "every person in Victoria".
They accepted the court did not have the power to "bind the world" by a suppression order.
The Victorian ban robbed Nine of a certain national ratings record on the premiere night last month. The two-hour debut achieved a national audience average of 1.32 million in the capital cities.
Nine's lawyers and the DPP did not comment outside court.
Victorians will now miss out on what the rest of Australia is already watching, at least until after the trial.
The three Court of Appeal judges handed down their decision today after a suppression order placed on the series by Justice King on February 15.
|
