The Australian drama showcases a part of the country rarely seen on screen.
As Australian drama series High Country starts airing on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, viewers will no doubt find that not only are they enthralled by the show’s central mystery, they are also captivated by its setting.
The series, which stars Leah Purcell (Wentworth Prison) as a city detective who is relocated to a small town in the Victorian Alps, features some stunning mountainous and rural Australian locations.
Ahead of the series being filmed, it was said that it would showcase “a region of Victoria rarely captured on screen with the epic, ancient landscape of conflicting mythologies and stark contrasts set to become a character itself”.
Alongside Purcell the series also stars Ian McElhinney (Game of Thrones), Sara Wiseman (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes) and Aaron Pedersen (Jack Irish). But just where is it set and where exactly did filming take place?
Read on for everything you need to know about the filming locations used for High Country.
Where is High Country set?
High Country is set in the real-life Victorian Alps in Australia, also known as the Victorian High Country.
However, the town its set in, Brokenridge, is not a real place, but is instead a fictional small town in the area, where Andie relocates to to become sergeant.
Where was High Country filmed?
High Country was filmed predominantly on location in the Victorian Alps, meaning the setting is authentically replicated.
The small town of Jamieson was a location that was particularly heavily featured, as it doubled as the fictional town of Brokenridge.
It was revealed in a feature by The Sydney Morning Herald that the production’s base camp was situated in a football field in Jamieson, and that as the rainy season set in towards the end of the shoot, the area would end up underwater.
The show was shot during Australia’s winter, with Purcell telling the publication: “It was minus 2 in one scene, and I said to the crew, ‘I hope you guys are f***ing getting this.’”
Filming for the series also took place in the town of Olinda, which is approximately a two-hour drive away from Jamieson.
Purcell spoke with Concrete Playground about the show’s location, explaining how different it is from what we usually see of Australia onscreen.
She said: “Normally it’s the reds and the brown and the heat. I fell in love with the high country when I did Jindabyne and Somersault in that area. And I just went ‘gee, we don’t utilise this landscape enough’.
“Then when I got the idea to pursue The Drover’s Wife, I said ‘we’ve got to do it in the high country and have that beautiful big sky, and the blues and the greens that we don’t see’. Even when I was selling the project overseas, people said ‘what, there’s snow and green in Australia?’. And I thought ‘yes, there is’.”
She continued: “It was one of the drawcards to High Country for me. And also because that landscape is so alive, it is a character within this show as well.
“It’s also important to Andie on a couple of levels. One, yes, as the detective, the sergeant trying to solve the mysteries — because is it just that these people took a wrong step on a trail in the bush? Or is there more behind it?
“And also for her and her journey, the land really speaks to her and makes her look at herself. You want a character with many story threads to it, so you’ve got depth to play in emotionally. So that was another drawcard. But the location, your eyes will be stimulated — the beauty in the landscape is just phenomenal.”
High Country will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 9:10pm on Saturday 13th July 2024.
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