“Starting to feel my head in your space, starting to lose track of the weekdays…”
The Secret Life of Us was Australian commercial TV’s coming of age. This sophisticated soap about the emotional lives of nine bright young things was the first to realistically depict youthful inner-city life in Melbourne. Funny and insightful even as it casually broke all the commercial TV rules about language, drugs and sex, it showed what it was really like to share an apartment while trying to find love, and yourself, in the brand new millennium.
Debuting in July 2001, the series launched an astonishing pool of talent. Former child star Claudia Karvan found her groove as young doctor Alex, paving the way for her success in Love My Way and beyond. Playing her housemate Evan, an aspiring novelist, Samuel Johnson captivated the nation with his honey-and-gravel baritone, which he parlayed into a stellar run as a voiceover artist (he would later win two Logies for his portrayal of Molly Meldrum).
It was only 20 years ago that First Nations actors were rare on mainstream TV, and Deborah Mailman’s beguiling turn as their lovelorn housemate Kelly was groundbreaking as well as brilliant. Then there was Joel Edgerton, on the sidelines at first as sensitive tradie Will, whose increasingly powerful presence presaged his future success in Hollywood as an actor, writer and director.
The series burned bright for three years and won a clutch of awards, but its shining success opened doors for the cast that few could resist walking through. They left: first Edgerton, then most of the regular cast, then the regular cast’s replacement cast. When season four presented viewers with an almost entirely new line-up of characters, ratings were so dismal Ten pulled the show after just two episodes had screened.
You can now rewatch all four seasons on Netflix, Amazon Prime and 10Play, but The Secret Life of Us has always been with us: it haunts our memories every time we walk down the Esplanade, skirt Luna Park, drop into the Espy or glimpse the Palais Theatre. Here’s Time Out’s guide to St Kilda through the lens of one of Australian TV’s best shows.
