The Secret Life of Us

infobox television
show_name = The Secret Life Of Us


caption =
format = Drama
runtime = 60 Minutes
creator = John Edwards
Amanda Higgs
executive producer = John Edwards
Amanda Higgs
starring = Claudia Karvan
Samuel Johnson
Deborah Mailman
Abi Tucker
Joel Edgerton
Sibylla Budd
David Tredinnick
country = Australia

network = Network Ten
first_aired = July 16, 2001
last_aired = December 28, 2005
num_episodes = 86
imdb_id = 0289825
tv_com_id = 1540

"The Secret Life of Us" was a 2001 - 2005 television drama series set in the beachside suburb of St Kilda, Melbourne, Australia. The series screened in Australia on Network Ten and on Channel 4 in the UK, initially being co-funded by the two networks (Channel 4 pulled out after the third series; the fourth series remains unaired in the UK), and produced by Southern Star Entertainment. In other countries, it has been shown on New Zealand's TV3, the Ireland's RTÉ Two, Canada's PrideVision, the Netherlands's Yorin, France's Canal Plus, Norway's NRK, and Israel's Channel 2.

The show revolves around a group of friends in their mid twenties to early thirties who live in a St Kilda apartment block (the actual block is Belvedere Flats on the Esplanade). Their interaction with one another, relationships with other friends and romantic interests, along with their personal and career development, are featured.

Initially, the series was immensely popular in Australia, and had a devoted cult following in the UK. The show's ratings began to dwindle following the departure of several main characters and the introduction of new characters. The third series featured a particularly high character turnover with many original characters leaving the show during this period while their replacements failed to last out the series. The fourth series concluded with only two of the original characters - barkeeper Simon (Tredinnick) and uni-student Kelly (Mailman) - still on board, after the key character of writer Evan (Johnson) departed early in that season.

Production ended abruptly in 2004 after the fourth series had been completed. The show was canceled after the first three episodes of the fourth series had aired in Australia to disastrously low ratings. The program was removed from its prime-time timeslot and the final, unscreened, episodes from that season were broadcast with little publicity in late 2005.

All four series of the show are available on DVD in Australia and the first three are also now available in the UK, with the fourth due for release in 2009.

The title music is "Death Defy" by Melbourne band Motor Ace.

Cast list

Recurring Guest Stars

* Todd MacDonald as Nathan Lieberman
* Vince Colosimo as Dr. Anthony 'Rex' Mariani
* Rhys Muldoon as Frank Goodman
* Diana Glenn as Jemima
* Jacek Koman as Dominic
* Alice Garner as Caitlin
* Jess Gower as Sam
* Elena Mandalis as Sarea
* Catherine McClements as Carmen
* Pia Miranda as Talia
* Tasma Walton as Leah
* Damien Richardson as Ken
* Damian Walshe-Howling as Mac

See also

* List of Australian television series

External links

*
* [http://colsearch.nfsa.afc.gov.au/nfsa/search/display/display.w3p;adv=yes;group=;groupequals=;holdingType=;page=0;parentid=;query=675914;querytype=;rec=0;resCount=10 The Secret Life of Us at the National Film and Sound Archive]