Well, I was going to say it’s another ABC drama with a one-word title that doesn’t do anything to sell it, but it’s the name of the book it’s based on. 
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Brendan Cowell and Asher Keddie star in ABC’s new drama series Plum
ABC and Screen Australia are thrilled to announce that Brendan Cowell and Asher Keddie have joined forces to star in the powerful six-part drama series Plum, based on Brendan’s novel of the same name.
Filming in the Sutherland Shire, NSW, and premiering on ABC TV and ABC iview in 2025, Plum is produced by Roadshow Rough Diamond and Modern Convict Films. Brendan Cowell is creator and writer, alongside co-writer Fiona Seres (Love My Way, The Great), with Wayne Blair (Total Control, Bay of Fires) and Margie Beattie (Bump) directing.
Joining Brendan and Asher is an impressive cast including María Dupláa (The One, Evil Woman), Susie Porter (Wentworth, Cargo), Jemaine Clement (Avatar: The Way of Water, Flight of the Conchords), Charlotte Friels (The Dressmaker, Nitram),Crystal Nguyen (Erotic Stories), Talijah Blackman-Corowa (Black Snow), Andy Ryan (Janet King), Janet Anderson (Last King of the Cross), John Tui (Young Rock, Fast and the Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw), Jenni Baird (The Twelve, A Place to Call Home) and introducing Vincent Miller.
Plum follows Peter ‘The Plum’ Lum (Brendan Cowell), a 49-year-old national football treasure who lives with his son Gavin (Vincent Miller) and girlfriend Charmaine (María Dupláa) in Cronulla. It looks like Plum is living the dream until he discovers he has a brain disorder as result of the hundreds of head knocks and concussions he suffered on the field. The new diagnosis doesn’t receive its intended effect, as Plum would sooner hide, run and head to the pub for drinks with the boys and pretend everything is peaches. But hiding from the truth isn’t easy when your ex-wife (Asher Keddie) cares too much and your son comes to realise the father he worships is falling off his mantle and the game they love might be to blame.
Brendan Cowell says, “Plum is about my two favourite things; Sport and Poetry. Crafting this tale for the screen, about a scared man trying to change before it is too late, bears a deep connection for me, and I cannot wait to share it with audiences across Australia."
ABC Head of Scripted Rachel Okine says, “Our partners at Roadshow Rough Diamond and Modern Convict Films have brought together a powerhouse creative team to bring this project to life. We can’t wait to showcase this truthful, touching and humorous adaptation of Brendan Cowell’s novel about an ex-Rugby League player finding his voice.”
Screen Australia Director of Content Grainne Brunsdon says, “We are thrilled to be supporting the talented creative team to bring such a compelling and relevant story to television. Packed full of complex characters, Plum is a deeply moving series that will take us all on a journey of self-care and self-discovery. With Brendan and Asher leading the cast, Plum will have audiences hooked from the start.”
Plum will air on ABC TV and ABC iview in 2025.
Production Credits : Roadshow Rough Diamond and Modern Convict Films production. Major production investment from Screen Australia and the ABC. Financed with support from Screen NSW. Worldwide Distribution by Entertainment One. Executive Producer Brendan Cowell. Producers: John Edwards, Dan Edwards, and Jonathan Duncan. ABC Executive Producer Louise Smith. ABC Head of Scripted: Rachel Okine.
Plum was not mentioned in the ABC upfronts for 2023 or 2024.
The drama reunites many cast and crew members from Love My Way.
Update
Plum follows Peter ‘The Plum’ Lum (Brendan Cowell), a 49-year-old national football treasure who lives with his son Gavin (Vincent Miller) and girlfriend Charmayne (María Dupláa) in Cronulla. It looks like Plum is living the dream until he discovers he has a brain disorder as result of the hundreds of head knocks and concussions he suffered on the field. The new diagnosis doesn’t receive its intended effect, as Plum would sooner hide, run and head to the pub for drinks with the boys and pretend everything is peaches. But hiding from the truth isn’t easy when your ex-wife (Asher Keddie) cares too much and your son comes to realise the father he worships is falling off his mantle and the game they love might be to blame.
Football hero Peter “The Plum” Lum is living the dream until he’s diagnosed with a brain disorder. The emotionally charged six-part drama series Plum, starring Brendan Cowell and Asher Keddie, premieres this October on ABC.
First look.
According to The Sunday Telegraph’s Briana Domjen, rugby league greats Andrew Johns, Mark Carroll, Paul Gallen and James Graham will have cameos in the drama series.
Trailer
Sunday 20 October 8:30 pm
Episode 1
Sunday 20 October 8.30pm
Football hero Peter “The Plum” Lum is diagnosed with a brain disorder. But hiding the truth isn’t easy when your ex-wife cares too much, & your son realises the father he worships is falling off his mantle & the game they love might be to blame.
Peter ‘The Plum’ Lum (Brendan Cowell) is a living legend in Australian sporting terms. Now retired and reeling towards 50 with all the back pain and ailments a footy player can expect, he lives a humble life in Cronulla.
The simplicity of this life is exactly what he wants - kicking the ball with his teenage son Gavin (Vincent Miller, Inside), dinner on the deck with girlfriend Charmayne (María Dupláa, The One, Evil Woman), followed by a few too many beers at the local pub with his mates Brick (John Tui Young Rock, Fast and the Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw), Squeaky (Josh McConville, Elvis, Mr Inbetween) and Magic Matt (Wayne McDaniel, Reckoning).It looks like Plum is living the dream until an accident at work reveals he has a brain disorder as a result of the hundreds of head injuries and concussions he’s suffered on the field. The new diagnosis doesn’t have its intended effect, as Plum would sooner hide, run and head to the pub for drinks with the boys and pretend everything is peachy than confront things.
But hiding from the truth isn’t easy when your ex-wife (Asher Keddie) cares too much and your son comes to realise the father he worships is falling off his mantle and the game they love might be to blame.
Plum features a stellar lead and ensemble cast, with special guest appearances from Australian rugby league football greats Andrew “Joey” Johns, Mark “Spudd” Carroll, Paul Gallen, and James Graham.Production credit: A Roadshow Rough Diamond and Modern Convict Films production. Major production investment from Screen Australia and the ABC. Financed with support from Screen NSW. Worldwide Distribution by Entertainment One. Creator and Executive Producer Brendan Cowell. Producers: John Edwards, Dan Edwards and Jonathan Duncan. ABC Executive Producers: Louise Smith, Rachel Okine and Alex Baldwin.
Episode 2
Sunday 27 October 8.30pm
Plum’s ex-wife Renee is the only one aware of his dire medical prognosis but she’s urging him to share it. Hiding from the truth gets harder when Gavin’s grand final turns brutal and Plum realises what he is handing down.
We open on a flashback to Plum (Brendan Cowell), all dressed up with young wife Renee (Asher Keddie), receiving his Australian Captaincy. But his dad rolls up drunk, and the ceremony is tainted for the footy hero.
Late 2018 and it’s the week of his son Gavin’s (Vincent Miller) final. Renee insists Plum tell his girlfriend Charmayne (María Dupláa), and their son Gavin about the incident. Renee is still officially Plum’s next of kin, so was there to collect him from the airport. At the grand final Plum can’t take it, the game that gave him everything is suddenly too brutal, and he has to go. Plum drinks beer with a dead poet and lets his son down.
Episode 3
Sunday 3 November 8.30pm
After a shift at the poetry club, Plum takes his family to Melbourne for a meeting about Gavin’s playing future. But the son remains angry about what happened at his big game, and a family fight finds Plum and Renee in bed.
Struggling to come to terms with his diagnosis, Plum (Brendan Cowell) is given a new lease on life by Tatania (Janet Anderson), a young trans bar owner and now works in security at her venue - The Old Bike Shed. When wheelchair user Bridget (Crystal Nguyen) recites a poem about how we all have the same amount of pain, Plum is moved, then given a little green book to write one of his own.
The family head to Melbourne for a meeting with The Storm, but Gavin’s (Vincent Miller) anger at his dad ruins the meeting, and at dinner the father and son come to blows. Renee (Asher Keddie) and Plum land in bed as a result of the family breakdown, but not before a visit from Sylvia Plath (Charlotte Friels), confusing Plum even more.
I’ve seen the ads for this, and as a rugby league fan, it looks like a good promising show. I’ll give the first episode a go, and go from there. There is a pretty good cast in this show.
I believe that this is the first “rugby league drama” in Australia to air? However, there’s been a few movies though to air - from Anh Do’s Footy Legends, to Matt Nable’s The Final Winter.
The entire season is now available on iview.
Episode 4
Sunday 10 November 8.30pm
Plum misses his son but can’t seem to change the way he acts, turning to the bender for answers, instead of sharpening up and getting on the medication train. Gavin returns home from Bali to a family torn apart and hurting.
Plum (Brendan Cowell) is on a zoom to Liz (Sara Zwangobani) the head doctor but he is more interested in drinking beer out of a teacup. Unbeknownst to Plum, Charmayne (María Dupláa) his girlfriend has slept with Brick (John Tui), which makes the boys night even more awkward.
The one-night stand looms over Char’s head though, as it may have made her pregnant, or was that the last time with Plum? She turns up to find him in no state for reconciliation, as rock bottom looms for the ex-player, after a heart to heart about absent dads with his new friend, the ghost of Sylvia Plath (Charlotte Friels). Sylvia gets him to write a poem to his father, and hope is on the horizon…
Episode 5
Sunday 17 November 8.30pm
Plum is off alcohol and on the meds but sadly his world does not realign itself that easily. Mum’s 75th birthday lunch doesn’t go well, when ancient secrets spill out, including his own diagnosis.
In flashback once more, teenage Plum waits for his dad to come with the footy camp money, but he is late. When Albert turns up, he has a new family in the car, and young Plum is hurt.
Present day and Plum (Brendan Cowell) is three days sober and sweating hard, taking Gavin (Vincent Miller) and Char (Maria Dupláa) to Forbes for his mum’s 75th birthday party. But it’s not all cuddles and photo albums! The old tree is chopped down, mum is senile, and the searing heat adds tension, plus the new priest is kinda creepy. On the drive home Plum and Char air their secrets and he is left to walk home through the fields.
Episode 6 Season Final
Sunday 24 November 8.30pm
After much anguish, drinking, and avoidance, Plum finally takes the advice long on offer and shares his truth. Is it too late? Or is it just in time, as Sylvia Plath comes to tap him on the shoulder with a new development.
In the final flashback, Plum (Brendan Cowell) touches glory, at his peak with the State of Origin shield in his grasp. But today it’s the opposite, after a mammoth walk through the bush, Plum eats a pie at a bus station. Brick (John Tui) makes a play for Gavin (Vincent Miller), he will sponsor him, and he can stay in Cronulla.
A wayward Plum is told by his doctor that it’s up to him, and if he fights, he is in with a chance. After a scuffle on the front lawn with Brick, Plum takes what he has left of his brain to the Old Bike Shed, reciting an original poem in front of all his loved ones. The words that spill from his mouth bring him peace.
Has anyone watched this and what are your thoughts? Is it worth watching?
Sorry for the long delay. I didn’t watch the first three episodes, but did watch the final three (tonight was the final). Easy to get into the storyline. But from what I watched, it was good. Simple enough of a storyline to follow.
The final did close a few storylines around. And shows the title character, Mr Plum, talking about his life and troubles.
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