Press release time!

Cameras roll in Queensland on new ABC comedy series Limbo.

The ABC is delighted to announce celebrated Australian actors Ryan Corr and Bob Morley will star in the bold new six-part comedy series Limbo, which has commenced filming in Queensland.

Ryan Corr (Holding The Man, Wakefield, High Ground) returns to Australia after his role as Ser Harwin ‘Breakbones’ Strong in Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon, and Bob Morley (Love Me, Blinder, Neighbours) returns from LA, where he appeared in seven seasons of the sci-fi hit The 100.

Produced by Bunya Productions (Mystery Road, Sweet Country) and Heiress Films (Man Up, Making Couples Happy), Limbo is created by Lucas Taylor (Harrow, Vikings: Athelstan’s Journal), written by Lucas Taylor and Tamara Asmar (On The Ropes, Love Child) and directed by the acclaimed Trent O’Donnell (No Activity, Hacks, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and David Stubbs (Daffodils, Black Hands). 

Also starring is an impressive ensemble cast headed by Emma Harvie (Frayed, The Letdown) and including Shabana Azeez (Metro Sexual S2, The Hunting), Russell Dykstra (Irreverent, Fires, Rake), Lena Cruz (Here Out West, The Unusual Suspects, Dirt Game), Aaron Fa’aoso (Black Comedy, East West 101), Jane Harber (Offspring, The Moodys), Philippa Northeast (Standing Up for Sunny, The Newsreader S2), Josh McConville (Elvis, Fantasy Island), Kamillia Rihani (The Twelve), Georgina Naidu (Seachange, Rosehaven).

Loss and laughs collide in Limbo, which explores the compelling and charmingly funny story of best friends Charlie (Ryan Corr) and Nate (Bob Morley) as they’re faced with how hard it is to let go of those we love – especially when they’re taken too soon. And when they come back to haunt you. Literally.

Todd Abbott, Head of Comedy for the ABC, said, “The fact that so many of this brilliant cast, who are kicking goals internationally, are coming home to make this series speaks volumes about what a special show it is going to be. It’ll warm your heart, break your heart, thump you in the guts and, most importantly, make you laugh the way only a ghost buddy comedy set in Brisbane can.”

Limbo will air on ABC TV and ABC iview in 2023.

For those keeping track of the way “comedy” now means “pretty much everything that isn’t a murder mystery” on your ABC, what starts out as a “bold new six-part comedy series” in paragraph one becomes a series where “loss and laughs collide” by paragraph five.

We were pleasantly surprised by the recent A Beginners Guide to Grief, which tackled the same intersection of loss and comedy with a rarely-seen focus on making the comedy side of things funny. Being around an hour all up didn’t hurt either: losing someone sucks, people act weird in times of loss, organising a funeral can take some funny turns… yeah, think we’ve covered pretty much everything.

Because let’s be honest: if you want to make a comedy, there are a shitload of things funnier than sitting around grieving over a recent death. If you’re making a series about grief, 99% of the time it’s because you want to make a series about grief and the comedy is just there to try and keep everyone else watching.

That said, there’s a long and proud tradition of wacky ghost sitcoms (including that Ghosts show currently on Ten that we’ve never watched). And it’s not like local talent has ever been afraid of hanging around the graveyard to try and juice up a limp comedy premise.

Will the producers start name-dropping classic Aussie dramedy Spirited in interviews? Or is this closer to Josh Thomas’ recent pointless stinker Everything’s Gonna Be Okay (which also started with a surprise death)? Finally, a reason to stay alive until 2023.