Words by Tayla Ham - Originally written June 20
Not many people can claim to have had a more stressful day than famous children’s author Julian Hartswood (Ben Miller). Within hours of getting cancelled, he meets a neurodiverse 20-something man named Austin (Michael Theo), who claims to be his son, sending him firmly into the land of denial. Austin blends Australian and British humour to produce this family comedy that showcases the fan-favourite from Love on The Spectrum Australia, Michael Theo, in the titular role.
Whilst Julian and Ingrid Hartswood (Sally Phillips) are on an Australian publicity tour for their (fictional) beloved children's book series, Big Bear, Julian retweets a tweet from an active neo-nazi… accidentally. The statement was about free speech; he argues vehemently, not racism and “newsflash, bad people are sometimes right about certain things!”
Miller (Professor T, Bridgerton, and an actual children's author) develops Julian's entitled, unlikeable, and completely in-denial character within the space of the first phone call from his manager informing him of his cancellation. Every action Julian takes shows the audience he is rash, rude, and doesn’t think things through. Luckily, this makes for some excellent situational comedy.
Ingrid understands the gravity of the situation and is a calming presence to Julian throughout this episode. She constantly apologises for Julian's rash speech and actions, a situation often faced by many women.
Phillips (Smack the Pony, Bridget Jones Diary series) is a well-known British comedian. It's nice to see her soft and gentle side, especially in how she handles the situation with Austin in this episode compared to Julian. This episode hints that her comedy prowess will be fully utilised during the season.
Neurodiversity and autism are currently hot topics in the media. If the public had not been introduced to Theo in Australia’s Love on the Spectrum, also produced by Northern Pictures, before seeing him in Austin, it would have been easy to assume that his portrayal was just a stereotypical representation of autism, possibly even exaggerating it.
This exaggeration could be seen when, especially when Theo delivers a line completely deadpan or when he takes Julian’s British expressions literally, Austin writes down the explanation in his notebook, finding them “very educational.”
However, for those of us who have seen Theo before, it's clear that this role was made for him. It was written with love and respect to represent his autistic traits rather than having a random neurotypical actor attempt to portray autism. Theo was first approached about playing Austin in 2020, at the end of filming for Love on The Spectrum. This means there has been over three years of work on the writing to make it sound authentic and respectful to neurodiverse people.
For once, Australia gets to enjoy something before the rest of the world; Austin premiered here on ABC and iView on June 9, 2024, and is set to premiere in the UK later in the year.
Comments