This interview contains mild spoilers.

Television shows about the inner sanctum of a hectic newsroom are hardly new. Phones ringing, typing scoops, frantically touching up makeup seconds before readers go to air, sending out camera crews to cover a news breaking story… and off course, the internal politics and contrast between the on and off air behaviors of the newsreaders. And then, along comes a show like The Newsreader which focuses on the unfolding intimate relationship between an ambitious young TV reporter, Dale Jennings (Sam Reid), and the “difficult” star female news anchor, Helen Norville (Anna Torv).

Set in Australia in 1986, the Dale and Helen relationship is more than trying to keep a workplace affair private. Creator Michael Lucas (Offspring) spoke to Creative Screenwriting Magazine about what makes this show so special.

A Socially Progressive Australia

The relationship between Dale and Anna was fleshed out as a drama long before the series was going to be set in a newsroom.

Michael Lucas wanted to start his newsroom canvas with a big event that made an impact on him. “The first news story I have vivid memories of was the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986,” opened Lucas. Setting his TV show during the tumultuous eighties was more than a nostalgic salute to the era. “A big part of the story is exploring the struggle with one’s emerging sexuality and gender stereotype conformity,” which is gently revealed as the thematic spine of the series. Eclipsed by the AIDS epidemic during the time, made the inherently difficult process of coming out, even more difficult.

Michael Lucas

“I’m particularly interested in the impression of Australia at the time to see if the reality compared to how I remembered it.” For Michael Lucas, it was a matter of assembling his fragmented memories and comparing them to news footage and newspaper articles of the time. Growing up in Australia, Lucas was convinced that other English-speaking countries such as Great Britain and America were more socially progressive than Australia. After investigating this idea further, he found out this isn’t necessarily the case anymore. But in the eighties, it was.

For a television series called The Newsreader, the characters spent a great deal of screen time away from the newsroom. “I definitely wanted to focus more on the relationships,” said Lucas.

Although he conceded that many excellent dramas set in a newsroom have already been made, he shifted his focus into a rich character study. “All the workplace stories served the Dale and Helen story. The emotional lives of these characters was my main point of difference from the mechanics of a newsroom.”

Who’s Story Is It?

Both Helen and Dale cover extensive emotional terrain. Both emerge as vastly transformed people by the season’s end. We asked Lucas, who was the main character in The Newsreader. “Both of them,” he declared without hesitation. “In some respects, it’s like a buddy movie.” This was addressed by alternating who’s perspective each episode was told through. Michael Lucas astutely named his TV show The Newsreader, so audiences wouldn’t be told who was the main character. Some audiences considered it as Helen’s story and others, as Dale’s. After persistent harping, Michael confessed that he leaned more towards Dale’s character. “He was closer to me and I found him easier to write. You found out more surprising things about him and he has a bigger catharsis.”

Dale Jennings (Sam Reid). Photo by Sophia Economou

Dale’s warm feelings towards Helen are real. He loves her very much and doesn’t want to lose their intimacy, despite his attraction to men. Lucas carefully mines the non-binary nature of sexuality in the show. It’s not even static as it constantly shifts along the spectrum. “We were always mindful of the ambiguity in their relationship. We didn’t fully define whether they were friends, colleagues, or work spouses.” All the audiences knows for sure is that they have a great kinship and they were kept guessing until the end. There’s a lot of power in labels, but many relationships are so complex that they transcend them. “How are feelings of romance and affection best expressed? We made sure we didn’t tilt the answer in one direction.”

During shooting, Anna Torv who plays Helen, added that there was an ostensible maternal element in her character. These parallels were subtly enhanced when Dale’s actual mother Val (Maude Davey) entered various scenes.

Michael Lucas gently maneuvers the emotionality of the characters. They are equally confident as they are confused. Lucas didn’t consciously set out to create self-contradictory characters. He simply saw them as a more accurate portrayal of life. This is reflected in how they operate at work. They are supreme experts when they’re at the desk, but when they leave the desk, “They see that their lives are a mess and don’t know who they are. The whole series depicts who you’re trying to project compared to who you are.” It’s a journey of juggling jig-saw pieces.

Helen faced common issues that many female newsreaders contended with in the eighties. She would not simply look pretty and read the news with a smile. She’s an investigative journalist who wants to get to the heart of every story. Sadly, she’s stuck at the news desk. Helen learned the harsh rules of the workplace but stands her ground when she was unfairly challenged. “Helen’s a mix of a publicly tenacious, but privately fragile person.” She yearns to be taken seriously and reach her full journalistic potential.

The Newsreader touches on feminine and masculine archetypes. Dale is uniquely associated with more traditionally feminine roles – an agreeable peacemaker eager to please, while Helen is the more aggressive “masculine” character who tackles the men when necessary.

Dale is trying to fit into a specific version of masculinity, with limited success. “Dale is applauded for his seemingly masculine traits, while Helen is punished for them.”

It was only after Michael received feedback asking for Dale’s preferred version of masculinity that he finally decided to set the show in a newsroom. He wrote a draft with Dale in the newsroom. And a subsequent draft with Helen in the newsroom… and the pieces came together by putting them both there.

Lindsay Cunningham (William McInnes) is the news boss. He’s best described as a crass, short-tempered, foul-mouthed boor who manipulates his staff to get the news on air. During the research phase of this character, Lucas recalls that he interviewed countless women of the era about their newsroom workplace experiences. This was pre #MeToo when harassment was dismissed as a daily part of worklife. “Those screaming news directors were a type. At one point, he threw a chair, but he had a certain animal instinct that boosted ratings.” Lucas omitted certain “Lindsay” behaviors in his scripts because they were bordering on criminal. “Lindsay is an irredeemable bully, but we never address whether he should face charges.”

We asked Michael Lucas how differently an Australian newsroom might function today. “Apart from the crazy fashions and hairstyles, the rampant homophobia and Dale’s trauma surrounding it would hopefully have dissipated.” However, he isn’t as positive about the status of women in the workplace despite significant progress over the years.

Michael Lucas has also evolved as a writer. When he would previously conceive a show, he’d start with the elevator pitch containing the juiciest aspects of the show and write from the outside in. After The Newsreader, he now starts pitching from a place of character; inside out. “The lead character must always speak to me. The spirit of the characters must lie within me. Then I can write the story.“