EXCLUSIVE: Your First Look At ABC's Easybeats Mini-series 'Friday On My Mind'

17 October 2017 | 11:04 am | Staff Writer

The two-parter is set to screen in late November.

Cast of ABC's Friday On My Mind

Cast of ABC's Friday On My Mind

ABC's much-anticipated two-part mini-series about revered Australian band The Easybeats is within a couple of months of hitting our screens, and The Music is exceptionally humbled to be bringing you an exclusive first look at the upcoming biopic today.

A joint production between the ABC, Playmaker, Screen Australia and Screen NSW, Friday On My Mind stars Christian Byers as Stevie Wright, Will Rush as George Young, Mackenzie Fearnley as Harry Vanda, Du Toit Bredenkamp as Dick Diamonde and Arthur McBain as Snowy Fleet.

Directed by Matthew Saville (Seven Types Of Ambiguity, Please Like Me, The Slap) and written by Howzat and Paper Giants scribe Christopher Lee, the series is set in the 1960s and follows the story of the five musicians and young immigrants, who meet in a Sydney migrant hostel before taking up instrumental arms together and ultimately changing the face of Australian rock on an international level.

Friday On My Mind will screen as part of the ABC's month-long, multi-platform celebration of Australian music — fittingly titled Ausmusic Month — which includes events such as Ausmusic T-shirt Day (Friday 3 November), Double J's Songs Of Your Streets Brisbane special with Bernard Fanning (6pm, Monday 13 November) and triple j's J Awards (Thursday 23 November), among others.

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On the screen-specific front, ABC will air Blasko (Tuesday 14 November), following Sarah Blasko behind the scenes as she creates an album from scratch with long-time collaborators; The Go-Betweens: Right Here (Tuesday 21 November), directed by Kriv Stenders; and weekly airings of Classic Countdown (Sundays, 6pm) and much more, culminating with the special two-parter about The Easybeats.

ABC Head of Scripted Productions and Executive Producer Sally Riley said of the band, "The Easybeats are truly iconic and hold such a special place in Australia's musical history," describing the tale as an "incredible home-grown story which will no doubt be just as upbeat as the band's biggest hits".

Added Playmaker producers David Taylor and David Maher: "We’re massive Easybeats fans so to be involved in bringing this incredible story to life is a real honour, and something we’re both proud and excited to be producing for the ABC."

This exclusive first-look clip features the band taking to the stage in the early days of their career at the 'Beatle Village', a basement hangout at Oxford Street's Taylor Square, in Sydney, where they play their first-ever single, For My Woman, to a growing, grooving audience and catch the attention of the venue's owner, who is quite impressed by their performance, if not their name...

Friday On My Mind will air at 8.40pm on Sundays, 26 November and 3 December on ABC and will be available on ABC iview.

See more about Ausmusic Month at ABC's website.