Counter Play

Counter Play is an Australian television drama series screening on Nine Network's 9Gem in 2018.^[1] Created by Chrys Phillips, the series centres around the residents of the high-end affluent town of South Point.^[2][3][4]

Counter Play
Genre	Drama
Created by	Chrys Phillips
Written by	Chrys Phillips
Directed by	Chrys Phillips
Opening theme	"Falls" by Little Theatre
Country of origin	Australia
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	15
Production
Executive producers	Chrys Phillips Mikaela Phillips
Production company	Free Spirit Creative
Original release
Network	9Gem Amazon Video
Release	27 August 2018 (2018-08-27) – present

Plot

The series begins with lead protagonist Jake Spector (Tyson Martick) returning to town, years after his near fatal accident with the sole objective of revenge. Oblivious to Jake's true identity and devious plan his girlfriend, Faith Morgan (Mikaela Phillips) is unaware of his plan. Morgan's family are amongst the town's founders and her father has a powerful royal family history. Jake plans to terrorise both his old friends and his first love Riley Cornwall (Isabel Dilena) for what they did to him that evening after high school graduation he begins a vengeful game of "play or be played" scenarios intended to reveal everyone's lies. However, as the scenarios progress there is the increasing sign Jake may not be the only one involved with the threatening notes and is someone else infiltrating his game.^[5]

Production

Counter Play was originally launched as a six-part web-series in 2016 and achieved major online success with 1.5 million total views. Joint producers Chrys and Mikaela Phillips decided to continue the series into Season 2 with plans for a commercial platform. Filming since October 2017, two seasons of the show were completed by May 2018 with plans for season 3 commencing mid-late 2018.^[6][7]

Cast and characters

• Tyson Martick – Jake Spector/Aaron Robertson
• Mikaela Phillips – Faith Morgan
• Michelle Rowley – Mrs Heather Cornwall
• Isabel Dilena – Riley Cornwall
• Victor Gralak – Wes Morgan
• Luke Styles – Mayor Ferguson
• Sophie Thurling – Amber Rose
• Leigh Smith – Tim

Broadcast

The series will premiere in Australia on Nine Network's 9Gem in 2018.^[8] The program was acquired by Amazon Video in the United States and officially premiered on August 27, 2018, and is available to stream in Australia. The show is also currently in negotiations with networks in the UK, New Zealand and Asia.^{[9][10][11][12][13]}

References

1. "Chrys Phillips Counter Play Interview". www.girl.com.au.
2. . counterplay. Archived from the original on 3 January 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
3. "Sublime Southampton, NY – with TV creator, Chrys Phillips".
4. "Leopold to star in TV series". March 2018.
5. "Rising Star Spotlight: Introducing Mikaela Phillips". 19 March 2018.
6. "HIT WEB SERIES 'COUNTER PLAY' IS NOT TO BE MISSED". dailystyleentertainment.com.
7. "Chrys Phillips: Disrupting the Australian TV Narrative With Counter Play – FilmInk". www.filmink.com.au. 3 April 2018.
8. "An Aussie Version of 'Gossip Girl' is Coming to Nine & It's XOXO Bonza M8". 11 September 2018.
9. . www.yourtv.com.au. Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
10. . Sydney Blog – Things to do in Sydney. Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
11. . Archived from the original on 20 May 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
12. . omny.fm. Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
13. "Actress Mikaela Phillips speaks with YEM". 24 August 2018.