Crime's rich pickings

It may not be something to be proud of, but when it comes to crime, Australia does it that much better than New Zealand.

In that sunburnt country, that land of sweeping plains, crime is more than just a way of life for the worst of the sleazy underclass.

Sleaze and underclasses are an important aspect, for sure, but over there the sleaze is sleazier, the underclass is further under, the crime is on a larger scale, and, somehow, the criminals just have more character.

It all goes back to the status criminals have had in Australia since the time of Ned Kelly, and the subsequent mythologisation of the country's bad boys.

Mark "Chopper" Read, for instance, forged a violent criminal career that resulted in 23 years in jail.

Now he writes columns for magazines, writes books, and has had a film made of his life.

He has also allowed a brewing company the use of his name for a beer called Chopper Heavy.

To bring everything full circle, the beer is produced in a town associated with ... Ned Kelly.

It probably follows, then, that Australians also do crime television better than we do.

They just have better material. You can't go wrong.

The latest in that line, Killing Time, follows a long list of truly excellent crime dramatisations in more ways than one. That list includes the 1995 mini-series Blue Murder, which followed the relationship between controversial former detective Roger Rogerson and notorious criminal Arthur "Neddy" Smith, and the jaw dropping corruption that poisoned the New South Wales police force at the time.

It also includes the more recent, and brilliant, first Underbelly mini-series, which told the story of the similarly amazing 1995-2004 gangland war in Melbourne.

What those shows have in common with Killing Time is all have been subject to court injunctions banning or delaying them in the states in which they took place.

That is why when Killing Time starts on Prime next Tuesday at 9.30pm, it will be the world premiere, as plans for the Australian premiere have been delayed because of legal proceedings.

Killing Time follows the downfall of Andrew Fraser, a high profile Melbourne-based lawyer who spent seven years at the Fulham Correctional Centre in 2001 for his role in the importation of a commercial quantity of cocaine.

Starring David Wenham as Fraser, we watch as he makes a big splash in the underworld with his ability to keep drug dealers, bikies and the like out of jail. As success and money pile up, and his bed fills with naked ladies, his sister questions his morals and accuses him of narcissism, Fraser buys himself a new Porsche 911.

Well acted, very watchable, and with its portrayals of the lowest of the low disturbingly realistic, Killing Time is a very welcome addition to Tuesday nights.

Australians will just have to wait.