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Underbelly starts filming just days after Perish brothers convicted

A new series of Underbelly has started filming for Nine and production company Screentime.

The fifth series- called Underbelly: Badness – returns to Sydney’s modern crime history, set between 2001 and 2011.

The story is based on the murder of Terry Falconer by underworld figures Anthony Perish and Andrew Perish and the team of police dedicated to bringing the Perishs to justice.

Perish, 42, was sentenced to 18 years on Friday 13 April 2012 in the NSW Supreme Court while his brother Andrew Perish, 41, was sentenced to at least nine years, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Des Monaghan, executive producer of the series and executive chairman of Screentime said: “This, the fifth series of Underbelly, is the most contemporary yet and is in marked contrast to Underbelly: Razor. While on the face of it they couldn’t be more different, they do both share the Underbelly DNA, namely police versus organised crime, the dramatisation of actual events, real names wherever legally possible, and an honest attempt to get to the essence of what really happened.”

Jo Rooney and Andy Ryan, drama executives at Nine said: “Underbelly: Badness is a riveting and compelling story of a modern underworld figure that merged into the fabric of our community completely under the radar, and we are very proud to shine a light on this story and bring it to Australian audiences.”

The Slap’s Jonathan LaPaglia will play Anthony Perish, with additional cast including Matt Nable as lead detective Gary Jubelin, plus Josh Quong Tart, Aaron Jeffrey, Ben Winspear, Leeanna Walsman and Jodi Gordon.

Produced by Peter Gawler and Elisa Argenzio, the eight-part series will be directed by Tony Tilse, David Caesar and Ian Watson, with scripts by Peter Gawler, Felicity Packard, Jeff Truman and Niki Aken.

Greg Haddrick will join Monaghan as executive producer, as too will Rooney and Ryan for Nine.

Last year’s Underbelly: Razor took 2.5m on its debut and 1.4m for its finale.

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