Killing Time (2010–2011) User Reviews

Great Australian Drama at its Best

[jrisles · 8/10 · 9 November 2014]

I have just completed watching the Killing Time series on the Soho channel on pay TV. I am not too sure how i missed this at time of release but so glad i caught the beginning of this show on its re- screening.

I won't go into too much detail other than to say this would have to be one of David Wenham' finest. I have always liked/loved David Wenham as an actor and i think the first time I ever saw him in a show were the "Sea Change" series that aired on ABC years ago.

The whole show is superbly cast but David Wenham is certainly convincing in this role. Diana Glenn also plays a magnificent long suffering wife role in this show.

I do hope it won numerous awards and if like me you haven't seen it before i certainly suggest you do.

An excellent show, excellent actors, excellent storyline/plot (i did not know anything about Andrew Fraser before i started watching this show). A must see for the acting alone.

Excellent true-crime drama

[dogstar-12 · 8/10 · 16 November 2011]

To be honest, I'm usually happy to let Australian television pass me by. But the ads I saw for this series quickly grabbed me. Four episodes in, and I'm delighted to say that this series has plenty to recommend it.

David Wenham of Lord of the Rings fame plays real-life barrister Andrew Fraser as he seeks out and represents some of Melbourne's most notorious criminals, and he does an excellent job of portraying the two Frasers we see in the series- the brilliant, cocky, ambitious and utterly amoral lawyer who's built up his perfect life with all the trappings of success, and the broken wreck of a man trying to survive in prison, his life and reputation in ruins as he pays the price for his arrogance (although we don't know what specifically he's been convicted of at this point). But this show has more to it than just Wenham and the star power he brings. The acting throughout is excellent, despite almost all of the cast being unknowns to me. The director's done a nice job of showing us Melbourne at its best in places while simultaneously showing us just how degraded some of its citizens are.

There are genuine laugh-out-loud moments, most of them courtesy of the wonderfully psychotic Dennis Allen (AKA Mr. Death) and the smooth but ruthless crime boss Lewis Moran (played by Colin Friels). And it captures the full shock and horror of some the crimes committed by Fraser's clients. As someone with an interest in Australian true crime history I'm fascinated by the stories around these crimes which I'd only heard of in passing.

All in all, I'm glad I gave Killing Time a shot and I look forward to seeing how it all pans out. At the time of this review, IMDb's given it a weighted score of 5.9. However, the mean score for this show is 8.2 and I think that does it much more justice.

8/10.

Bloody good Aussie drama mate

[peterrichboy · 7/10 · 26 April 2017]

I've not seen many Australian dramas on account most I've seen have not been that good. Usually they love to blow there own trumpet about how great they our as a nation. Tales of heroes underdogs or people who take on the establishment and win. But here we have the true story of Andrew Fraser, a corrupt lawyer involved in two of Australia's highest profile cases the Walsh st police murders and the Alan Bond bankruptcy case. It shows a dark side to Australia we don't normally see. Police corruption, drugs and violent crime. The show captures the excesses eighties and nineties perfectly whilst David Wenham an actor I had not seen before is excellent in the lead role.

Quality Australian crime drama

[JOHN_REID · 9/10 · 3 December 2011]

I have just seen the fourth episode of Killing Time and am enjoying this immensely. It is interesting that a series of this type has its premier and probably exclusive screening on Cable TV rather than Commercial TV. Perhaps the content is too violent and confronting for Commercial TV. The Cable TV screening actually works very well with a series like this. There are multiple screenings of each episode so there is no excuse to miss anything and only small interruptions from commercial breaks.

David Wenham is superb as Andrew Fraser, a lawyer who chooses the wrong clients. His family and friends know this and look on his successes with an almost condescending bewilderment as to why he seems drawn to representing criminals and exploiting loopholes in the law to set them free. Although he is successful he makes enemies with the police and has a tenuous relationship with the people he defends.

Killing Time is told as two parallel stories - the past, with Fraser's rise to fame and success in making the police look like fools and the present, where he is incarcerated and trying to cope with life in prison. At the moment we are not sure exactly what precipitated his sentence to a term in prison but there are plenty of clues.

With each week we learn more about the man. It seems inevitable that things will eventually turn pear shaped for him. His strange penchant for defending criminals who are obviously guilty is a road to self destruction. Each time he wins in court and humiliates the police, he creates more enemies. He tries to justify his actions to his family but they clearly cannot accept that he uses legal arguments and technical points to defend vicious criminals.

The cast is impressive. Diana Glenn is a very promising actress and plays the role of his wife very effectively. Richard Cawthorne and Malcolm Kennard are both brilliant as the manic criminals that Andrew Fraser chooses to defend.

Colin Friels is at his best as Lewis Moran. He plays one standout scene in a bar with classic understatement that will linger in the memories of anyone who sees the series.

I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the series - great Australian drama and highly recommended.

Up there with "Blue Murder" and "Pheonix"

[andrewglencross65 · 10/10 · 2 November 2012]

This is just superb Aussie true crime drama, with David Wenham utterly convincing as disgraced(but bloody brilliant)lawyer Andrew Fraser.

The Melbourne crime milieu feels just right.

Colin Friels makes a great Lewis Moran.

Kris McQuade delivers a searing performance as crime matriarch Kath Pettingill(Granny Evil).

You'll also never be able to quite shake the Walsh St murders after seeing this...rendered like something out of a nightmare.

"Killing Time" also gets its period feel RIGHT without overly drawing attention to its set/clothes/hair/music details--HELLO "Puberty Blues".

Liked the use of Nick Cave/Hunters and The Saints.

NOT-TO-BE-MISSED.