Red dust, blue skies and slightly feral-looking kids in crazy costumes go up against marauding intruders. This isn’t Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome, but there’s a touch of the steampunk vibe in Thalu, NITV’s new 10-part live action Indigenous kids’ show debuting this week on the network, and also on SBS On Demand. It’s NITV’s second foray into the live action kids’ space (after Grace Beside Me) and comes in the wake of the successful animation Little J & Big Cuz.
Very loosely Inspired by the Indigenous Neomad graphic novels, Thalu was co-commissioned by NITV and the ABC, with investment from Screen Australia, Screenwest, the WA Regional Film Fund, and financed with support from the Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF). The story follows a bunch of 10-12 year-olds who undertake a journey to save their Country from the threat of an ominous black cloud and its inhabitants, known as the ‘Takers’.
