Show of the Week: Hunting Outback Gold

Undiscovered gold in the Australian outback lies at the heart of Prospero Productions’ six-parter about Harrold Lasseter’s legendary find, but it was the discovery of two childhood friends attempting to unearth the riches that prompted this adventure-cum-history series.

Lasseter’s story dates back to 1897, when he staggered out of the desert claiming to have discovered an untapped fortune. But his attempts to retrieve the gold saw him perishing alone in the desert, taking its location to his grave.

Six outback missions and 40 years later, Hunting Outback Gold follows friends Jeff Harris and Brendan Elliot as they attempt to find Lasseter’s gold and prove that he was a telling the truth.

“The story of Harold Lasseter’s lost fortune in gold and his tragic end is one of the great legends of the Australian Outback,” says Julia Redwood, managing director of Prospero Productions.

“When we discovered two amateur sleuths who had made a childhood pact to find it 40 years ago and have been searching ever since, we knew we had the perfect ingredients for a compelling adventure-cum-history and mystery series.”

The series uses specialist help and cutting-edge technology to retrace Lasseter’s fateful 1930 expedition, but nearly 100 years later the terrain made for an incredibly challenging shoot.

“The locations for this series were some of the most remote and uninhabited in Australia,” says Redwood. “As a result, we leaned heavily on local knowledge wherever possible. Experts based in Alice Springs who were familiar with the surrounding country were used extensively as well as consultation with the Traditional Owners of the specific areas where we filmed.

“Valuable logistical insights were gleaned from this process, such as road conditions, climate norms, accommodation options and medical support,” Redwood adds, with field teams equipped with Starlink and Satellite Texting/Location Devices for communication back to the production office.

A three-week scouting mission was followed by a two-month shoot, split across three blocks of filming. “The eventual route we followed drew predominantly from historical sources,” Redwood explains, as the team tracked Lasseter’s journey in 1929/30.

And while the famed explorer prompted the mission, the story of Jeff and Brendan - who made a pact to find the gold when they were children - gives the series a contemporary heart.

“Jeff and Brendan are lifelong friends who grew up together on the East Coast. Since becoming adults, career and family demands have often taken them in different directions, but their friendship persists and is constantly renewed through their shared obsession with finding Lasseter’s lost gold,” Redwood says.

She adds that the duo provide an “everyman element” to the show, before adding: “They’re ordinary guys with an extraordinary passion and drive, making them hugely relatable. And their quest is the stuff of dreams that’s hard not to be swept up in.”

For Tatiana Grinkevich, head of sales at BossaNova, the show’s appeal to international buyers is clear.

“Hunting Outback Gold is a unique hybrid, cross-genre show blending history with gold hunting, as well as elements of tough jobs. Audiences all around the world really love all of these as standalone genres, but as a combination it ticks all the boxes - what’s not to love?!”

She adds that the show has wide audience appeal because it combines multiple genres, while the intrigue of whether or not the gold will be found provides a huge lure to viewers.