This is an important series to Torres Strait Islanders, but also to the predominantly Anglo Australian community as it highlights the difference between Islanders and mainland Indigenous Australians and the interactions between Islander and Anglo culture. Islander actors and extras are extensively used.
The series was released on DVD on 20 February 2006.
The drama comes from the RAN's necessarily close association with the island Chairman, Russ Gaibui (Charles Passi), and his extensive and somewhat dysfunctional family of wife Ina and grown children Eddie, Solomon, Paul (adopted), Nancy and Faith (adopted) and their families and friends, and other characters on the island including some white Australians.
The season of six episodes covers topics such as: whites fitting into an Islander culture; alcohol misuse and smuggling in Islander communities; family hostility and love; outsider influence on island life; family tension, life and death; seasons in the tropics and the effect on people, marriage and family.
Accuracy
The series is portrayed as telling true stories. Many of the idioms of the drama come from local situations. Islanders speak among themselves in their local dialect with subtitles provided for the wider television audience.
While non-Islanders can only guess at the accuracy of the portrayal, many extras are Islanders and that there was significant assistance from locals in the production.[citation needed]
Cast
Susie Porter - Helen Tremain (Remote Area Nurse) - Logie winner (Best Actress), 2007