Liam and Miley bask in limelight at Vanity Fair party

 

Liam Hemsworth and Miley Cyrus pose for the cameras at the Vanity Fair party in Hollywood. Picture: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images Source: Getty Images

The Herald Sun reports

With the launch of Hunger Games just around the corner, Phillip Island boy Liam Hemsworth is clearly getting in some quality time with girlfriend Miley Cyrus.

The pair, who were at Elton John and David Furnish's annual Oscar viewing party in West Hollywood, reportedly kissed, hugged and held hands throughout the night.

Cyrus looked every inch the LA starlet in a Roberto Cavalli gown.

The pair later headed to the Vanity Fair party to mingle with Aussies including Teresa Palmer (I Am Number Four), Abbie Cornish (W.E.) and Mia Wasikowska (Jane Eyre).

Nicole Kidman was a notable Oscars no-show, despite her publicists last week saying she was heading to LA for the awards.

Opera 'bad boy' Alfie Boe to play with Olivia Newton-John at Sydney Opera House

Alfie Boe is looking forward to catching up and performing with Olivia Newton John at the Sydney Opera House. Picture: John Fotiadis Source: The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph reports

If anyone is a walking example of the repercussions of speaking your mind to the media, it's Alfie Boe.

The opera singer caused classical music aficionados to recoil in horror last year when he remarked to Desert Island Discs on the UK's Radio 4 that he found opera "boring" and never went to see it.

"Boe bites the hand that feeds him!" screamed The Independent. "Should Alfie Boe be knocking the business that made him?" asked the UK's The Daily Telegraph.

Overnight, the softly spoken tenor from Lancashire became opera's Bad Boy, a moniker that, much to Boe's amusement, has stuck.

"I've always been a bit different than your run-of-the-mill opera singer, but being bad? Yeah, that was new," he jokes, pulling an uncomfortable face before bursting into laughter.

Despite having flown long-haul to Sydney a mere 16 hours ago, Boe is in fine spirits, joking with the photographer and mock-covering his face when a magpie swoops dangerously low to his head ("I was dive-bombed by a bat last night," he says. "It got so close to me I could see its horrible little red eyes and smell its breath").

Even Olivia Newton-John - the reason for his visit to Australia (they are performing with the Sydney Symphony over three nights this week) - isn't spared a gag.

"I'm going to give her my room key and just say, 'You know, if you're feeling bored or something like that, come up to my room and we'll see what kind of duet we can come up with!' " he says with a grin.

It seems Boe has waggish repartee for every question shot his way except, unsurprisingly, his Radio 4 confession. Doesn't he find it a bit odd - a classically trained opera singer professing a disinterest in his profession?

"I'm an opera singer and I trained as an opera singer and, yes, I find watching opera boring," he says frankly.

"I love performing opera and I love listening to it at home but watching a production drives me crazy. I get so bored."

Despite this (or perhaps because of it?) Boe, whose first leading role was in Baz Luhrmann's Broadway adaptation of La Boheme 10 years ago, has never been more in demand.

His second studio album Alfie just went platinum, he's singing with Sir Elton John and Sir Paul McCartney at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert in London in June, and he has a cult following on YouTube, thanks to a series of homemade videos he and mate Matt Lucas (of Little Britain fame) posted of themselves singing to musical soundtracks in Lucas' kitchen.

"He's got this amazing voice, which no one really knows about,"Boe says.

"I lived with him for a while, so I got to know him really well and he's just like part of the family now."

Olivia Newton-John And The Sydney Symphony, Sydney Opera House; March 1-3, 8pm, $35-$149, 9250 7777, sydneyoperahouse.com

Zac Efron returning to Sydney and Melbourne in April for world premiere of The Lucky One

 The Lucky One ... Zac Efron is returning to Australia in April. Source: Getty Images

The Daily Telegraph reports

Block your ears - Hollywood pin-up Zac Efron will be in Sydney within weeks for the world premiere of his latest film The Lucky One.

Efron, 24, stars in the Scott Hicks-directed romantic drama alongside Taylor Schilling and Blythe Danner, playing a US Marine sergeant in search of his mystery lover.

The Lucky One world premiere will be held in Melbourne in April, with Efron and Schilling also set to walk the red carpet in Sydney. The film is released on april 19.

Efron visited Sydney in 2007, 2008 with Vanessa Hudgens and 2010 to promote various films, with each visit resulting in hundreds of screaming teenage girls flocking to see the handsome young heart-throb.

Thanks to his starring role in the hugely popular High School Musical film franchise, Efron has become one of Hollywood's most in demand young actors with a massive, loyal fan base.

In recent years he has graduated successfully to more adult roles, appearing in films such as 17 Again, Charlie St. Cloud, and New Year's Eve.

Hicks directed the movie from a Will Fetters screenplay, which was adapted from the bestselling novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks.

Hicks, whose family moved to Adelaide when he was 14, is best known as the Academy Award-nominated director of Shine. His other directorial ventures include Snow Falling on Cedars, No Reservations and The Boys are Back.

Gothic thriller starts filming in Melbourne

Aaron Eckhart stars in I, Frankenstein. Photo: Reuters

The Age reports

A big-budget gothic thriller starring Hollywood A-lister Aaron Eckhart has begun filming in Melbourne.

I, Frankenstein began production at Docklands Film Studios today and will be shot at a number of Victorian locations over the next 10 weeks.

The film stars Eckhart in the title role, alongside Bill Nighy and Australian actors Miranda Otto and Yvonne Strahovski.

The movie tells the tale of Dr. Frankenstein's creature Adam, who, centuries after his birth, finds himself in a gothic city caught in a war between two immortal clans.

I, Frankenstein is written and directed by Australian Stuart Beattie, whose writing credits include Australia and the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. He also wrote and directed Tomorrow, When The War Began.

The film, which is being produced by Hopscotch Features in partnership with Lakeshore Entertainment, has been adapted from the graphic novel of the same name by Kevin Grevioux.

Film Victoria CEO Jenni Tosi said making the film in Victoria cemented the state as Australia's leading production destination.

"Film Victoria worked hard to secure this project for the state and for the local industry, so we're thrilled the talents of Victoria's screen practitioners get to shine on such a high-quality, large-scale production," Ms Tosi said in a statement.

Victorian Minister for Innovation, Services and Small Business Louise Asher said the film had created 500 jobs for cast and crew, and would inject up to $37 million into the state's economy.

I, Frankenstein is due for release in early 2013.

AAP

Shock Oscar win for Australin film editor Kirk Baxter

Kirk Baxter, left, and Angus Wall, pose with their awards for best achievement in film editing for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Source: AP

Peter Mitchell, The Herald Sun, reports

Australian editor Kirk Baxter was lost for words after causing a major upset at the Academy Awards.

Baxter, nominated for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with American colleague Angus Wall, also won the editing Oscar last year for The Social Network.

The Artist's editors, Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius, were the short-priced favourites while Hugo editor Thelma Schoonmaker was the bookmakers' second best pick.

Baxter and Wall were shocked and mumbled their words when they arrived on stage to collect their gold statuettes, telling the A-List audience they did not prepare a speech.

"We weren't expecting this," said Baxter, 40, who grew up on Sydney's northern suburbs and is now based in Los Angeles.

After they attempted to collect themselves but couldn't manage an eloquent speech, Baxter looked at Wall and smiled.

"Let's get out of here," Baxter said, before the pair retreated off stage.

Australia's other nominee, producer Grant Hill, was a 100-1 long-shot with bookmakers.

Hill's film, The Tree of Life, was nominated for best picture, but lost to The Artist.

Nash Edgerton to hunt Osama bin Laden with brother Joel

Nash Edgerton and brother Joel will star together in a new film about hunting down Osama bin Laden. Picture: Rohan Kelly Source: The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph reports

Nash Edgerton will step out from behind the camera with a role in Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow's next film about the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

It will be Edgerton's first Hollywood acting role and he will star alongside none other than his brother Joel, who recently finished filming Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby.

Entertainment Weekly reports Edgerton will play a Navy SEAL in the film, which begins filming in India next month.

Edgerton is best known as a stuntman who has worked on the Star Wars prequels and The Matrix trilogy.

He directed his debut feature The Square in 2008, co-written and co-produced with Joel.

Through their company Blue Tongue Films the brothers are also responsible for the critically acclaimed Animal Kingdom and a series of award-winning short films.

Edgerton recently acted in short film Bear, which played at Sundance, but Bigelow's as yet untitled film will be his first Hollywood acting role.

It will follow the now famous SEAL Team 6 unit in the lead up to killing Osama bin Laden.

The international thriller comes after the success of her last film The Hurt Locker, which won multiple Oscars including best picture and best director.

The Edgerton brothers will co-star with Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Mark Strong, Kyle Chandler and Jennifer Ehle.

The film has a December 19 release date.

Australian actor Jai Courtney cast to play John McClane's son in Bruce Willis's fifth Die Hard film

To play John McClane's son ... Actor Jai Courtney, pictured with Gemma Pranita, has been cast to star opposite Bruce Willis in 'A Good Day to Die Hard'. Picture: Julie Kiriacoudis Source: Herald Sun

The Daily Telegraph reports

Australian actor Jai Courtney has been cast to play opposite Bruce Willis in the next Die Hard movie, A Good Day to Die Hard.

Courtney, best known for his role as Varro in TV series Spartacus: Blood and Sand, will play everyman hero John McClane's son Jack in the fifth movie in the franchise, A Good Day to Die Hard.

The new film, which will be directed by John Moore, will be set in Moscow, Russia, where John McClane and his estranged son Jack take on the locals.

In a press release from 20th Century Fox, Courtney's character is described as "even be more of a hard-ass than his father".

A who's who of upcoming Hollywood actors auditioned for the role, but in the end it came down to Courtney and fellow Aussie Liam Hemsworth, who is starring in another action sequel The Expendables 2.

The film studio also released an image of Courtney's screen test with Willis.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who played McClane's estranged daughter in the last sequel, is not expected to be part of the new film, which will begin production in April, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Walking in the footsteps of the stars of A Few Best Men

The Blue Mountains is a region in NSW famous for its stunning vistas, incredible rock formations and popular attractions such as The Three Sisters and Scenic World. But we’re not just here to enjoy beautiful landscapes and fun rides; our friend Arielle, Michael and I are spending a weekend walking in the footsteps of the stars of Stephan Elliott’s successful wedding comedy A Few Best Men.

Principal exterior photography for the movie starring Olivia Newton-John, Xavier Samuel, Laura Brent, Rebel Wilson, Kris Marshall, Kevin Bishop and Tim Draxl took place at historic Yester Grange Estate, located a few minutes’ drive from Wentworth Falls. The house and guest cottages are nestled in 20 acres of parkland and feature breathtaking views over the Jamison Valley.

While Arielle Guittard, co-creator and co-administrator of the French Olivia Newton-John blog (www.newtonjohn.blogspot.com), Michael and I marvel at the beauty of the Blue Mountains, we are also surprised by the silence that surrounds us. For most of our time at Yester Grange, we have the entire property to ourselves. Apart from the birdsong and sound of an occasional leaf dropping from a tree, the “Big Quiet” at Yester Grange is only broken by nightly Karaoke sessions taking place in the lounge room of our quaint Gatehouse cottage (http://www.yestergrange.com.au/bluemountainscottages.html).

After traumatising local wildlife with our renditions of classics such as A Little More Love, Heart Attack, Xanadu and I Honestly Love You, to mention just a few, we are well on our way to stardom and very much looking forward to joining Olivia on stage when she realises just how incredibly talented we really are and how lucky she would be to have us as backing singers... NOT!

Needless to say that the weekend is spent snapping away madly and filming every corner of Yester Grange. The estate is so photogenic that it’s literally impossible to take a bad picture. Special thanks go to Dean McComb for opening up the main house to us, for giving us a tour of the premises and for sharing anecdotes about the making of A Few Best Men. Below is a selection of my pictures with screen grabs from the movie to put the shots into context.

If you are visiting Australia and Sydney in particular, I highly recommend a side-trip to the Blue Mountains. Olivia fans and movie goers who enjoyed A Few Best Men will definitely be taken with a stay at Yester Grange…

Oh...and anyone seeking backing singers, you know who to call!

Cheers, Luke

Main house and gardens of Yester Grange

Luke relaxing in the gardens of Yester Grange (top) and wedding scene (bottom)

View of the main gate dressed with a prop (the Yester sign) for the movie

The main gate without the prop

The main entrance of the house

The verandah at the back of the house overlooking the gardens

The entrance and verandah at the back of the house

A function room used for several sequences including the Olivia “line ‘em up!” coke scene

Another shot of the verandah: Luke & Michael (top), Rebel, Jonathan, Olivia, Kevin, Tim and Kris (bottom)

Back door on the verandah painted white in the movie (left) and blue nowadays (right)

Tree-lined gravel path leading to the back of the house and gardens

View from the gardens: beautiful Jamison Valley

Flat Rock, the location used for the sauna scenes

Luke, Michael and Arielle enjoying the peace and quiet and beauty of Yester Grange

The Straits begins to fire up

Firess Dirani and Brian Cox star in ABC's The Straits. Source: Supplied

Graeme Blundell, The Australian, reports

After a slowish if still diverting start, this classy new crime series set in the magical, tropical north has really picked up speed.

It's the story of a kind of average Australian family who happen to be modern-day smugglers. Their business, run from Cairns, is transporting drugs into the far north of Australia and moving guns and exotic wildlife out, making use of their extensive ties of blood and hard-won loyalty in the islands.

Harry Montebello, played with great skill and empathy by British actor Brian Cox, is the family patriarch. He's of Maltese extraction and once ran with the gangs in his home town of London. Escaping his gangster father's influence, he came to Australia to work the prawn trawlers and married the exotic Kitty (Rena Owen), born in the Strait to an Islander woman and Maori father.

Unable to bear children, and using the generous traditions of Islander adoption, she and her husband took in Noel and Marou (Aaron Fa'Aoso and Jimi Bani) from her extended family. Later they were joined by Gary (Firass Dirani), the orphan son of Harry's cousin, and Sissi (Suzannah Bayes-Morton), their PNG housemaid's daughter.

At the start of the series Harry put his children to the test, to establish who is best capable of running the family business when he's gone.

And in doing so this hard man, so adept at maintaining order, set his family on a slide into chaos. Tonight he's still lying in hospital, shot by a hired assassin who was himself killed by his sons, who feed his body to the crocodiles in the family wildlife farm.

Noel has also blown up the clubhouse of the DC Outlaw Motorcycle Gang, killing the outfit's president in the process. Tonight it's still unravelling. Noel's siblings are angry with his "crash or crash through" style.

It's enthralling; The Straits is our first gangster western. It rivals anything of the sort being turned by the big US cable production houses.

The Straits, Thursday 8.30pm, ABC1

Peter Andre flies back to Australia to see his cancer-stricken brother Andrew in hospital

Mercy dash back to Australia: Singer Peter Andre's brother Andrew is fighting for his life after being diagnosed with stomach cancer. Source: AP

The Daily Telegraph reports

Devastated Peter Andre has jetted back to Australia to hold a bedside vigil for his elder brother, who has been struck down by cancer.

The singer, 38, dropped everything and jumped on the next plane to Australia after learning the horrific news that Andrew Andre, 52, had stomach cancer.

Leaving his two kids with mum Katie Price - aka Jordan - Peter went straight to hospital to see his seriously ill brother after he had landed in Australia.

"Pete has been knocked for six by this," a friend told The Sun in the UK.

"He found out last week that Andrew was ill with cancer and that it was actually really serious.

"He was in Africa but once he got back to England he flew straight out to Oz to be with his family.

"He's left the kids with Katie and has told them that he'll hopefully be back next week.

"His other brother, Michael, has gone out there too. It's a real nightmare for everyone. Pete is so upset and worried for Andrew."

Last night Pete said: "At the moment I'm not sure when I'll be back as I want to stay here for as long as Andrew needs me."

The friend added that Andrew will undergo several life-saving operations this week to try to remove the cancer.

He added: "Andrew is seriously ill and while the doctors have acted quickly by locating the cancer and making plans to operate, nothing is being taken for granted. It's a very tense time indeed."

Andrew lives with his wife Magda on the Gold Coast.

Cast of AFL film take giant leap into training

Skills on the up: Actors in the football movie Blinder, which is being filmed at Torquay, work on their sporting prowess. Photo: Rebecca Hallas

Karl Quinn, The Age, reports

When Glenn Archer signed on as one of the producers of the footy film Blinder, he fully expected to contribute his expertise as well as his dollars. But on his first day on the Torquay set of the movie yesterday, the former North Melbourne great was relieved he'd had second thoughts about the skills training.

''It's pretty exciting that we're doing this but gee, it's a bit boring,'' Archer said of the interminable waiting around that constitutes the typical working day on a movie set. ''I'm glad I decided to handball the training.''

Archer outsourced the task to his old mate Michael Tout, a former Fitzroy player. ''I had them all last week for three or four hours a day, working mostly on kicking and marking,'' says ''Touty'', as he is universally known, of his cast of mostly AFL virgins. ''We don't start shooting the footy scenes until April, so I'll be working with them whenever I can until then, to get their skills up to scratch.''

Blinder tells the story of Tom, a promising footballer (Oliver Ackland, who played the young soapie star Rhys on TV drama The Slap) who gets caught up in a scandal. The phrase ''St Kilda schoolgirl'' seems to hover over proceedings, but Kiwi actors Rose McIver and Anna Hutchison, who play the sisters at the heart of the scandal, are admirably tight-lipped on the details. Tom flees to America, becomes a kicker in the NFL and a decade later comes home to try to clear his name.

The genesis of Blinder was a script written in 1998 by Scott Didier. He worked with a number of directors over the years trying to develop it, but it wasn't until he met Richard Gray that the project finally took off.

''He was commercial, and that really mattered to me,'' says Didier. ''I couldn't ask people to invest in it if I didn't think there was a chance they'd get a return.''

Gray was fresh off his cinema debut Summer Coda and on his way to America to make his second, a thriller called Mine Games. Blinder - which Gray and his wife Michelle Davis-Gray have co-written with Didier - is the third film the 31-year-old has made in the past two years, an astonishing feat in an industry where directors can often wait a decade between drinks.

Telemovie on James Hardie asbestos saga, Devil's Dust, set for ABC

 

Actors Anthony Hayes, Ewen Leslie, and Don Hany will star in Devil's Dust. Picture: Darren Tindale / Source: Herald Sun

Fiona Byrne, The Herald Sun, reports

Logie winner Don Hany will lead a star cast in a new ABC telemovie telling of the harrowing James Hardie asbestos saga.

Hany will be joined by Anthony Hayes and Ewen Leslie in the two-part mini-series, Devil's Dust, which tells the story of Bernie Banton, the James Hardie worker who gave a public face to the battle for compensation for asbestos victims.

Hayes, known for roles in The Slap and Look Both Ways, will play Banton.

Leslie will play investigative journalist Matt Peacock who wrote a book about Banton's battle, while Hany, who earned great acclaim for his roles on East West 101 and Offspring, has been cast as a spin doctor.

Filming will get underway in Sydney on March 19.

"It is a very important story to tell," Hayes said.

"It is something that shocked me when I read the script. I knew parts of it, but not the full extent. By 2030 there will be more deaths in Australia from asbestos than from WW1.

"It is horrific, it is absolutely horrific."

Hayes said Banton, who died in November 2007 aged 61 after a long battle with the asbestos cancer mesothelioma, was an inspiring figure.

"A lot of people fight for lots of causes, but to be directly affected by the very cause that you are fighting for and to fight for other people until the day you die is pretty extraordinary,'' he said.

"You know you are running out of time so you have to push harder, despite the fact you can barely get out of bed, you can barely breathe. It takes quite an exceptional person to do that.''

Devil's Dust will be produced by FremantleMedia Australia, and is based on Peacock's book Killer Company.

Romantic reunion of a kind on stage for Olivia

Before heading to Sydney for the Opera House concerts, Olivia will be performing in Perth and Melbourne. Seats for the Sydney shows are available on the Sydney Symphony website (banner above).

Suzanne Carbone, The Age, reports

Olivia Newton-John has several reasons to be counting down the days to her performances with the Melbourne Pops Orchestra at the Regent Theatre.

Singing her favourite songs during the A Summer Night concerts is one reason and the other is having Daryl Braithwaite as her special guest. The two used to be classmates at Christ Church Grammar School in South Yarra and sang in the choir together.

''He was a sweet boy then and he's a lovely man now,'' Newton-John said. ''I get to sing a lot of my songs through the ages. I'm really excited because he's a great singer.''

The way Braithwaite remembers it, they may have held hands for a second and he recalled the childhood crush in his Melbourne Life column last November.

What a thrill it would be if the duo sang the Grease hit Summer Nights to relive their school days.

Otherwise, Newton-John has a packed catalogue of songs to choose from: Hopelessly Devoted to You, I Honestly Love You, Have You Never Been Mellow?, Let It Shine, Xanadu, Magic and Physical.

The Grease star, who revived her movie career in the Australian A Few Best Men and features on the soundtrack, is happily married to John Easterling and after her fight with breast cancer in 1992, she's fighting fit.

One day in winter will also be momentous for the singer because her long-awaited Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre will be opened by Austin Health in July.

''It will be a wonderful place of healing,'' she said.

Olivia Newton-John performs A Summer Night with the Melbourne Pops Orchestra at the Regent Theatre on Monday and Tuesday at 8pm

Colin Hay revels in every arena

Colin Hay has a strong work ethic. Source: Supplied

Pete Best, The Herald Sun, reports

Colin Hay is back on the road and the former Men At Work frontman is enjoying every minute of it.

Q. You're doing a long run of gigs and in some modest venues. Would you rather play before 20,000 people, or 200?

A. It doesn't matter. You play to the audience that's in front of you. I have had some of the best nights of my life playing before 200 people, and I've had some of the best nights of my life playing in front of 150,000 people.

Q. Some artists resent having to play from their back catalogue each night. Do you?

A. I have no problem with it. There was a time there when I didn't want to play the songs from Men At Work. But I developed relationships with the songs themselves. If it didn't feel good playing them, I wouldn't, but they've looked after me all these years, so I have a very good relationship with all the songs.

Q. Some songs on your album (Gathering Mercury) are influenced by your father's death. At the time, you were 20 streets away from his birthplace in Glasgow. Why were you there?

A. I was playing a show on a ferry on the River Clyde. I didn't know that he'd died. I found out after finishing playing. The whole night had a bleak Glaswegian poetic aspect to it. It was pouring with rain.

Q. Paul McCartney has said he wished he'd written Gerry Marsden's Ferry Cross The Mersey. What's a song of someone else's that you wish you'd written?

A. So many. Waterloo Sunset. Any number of Lennon-McCartney songs. I wish I'd written Blackberry Way.

Q. That's a 1969 hit by The Move, a sort of dark reply to Penny Lane ...

A. The first line goes, "Blackberry Way, absolutely pouring down with rain. It's a terrible day."

He's back in Glasgow.

------------

AN EVENING WITH COLIN HAY
Playhouse, Arts Centre Melbourne, 8.30pm Saturday. Tonight: Sale. Tomorrow: Warragul. Friday: Geelong.

Less viewers tuning in to Packed to the Rafters

Rebecca Gibney on set of Packed to the Rafters. Picture: Rohan Kelly / Source: Herald Sun

Colin Vickery, The Herald Sun, reports

Is the Packed to the Rafters phenomenon on the wane?

Last night’s episode of the popular Aussie drama was seen by 1.482 million viewers nationally.

It comes after last week’s return episodes were seen by 1.439 million and 1.247 million viewers – some of the lowest ever figures for the show.

Rafters still easily won its time slot, but with figures that were well off the 2 million viewers it averaged in its heyday.

Media analyst Steve Allen says Rafters, which stars Rebecca Gibney, Erik Thomson and Hugh Sheridan, is “faded but not fallen”.

“This has lost some of its gloss,” Mr Allen said.

It is possible that Rafters has suffered a viewer backlash. People were angry last year when Seven stopped the show early to make way for Winners & Losers.

Seven only showed 15 episodes of Rafters in 2011.

Rafters has also been hit by the loss of Logie-winning actress Jessica Marais, who quit to take up acting opportunities in the USA.

Jessica McNamee, currently being seen in US movie The Vow, and Zoe Ventoura also left the show.

Rafters dropped from Seven’s 7.30pm show My Kitchen Rules, which averaged 1.682 million viewers nationally last night.

Rival shows Two and a Half Men (706,000) and 671,000) and NCIS (847,000) languished.

Mr Allen predicts that the Rafters will bounce back, though perhaps not to the 2 million mark.

“Packed to the Rafters is under attack but we feel the programme will recover lost ground in the next few weeks.”

Former Beverly Hills 90210 star Jason Priestley in Sydney to launch Foxtel channel FX and promote his show Call Me Fritz

"I cannot be upset with Brandon Walsh" ... 'Call Me Fitz' star Jason Priestley, fondly known for his role in 90s drama 'Beverly Hills, 90210'. Picture: Craig Greenhill Source: The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph reports

Former '90s heart-throb Jason Priestley is in Sydney this week promoting his new TV show 'Call Me Fitz' and to help launch a new Fox International entertainment channel called FX.

Yesterday Confidential sat down with the Beverly Hills, 90210star turned father of two to talk about being a dad and the Brandon Walsh legacy.

You've brought your wife Naomi and children, Ava, 4, and Dashiell, 2, with you Down Under. Is that difficult?

It's a challenge to travel with kids that are the age of mine. Certainly on a flight that's as long as LA to Sydney. When you get into the 15th hour they start to get pretty restless. But my kids are pretty good travellers. The flight home may be a different story but we'll see.

We've had sightings of you all over town - Aquarium, Luna Park, Cafe Sydney. What's been the best?

The Bridge Climb. What surprised me the most was the whole fiasco about getting the Opera House built and how it went $98 million over budget and took 10 years instead of two years. It's such an important piece of architecture but the actual story is definitely the most interesting aspect.

How do you think your new show will go here in Australia?

You guys like to swear a lot and give each other the finger a lot of the time and those are the kinds of things that happen a lot on our show.

Do you think you'll ever escape 90210?

That was one nine-year chunk of my life and of my career - I had a pretty successful career before that and I've had a pretty successful career after that. It was one stop along the way. It was the predecessor for a lot of these younger-skewed shows that are on TV now. And we got lambasted by every critic. It was a critical disaster but for some reason it resonated with a lot of people.

Do you mind constantly being called a 90210 star?

The thing with playing an iconic character like Brandon Walsh is if people always remember me for that, that's fine. It's nothing I can get upset about.

Do you hang out with any of your former co-stars?

Not really, no. I'm still friends with Luke (Perry) and Ian (Ziering) and Brian (Austin Green) but that's about it. We were just a group of people that worked together.

What is your favourite television show right now?

Breaking Bad. It's a remarkable achievement, that show.

You were a professional race car driver for 11 years. How's retirement?

Good. I stood on a lot of podiums and sprayed a lot of champagne and am still here to talk about it, which is a successful career.