Richard Cawthorne as Dennis
Allen and David Wenham as Andrew Fraser in Killing Time. Picture: Craig Borrow Source: Supplied
Darren Devlyn, The Daily
Telegraph, reports
Andrew Fraser is the
former silvertail solicitor whose drug-fuelled fall from grace earned him a
stretch in Victoria's Port Phillip Prison.
David Wenham is one of Australia's most
accomplished actors, with a string of credits includingThe Lord of the Rings, Moulin Rouge, 300, Van Helsing and SeaChange. In an inspired piece of casting,
Wenham took on the role of Fraser in Killing Time, which
ranks as one of the most outstanding local TV productions in years.
Fraser, who defended the likes of violent drug lord
Dennis Allen, Jimmy Krakouer, Alan Bond and those accused of the Walsh St
murders, has offered insight into the TV dramatisation of his life.
"Have you ever wondered what it would be like
to watch your life dissected before your eyes with every fault and foible
exposed for all to see," Fraser asks. "I have had it happen to me and
can tell you it is extraordinarily confronting yet exciting, all at once.
"When I decided to write my first two books -
Court in the Middle and Lunatic Soup - I made a conscious decision to tell my
story, warts and all so when TV1 commissioned the books to become Killing Time
I was under no misapprehension I was in for a fluffy, feel-good piece glossing
over my total fall from grace.
"Once I met Ian David (writer of another
standout piece of Aussie TV, Blue Murder), Ian made it clear he would write a
hard-hitting series laying bare not only me, but the Melbourne legal
fraternity, the coppers and the law.
"He certainly delivered. I spent many hours
with the script-writing team and was impressed how fanatical they were to make
sure the series was as accurate as possible, even if it meant painting me in a
less than favourable light. To watch your life unravel in slow motion is like
watching a train wreck. You don't want to look but you feel compelled to."
There are many frightful moments in Killing Time, none more memorable than Malcolm Kennard,
as underworld figure Victor Peirce, having a vice-like grip on the ankles of a
dead bikie. The bikie is headfirst in a 44-gallon drum in the scruffy backyard
of a house in Melbourne's inner-suburban Richmond. A clinical Peirce jolts
downward on the body, but it simply won't squeeze into the drum. The problem is
solved when his crazed brother Dennis Allen (Richard Cawthorne) appears on the
scene with a chainsaw.
Kennard's take on Peirce is that the criminal,
gunned down in his car in Port Melbourne in 2002, was a tightly coiled
individual who, without warning, could explode in rage. Cawthorne was equally
powerful on screen and a revelation as unhinged drug dealer Dennis Allen.
"The casting of David Wenham as me is inspired,"
Fraser says. "He has nailed me. Colin Friels as my old client Lewis Moran
and Richard Cawthorne as Mr Death, Dennis Allen, are the standout supporting
cast. Lewis was understated, whereas Dennis was as mad as a March hare, right
out there. Richard's portrayal is breathtaking."
Killing Time, Channel 7,
Sunday, 8.30pm
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