Phoebe Tonkin is to star in and govt produce a brand new Australian TV crime drama collection, “The Darkish Lake,” primarily based on a novel by Sarah Bailey.

The collection is to be produced by Brouhaha Leisure, the Australia-U.Ok. outfit headed by veteran producers Gabrielle Tana, Troy Lum and Andrew Mason. The corporate lately delivered Netflix’s Brisbane set “Boy Swallows Universe,” during which Tonkin additionally stars.

Manufacturing and financing particulars weren’t disclosed and the collection has not revealed a director or a broadcast or streaming partnership.

The story follows Gemma (portrayed by Tonkin) as she is pressured to confront the secrets and techniques of her previous when assigned to the homicide of her highschool nemesis in her small and tight-knit hometown. By way of regulation enforcement, Gemma anchors herself to the dichotomy of proper and improper, in an effort to redeem her personal deeply compromised selections.

“The collection investigates the ethical workings of a grief engulfed lady torn between the dedication to her work, the love for her son and the temptation of her indulgences,” Brouhaha mentioned.   

The collection is tailored from Australian author Bailey’s debut novel of the identical title, which can also be the primary guide in The Gemma Woodstock collection. It received each the 2018 Davitt Award for greatest crime debut and the 2018 Ned Kelly award for greatest first crime. Bailey has written two different books within the collection, “Into the Night time,” set at nighttime alleyways of Melbourne, and “The place the Useless Go,” primarily based in a small coastal neighborhood. Bailey is at the moment engaged on a fourth guide within the collection.

Bailey will likely be intently concerned within the adaptation and work with screen-writer Becca Johnstone whose upcoming credit embrace the function movies “Addition” and “Ascent.”

Tonkin is greatest identified for her performances in “The Vampire Diaries,” “Babylon,” “Protected Harbour” and the current “Boy Swallows Universe,” during which she performs a mom and recovering drug addict. She additionally starred in 2015 shark film “Bait 3D.”

“We now have been ready for years to search out the actress that might play Gemma Woodstock. She is feisty, complicated and good and has a loyal fanbase of readers. Phoebe’s efficiency in Boy Swallows Universe blew us away and we knew we lastly had an actress who might do Gemma justice,” mentioned Lum.

“I had such an exquisite collaborative expertise on ‘Boy Swallows Universe,’ and I’m excited to proceed this artistic relationship with ‘The Darkish Lake’,” mentioned Tonkin.

Brouhaha, which has monetary backing from U.Ok. investor Calculus Artistic Leisure, is behind Karim Ainouz’s first English-language movie “Firebrand” and the Man Pearce-starring New Zealand-set motion function “The Convert,” which is at the moment in post-production.