Famous shark arm murder link to new TV show

[Nergal]

 

THE storylines on forensic crime drama Harrow have been inspired by real Australian crimes and set in Brisbane in a move the show’s producers hope will be a game-changer for the genre.

The 10-episode ABC series, in which Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd plays Brisbane forensic pathologist Dr Daniel Harrow, premiered in a screening at Brisbane’s GOMA yesterday before it airs on Friday.

Executive producer Leigh McGrath, who co-wrote the series with Secrets & Lies’ Stephen M. Irwin, said one of the episodes was inspired by the 1935 Shark Arm Murder in Sydney, which involved a large tiger shark being captured and put in Coogee Aquarium Baths where it vomited up a human arm. Investigators later found it had been severed with a knife, sparking a murder investigation.

“We were thinking about the shows we loved as kids, like The Rockford Files and Quincy … and they all had strong central characters, like House or Rake, that pushed the boundaries and aren’t immediately likeable,” McGrath said.

“Once Harrow grew we started looking for the kind of crime stories we had never seen before. We would scour newspapers and look for anything that was really unusual,” McGrath said.

“In episode three we find an arm inside a crocodile, which is based on the 1930s shark arm murders in Sydney.”

Harrow, the first international drama for Disney’s ABC Studios International, was filmed throughout Brisbane last year as well as on the Sunshine Coast.
“(Brisbane) has got the tropical heat and humidity which I think adds a different feel to a forensic drama,” McGrath said. “Normally they are cold, they are scandi noir. We went the opposite. Imagine finding a body covered in maggots in the heat.”

While Dr Harrow lives in a boat on the Brisbane River, his forensic lab is based on the heritage-listed Brisbane Dental College on Turbot St which includes sweeping shots of Brisbane City Hall.

Gruffudd, 44, who returned to Brisbane for yesterday’s screening, said he was nothing like the genius scientist he plays and got a “wave of nausea” every time he saw blood on set. “Obviously, studying the arts and music, medicine or anything maths or science is not my strong point at all,” he said.