New 8-episode Desert Rose drama series from Quizzical Pictures with ensemble cast led by Neil Sandilands to debut on M-Net on 2 June with a new South African small-town story.

by Thinus Ferreira

M-Net's latest local drama series, Desert Rose, produced by Quizzical Pictures, will premiere on Thursday 2 June at 20:30 with another small-town story, similar to its current Recipes for Love and Murder.

MultiChoice's video streaming service Showmax initially announced Desert Rose as a Showmax Original but hasn't said anything about its development or production since. 

There's been no explanation for the switch of Desert Rose from Showmax to M-Net, and neither Showmax nor M-Net made any announcement when the series pickup changed platforms.

 

M-Net describes the 8-episode Desert Rose, set on a remote farm in the Northern Cape province, as "an evocative, emotional, quirky and cinematic new family-centred drama" that "mixes black comedy, suspense, crime, romance, sexiness and music while focusing on the unlikely reconnecting of a father and his children".

Desert Rose is directed by Cindy Lee and was written by screenwriter and showrunner Rohan Dickson.

Desert Rose stars Neil Sandilands as an erstwhile musician, who also wrote and performed much of the music in the drama series, accompanied by Theo Crous and Georgio Frazer Barry.

The rest of the Desert Rose ensemble cast includes Amalia Uys, Kai Luke Brümmer, Christia Visser, Tinarie van Wyk (also seen in Recipes for Love and Murder), Daniah de Villiers, Brandon Daniels, comedian Ben Voss, Tracy Lee Oliver, Danny Ross, Roeline Daneel, Craig Urbani, Melt Sieberhagen and David Viviers.

Desert Rose tells the story of the disenfranchised and the forgotten in a desert town through the Greyling family.

According to M-Net (DStv 101), Desert Rose "emotional and rooted in character, is a love letter to the misfit; to loss, loneliness and eccentricity; to broken relationships – and to South Africa itself".

"Inspired by Americana – highways, diners and gas stations – and thorny family drama with a quirky heart, prepare to explore the crossroads where the ordinary meets the extraordinary."

In Desert Rose, Eben Greyling, the young son of an absent father refuses a request from the family's benefactor Van As to go fishing. This breaks the shackles of a long-time agreement – but the debt will not disappear and someone has to pay. 

The consequences of the broken agreement set off a series of escalating events as the family is forced to confront the mayhem that is sent their way.

Besides linear broadcast on M-Net, Desert Rose will also be available on MultiChoice's DStv Catch Up.

TV REVIEW. Put the light on bright for M-Net’s shaky Reyka local crime drama series.

by Thinus Ferreira

 6 TVs

With perhaps too many shaky-cam close-up shots, Reyka as M-Net's latest broody, hunt-the-killer local drama series tells a greyish-and-blue tinted story within a sugarcane field setting that's fine enough, although not excellent, for 8 weeks of Sunday night whodunnit?-entertainment.

In short, Reyka is like Prodigal Son and Silence of the Lambs (if done as a TV series), set among the lush yet ominous sugarcane plantations of KwaZulu-Natal where a woman with issues of her own, works to catch a serial killer by mining the mind of the man who abducted her as a child.

Done with a muted palette and a sombering grey-blue tint, Kim Engelbrecht is the current-time, older Reyka, a crime profiler hunting a serial killer. Gabrielle de Gama nimbly portrays the young Reyka.

Reyka strongly reminds of Kate Winslet in the recent Mare of Easttown, tracking down an elusive murderer (that will surely come with the obligatory surprise twist-reveal) whilst battling her own demons, trauma and internal insecurities.

The script, from screenwriter and creator Rohan Dickson also responsible for e.tv's Scandal! and SABC3's High Rollers, is likely inspired by the gruesome real-life story of Thozamile Taki, known as the Sugarcane Killer who was convicted in 2011 of the murder of 13 young women he buried in the sugarcane fields around Umzinto in 2007.

Produced by Quizzical Pictures and Serena Cullen Productions together with Fremantle UK as an M-Net Original crime drama, Reyka is perhaps peppered with too many shaky-cam close-up shots to help craft a claustrophobic, character-in-uncertainty-and-stress atmosphere that never lets up.

Especially Ian Roberts, Anna-Mart van der Merwe and Kenneth Nkosi are disciplined in their understated portrayals of respectively John Tyrone, mom Elsa and Msomi.

The Scottish Iain Glen, cast thanks to Fremantle, is an absolute star as banana farmer Angus Speelman now in an orange jumper who abducted girls with the help of his wife Portia (Nokuthula Mavuso).

Kim Engelbrecht's progression from former Isidingo starlet to meatier roles and gaining valuable experience in international series like the SA-filmed Dominion and recently in The Flash, is very convincing as the emotionally overwrought, obsessive, and filled-with-secrets, Reyka.  

Thando Thabethe imbues her role as Constable Nandi Cele with a resolute earnestness and Gerald Steyn pops up after Trackers, Lioness and his recent doctor-turn in kykNET's Binnelanders. 

Desmond Dube is also back in another dramatic role as if he has to again prove that he can do so much more than Clientele infomercials in his latest role of Zik, the community's spiritual leader.

Broken relationships, difficulty communicating, uncovering hidden secrets under the surface (in sugar cane fields), light and darkness, as well as a "new South Africa" that moved but that never truly did and that remains scared, terrorised, collectively wondering and captured, are all thematic elements and metaphors woven into the story of Reyka.

Be forewarned: Some on-screen gruesomeness are par for the cause in a catch-the-killer crime drama, with Reyka that is possibly best watched with the lights on, and on bright, on a Sunday night.

Reyka is on M-Net (DStv 101) on Sundays at 20:00, and starts on Sunday 25 July

M-Net and Fremantle partner up with new 8-episode KZN sugarfields set crime drama thriller, Reyka, produced by Quizzical Pictures and Serena Cullen Productions.

M-Net and Fremantle have announced a new jointly done crime drama series, Reyka, that will be filmed in South Africa and distributed internationally, and that will be co-produced by Serena Cullen Productions in the United Kingdom and South Africa's Quizzical Pictures.

Reyka as a contemporary crime thriller in 8 episodes, will be shown on M-Net (DStv 101) will be distributed globally by Fremantle.

M-Net tells TVwithThinus that production of Reyka will start in early-2019, with a local broadcast date on the M-Net 101 channel that has to be confirmed. 

Reyka, titled after the lead character Reyka Gama, is set against the tropical coastline and vast sugarcane fields of KwaZulu-Natal, and will follow the story of a flawed by brilliant female detective, haunted by her past.

Reyka will start in 1994 at the end of apartheid and a new dawn in South Africa as Reyka, the 11-year old daughter of African and British parents is abducted. Having escaped her tormentor, she now lives her life as a mother and investigative detective.

Reyka returns to her home town to lead the investigation into a serial killer who is behind a string of brutal murders where victims' burnt bodies are being found in sugarcane fields. 

"Caught between hope for new beginnings and living with the horrors of the past, Reyka's worlds collide and reveal a dark secret of her own," says M-Net and Fremantle in a statement.

Reyka is created by screenwriter and showrunner Rohan Dickson, with the UK-based Jake Riddell as story consultant and writer.

Reyka will be jointly produced by Serena Cullen for Serena Cullen Productions in the United Kingdom and Harriet Gavshon of Quizzical Pictures in South Africa. 

The executive producers are Serena Cullen, Harriet Gavshon and Rohan Dickson. Jan du Plessis will executive produce for M-Net and Sarah Doole for Fremantle.

Yolisa Phahle, CEO of general entertainment at the MultiChoice Group, says "This partnership with Fremantle is the perfect way to shine the spotlight on the African film and television industry and provides compelling new stories for global audiences beyond African shores".

"With more than 13.5 million subscribers in Africa and several international awards for our scripted content, we are already the leading African storyteller on the continent. With an esteemed distributor like Fremantle at our side, we can now share our talent and unique content globally."

Sarah Doole, Fremantle's director of global drama, says "We are proud to partner with MultiChoice Group for our first South African drama. A compelling story, Reyka brings modern day South Africa and its rainbow nation of different communities and cultures to the global stage".

"Reyka is a very distinctive lead and watching her complex life unfold in this diverse landscape adds a new dimension to the crime drama genre."

Shake-up at SABC3's Isidingo in front of and behind the scenes as Kgomotso Christopher exits; head writer Rohan Dickson now the new show runner.

There's yet another shake-up in front of, and behind, the scenes at SABC3's ratings challenged local soap Isidingo with Kgomotso Christopher who've exited the soap and head writer Rohan Dickson taking over as new show runner.

Viewers will see Kgomotso Christopher as Katlego Sibeko for the last time on 13 April, a role she's portrayed for half a decade that's abruptly coming to an end. 

Production company Endemol Shine who've kept the actress' departure under wraps isn't saying why Kgomotso Christopher is leaving. The actress says she wants to explore new acting roles.

"We will miss and thank her for the pivotal and positive part she's played," says Sivan Pillay, Endemol Shine CEO. "Kgomotso's talent, grace, charm and absolute professionalism will be missed by cast, crew and fans alike".

The soap that will turn 18 in August struggles in the ratings race, overshadowed by the American soap The Bold and the Beautiful that lures more viewers than the expensive local production on SABC3, and paling in viewership comparison and buzz to other soaps of the public broadcaster like Uzalo, Muvhango, 7de Laan and Mzansi Magic's (DStv 161) isiBaya.

Behind the scenes Rohan Dickson who has been Isidingo's head writer for two years and had to rebuild the gutted writing team is now taking over from Pumla Hopa as executive producer of Isidingo, while Leo Phiri has been promoted to the producer on the soap. 

Pumla Hopa who had steered the soap for many years will now help with new scripted programming projects at Endemol Shine in the production company's scripted entertainment division headed up by Sam Shale.

"The combined strengths of Rohan Dickson and Leo Phiri will lead Isidingo into a new era," says Sivan Pillay. "It's an exciting time for cast and crew alike".

Rohan Dickson says "our talented team at Isidingo is passionately committed to this new adventure. Horizon Deep has many twists and turns, shocks and scandals in the pipeline".

SABC3's Isidingo on its controversial, Oscar Pistorius murder case inspired shooting death: 'We don't shy away from tackling prevalent subjects'.

As South African viewers are reacting negatively to a fictitious shooting death in the SABC3 soap Isidingo inspired by the real-life case of Oscar Pistorius killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, the show says the weekday soap is "inspired by the things people are thinking about and talking about".

SABC3 and Isidingo viewers are unhappy with what they say is a shameless exploitation of the real-life tragedy when the paralympic athlete shot and killed his girlfriend on 14 February, Valentines Day, last year. He is now in the dock on a charge of premeditated murder - a case which is resuming in the North Gauteng High Court on Monday.

On Monday night Isidingo viewers saw the character of Bradley, an athlete with aggressive tendencies, shoot and kill his own father who he mistook for a burglar in the dark after his dad was standing behind a door in the dark.

"Isidingo is inspired by the things that people are thinking about and talking about," Rohan Dickson, Isidingo's head writer tells TV with Thinus.

"The Oscar trial, like many other issues in the country at the moment, has unearthed a number of themes - some universal, some specific to South Africans. Where better to explore these themes than in the fictional context of television?"

"We are interested in the themes, not the fact of the trial. Isidingo has always reflected the moral conflict,social issues and contextual storylines of the day in dramatic form, and this is no different," says Rohan Dickson.

"If our programmes reflect how people feel, it deepens how they feel about the show and develops our relationship with our audience".

Asked why the storyline was developed and introduced, Rohan Dickson says "to entertain our audience".

"We want them to talk about what they're seeing on the screen and an honest reflection of life in South Africa is a way of stimulating that".

"We don't shy away from tackling prevalent subjects. I believe Isidingo has a responsibility to reflect life in South Africa in the most authentic and dramatic way possible. It's what sets us apart from all the other soap operas".

Will there be a court room drama for the character of Bradley in Isidingo similar to the sensational Oscar Pistorius murder trial, beamed to The Deep's fictional inhabitants on the fictional ON.TV, with Bradley helped by his wealthy uncle Barker Haines?

"What happens to Bradley Haines is original and true to his character and circumstances," says Rohan Dickson.

"It is a fictitious storyline that is not dictated to by any actual events. The audience can expect thrills and surprises that will be unlike anything they have experienced in real-life or on TV".