Several online publications have included Banished in their 2015 shows to look forward to. The series will broadcast on BBC2 in the UK and BBC First in Australia. No broadcast date has been revealed yet.

Jimmy McGovern, creator of Cracker, is the main writer on this tale of the foundation of Australia, in which Wenham plays Governor Phillip. Because we have to study it at school, we think it's boring, but McGovern says: "How the first convicts survived is the best story I've come across in over 30 years as a dramatist. When you've got something like that, you don't worry about the narrative; you just concentrate on the characters. That is what we did. Consequently I don't think I've ever written anything so character-driven." SMH

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