If you think period dramas are all corsets, tea parties, and brooding glances across candlelit ballrooms, Australia's latest TV sensation turns that idea upside down. My Brilliant Career isn’t just being called the most empowering Australian series yet—it’s bringing viewers a bold heroine determined to write her own story rather than let the world script it for her.
A heroine with ink-stained dreams
In 1901, Sybylla Melvyn—fiery, gifted, and defiantly uninterested in what polite society expects—moves from her family’s modest home in the Australian countryside to live with her wealthy grandmother. The plan, at least as her family sees it, is clear: make a formal debut into society, meet a cultured, wealthy husband, and help the family’s fortunes. But Sybylla has a vision only she can see: her dream of becoming a writer. She reasons that experiencing this new world could at least provide material for her first novel.
Her transition from farm life to the grandeur of her grandmother’s estate doesn't go as smoothly as the adults hoped. On arrival, Sybylla finds herself not only pressured to fit into society but also distracted by two very different men—Frank Hawden, the foreman at the estate, and Harry Beecham, a well-known local figure whose aunt, Augusta, is an outspoken suffragette. Sybylla’s pursuit of authenticity and literary ambition sets the stage for a coming-of-age story laced with wit, romance, and defiance.
The classic, reinvented
Showrunner Liz Doran (Barons, Please Like Me) and executive producer Chloe Rickard (Good Cop/Bad Cop) adapted the celebrated Miles Franklin novel—written in 1901 by then-teenage Franklin—into this fresh Netflix series. Starring Philippa Northeast as Sybylla (joined by Christopher Chung, Kate Mulvany, and Anna Chancellor), the show breathes new life into a work known for its pioneering feminist themes.
“Right from the moment we saw Philippa’s audition tape, we knew we’d found our Sybylla,” Doran told Tudum. “She has such an intelligent, brave, open, and collaborative way of approaching the role. There is absolutely no one else I can imagine filling Sybylla’s shoes.”
Staying true to the heart of Franklin’s original—the struggle to forge your own path—the series has broadened its scope for today’s viewers. Doran emphasized that giving more screen time to a range of characters, especially including First Nations people, was essential to making the story resonate now.
“The most significant changes we made are in opening up the world to feature a broader array of characters,” Doran said. “The book has a very loose narrative structure that still feels fresh and alive, but it is inevitably old-fashioned, especially in the stories it doesn’t tell. Our inclusion of First Nations characters was fundamental to this process.”
The series introduces additional updates, such as merging two characters into the formidable Augusta—now a suffragette with big ideas about change. The romantic dynamic has been reimagined as well; rather than a single suitor, Sybylla finds herself caught between two more nuanced male leads, both worthy of her attention—an evolution from the more one-dimensional portrayals in the original novel.
“Sybylla is such an incredible character; the men in the story needed to lift their game to be worthy of her,” Doran added.
From classic film to a vivid new series
Fans of Australian film may recall Eleanor Witcombe’s adaptation from the late 1970s. While iconic, its feature length meant the storyline had to focus primarily on Sybylla’s central romance.
“[Witcombe] mostly focused on one aspect of the book, framing Sybylla’s quest around a central love story. By contrast, a TV series’ length gave us the opportunity to expand the world and explore other character storylines,” says Doran.
With the series format, Doran and Rickard offered a more layered exploration of early 1900s Australia—its people, society, and environment.
Australian flavor, right down to the last unbuttoned cuff
The creators committed to capturing an authentically Australian spirit. “Unbuttoned and dirty-hemmed” became a guiding motto, evident in the lived-in details of costume and set design, where even Augusta’s exuberant décor stands out.
For visual inspiration, the crew turned to the late-19th-century impressionist works of the Heidelberg School, evoking the ochre, blue, and green hues that define the Australian outback. Costume designer Mariot Kerr and production designer Felicity Abbott recreated Sybylla’s world with care, from her grandmother’s grand estate of Caddagat to scenes set in the bustling town of Gool Gool.
“[Set-up director and executive producer Alyssa McClelland] and [set-up director of photography Kieran Fowler] designed a visual style that included those amazing widescreen scenes with looser, often handheld, immersive close-ups to create a strong but poetic female gaze,” Doran said. “The work that this team did all led to the incredibly rich world that ended up onscreen.”
Australian storytelling, bold sunlight, and a heroine who refuses to simply play her part: My Brilliant Career has brought a classic story into the present, inviting a new generation to dream bigger, pursue their ambitions, and sometimes break a few rules in the process.
