The story of Ms Fisher’s MODern Murder Mysteries

Since forming in 2009, Every Cloud Productions has been responsible for East of Everything, The Gods of Wheat Street, teen web series Deadlock, legal drama Newton’s Law and the hugely successful Miss Fisher’s franchise.

Helmed by Fiona Eagger and Deb Cox, the company introduced Australia to the first season of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries in 2012, which aired on ABC with production investment from Screen Australia. Two more series on ABC followed, and it has picked up a passionate global fan base with international sales into more than 170 territories.

In July 2018, it was announced that a new spin-off series titled Ms Fisher’s MODern Murder Mysteries would be going ahead, with principal production investment from Screen Australia in association with Film Victoria.

​Ms Fisher's MODern Murder Mysteries​At the time, Every Cloud Productions’ co-founder Fiona Eagger said: “We’re very excited to tell our legion of Australian and international fans that we’re expanding the world of Miss Fisher into the fabulous era of the 1960s. The series will be full of the usual three F’s our fans have come to expect – feminism, fashion and fun!”

The series starred Geraldine Hakewill as Peregrine Fisher, who begins following in the footsteps of her famous aunt after she goes missing. Set in 1960s’ Melbourne, the spin-off aired on the Seven Network in February 2019, and averaged 805,000 viewers ¹ and has since sold into 27 territories, where it will be seen on Acorn TV in the US and on UKTV.

And there’s more to come from the franchise too. In 2019, China bought the rights to make a local version of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. And 2020 will see the Australian release of the feature film Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears through Roadshow Films, which was financed by Screen Australia, Film Victoria, and a crowdfunding campaign that raised $810,890 from 8,999 fans.

See appendix 3 for a full list of TV drama projects approved for funding in 2018/19.

DID YOU KNOW? ​​
The top performing Screen Australia supported television drama projects in 2018/19 were Doctor Doctor series 3 which averaged 1.2 million viewers, The Blake Mysteries: Ghost Stories which averaged 943,000 viewers and Bad Mothers which averaged 934,000 viewers. ²