Scrublands returns for season 3 with Luke Arnold and Bella Heathcote
Stan and 9Network’s Australian crime drama is filming a four-part third season, Scrublands: Trust, with new cast including Lincoln Younes and Danielle Cormack.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
Scrublands is getting another case file, and this one drags its leads from Sydney’s back streets to the Blue Mountains.
Deadline reports that Stan and 9Network have ordered a third season of the Australian crime drama, with Luke Arnold and Bella Heathcote returning as investigative reporter Martin Scarsden and Mandy Bond. The new four-part season will be titled Scrublands: Trust.
The season is now filming in Sydney, according to Deadline. First-look images have also been released for the new run.
Lincoln Younes, known for Last King of the Cross, and Danielle Cormack, known for Wentworth, are joining the cast. Sarah Roberts of Home and Away and Nicholas Bell of Bay of Fires are also returning.
Easy Tiger is producing the season, which is adapted from Chris Hammer’s bestselling novel Trust. Sphere Abacus is handling international distribution, Deadline reports.
A decade jump and a dangerous old secret
The new season shifts the story back 10 years from the previous seasons, according to the official synopsis reported by Deadline.
Heathcote’s Mandy Bond is pulled into trouble when a name from her past resurfaces: Tom Molloy, played by Younes. Molloy is described in the synopsis as the former fiancé Mandy never told Martin about, a man who disappeared after stealing $15 million.
His body has now been found, and the discovery threatens to expose secrets Mandy wants buried.
Martin, meanwhile, is hit by a separate crisis. His long-time mentor, Max Fuller, played by Bell, apparently dies by suicide only hours after asking Martin for help with a major story, according to the synopsis.
Martin then follows Max’s unfinished trail, a hunt that takes him through Sydney, into wealthy circles and toward violence in the Blue Mountains. The synopsis says the story involves killers-for-hire, corrupt developers and powerful people standing between Martin and the truth.
Who is behind season 3
Easy Tiger co-founders Ian Collie and Rob Gibson are executive producers on Scrublands: Trust, alongside producer Ally Henville. Felicity Packard is writer and producer, while Lisa Matthews is directing.
Michael Healy and Andy Ryan from 9Network and Stan are executive producers. Screen NSW is providing production support.
Healy, Nine Entertainment’s executive director of entertainment, said in a statement reported by Deadline that the response to the first two seasons showed a strong appetite for premium Australian crime drama.
Collie and Gibson said the continued interest in the show reflects Hammer’s stories and the work of the cast and creative team.
The series is part of Easy Tiger’s current slate. Deadline notes that the company is also preparing to launch the final season of Colin From Accounts.
This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.