Tim Minchin to make piano-themed Upright series for Foxtel

Tim Minchin is to produce, co-write and act in a new eight-part drama series for Foxtel.

In Upright, he plays a gifted but emotionally scarred pianist, Lucky Flynn, who has not spoken to his family in years.

When he hears his mother has only days to live, he sets off in a hire car to make the 4000 kilometres from Sydney to Perth to say goodbye to her.

He takes with him his only treasured possession, a battle-scarred upright piano.

What should have been a straightforward drive across the Nullarbor soon becomes a test of Lucky’s emotional fitness, when he (quite literally) runs into Meg (Milly Alcock), a tough-as-nails teenager, who we soon discover has plenty of scars and secrets of her own.

Minchin said: “From the moment I heard about the idea for Upright, I knew it was the show I’d been waiting to make.

“I like stories that make me laugh and think and cry, I adore the landscapes of outback Australia, and I love music, and homecomings, and characters full of flaws”

The series will be made with the South Australian Film Corporation.

Screenwest and Create NSW are also investors.

Shooting starts in WA and SA in October.

Also involved in the series are Sky UK, Screen Australia and Lingo Pictures.

Minchin is co-writing the series with Chris Taylor of The Chaser team alongside award-winning writer-actors Kate Mulvany (Fighting Season, Jasper Jones stage play) and Leon Ford (Offspring, No Activity).

The director is Matthew Saville (Please Like Me).

Minchin will also write the music and is executive producer with Penny Win and Helen Bowden.

Producers are Lingo Pictures’ Jason Stephens, Chris Taylor and Melissa Kelly (Hounds of Love).