15 August (2018-08-15) – 3 October 2018 (2018-10-03)
Bite Club is an Australian crime thriller television series which aired on the Nine Network from 15 August to 3 October 2018. The show centres around a group of shark attack survivors, named the "Bite Club", who are being targeted by a serial killer. It stars Todd Lasance and Ash Ricardo as Detectives Dan Cooper and Zoe Rawlings, along with Dominic Monaghan as Senior Constable Stephen Langley.
Production
On 4 October 2017, the series was announced, with Dominic Monaghan set to star in a lead role.[2] On 11 October, the series was officially confirmed at Nine's upfronts set to air in 2018.[3][4] The eight-part series began airing on 15 August 2018.[5][6]
The show centres around a group of shark attack survivors, named the "Bite Club", who are being targeted by a serial killer.[5]Todd Lasance and Ash Ricardo play Detectives Dan Cooper and Zoe Rawlings, who are trying to catch the killer. Monaghan plays Senior Constable Stephen Langley.[7] The rest of the cast includes, Damian Walshe-Howling as psychologist Kristof Olsen, Deborah Mailman as Superintendent Anna Morton, Robert Mammone as Detective Sergeant Jim Russo, Marny Kennedy as semi-pro surfer Amber Wells, Darcie Irwin-Simpson as Detective Claire Hobson, Arka Das as Forensic Specialist Depak Chaudhary, and Pia Miller as Zoe's best friend Kate Summers.[6][5][7] Actress Jessica Falkholt will make a posthumous appearance, following her death on 17 January 2018.[8]
Bite Club is written by Sarah Smith and John Ridley, and directed by Peter Andrikidis, Geoff Bennett, Wayne Blair and Jennifer Leacey.[1]
Bite Club began filming on-location in the suburb of Manly in September 2017.[9] Filming took place at Dee Why, Curl Curl Beach and The Steyne pub.[9] The Manly Pavilion became the outside of a police station, while the interior rooms were built at North Head.[9] Other locations considered for the show's setting included Bondi and Maroubra.[9] Filming for the series ended on 7 December 2017.[10]
David Knox of TV Tonight gave the opening episode two and a half stars out of five.[19] He wrote, "Melodrama is part of the problem of this drama which needs to commit to one of the two genres it straddles. For a crime about a serial killer the travelogue shots and warm hues is pretty confusing."[19] Knox disliked Leacey's "sluggish" direction, and felt that the episode was lacking in energy.[19] He added that the first episode needed to be stronger, with "a bit more teeth to take hold."[19]
In 2020, Fiona Byrne of the Herald Sun included Bite Club in her feature about "long forgotten Australian TV dramas that made viewers switch off."[20] Byrne called the premise "ridiculous", but said the drama "looked good" with its location shots and the cast were "impressive."[20] She continued: "But the audience simply did not buy the storyline and did not care about the show. It came and went very quickly as a blink-and-you-miss-it one season wonder."[20]
