Australian mystery-drama “The Survivors” has made a splash on the international stage, debuting at No. 4 on Netflix’s Global Top 10 English-language TV list just days after its release.
The limited series has clocked 5.3 million views since premiering last Friday, landing in the Top 10 in 76 countries, including the Top 5 in major territories like the UK, Germany, and France.
“The Survivors” continues Netflix Australia’s recent streak of successful original productions, following “Apple Cider Vinegar” earlier this year and award-winning series “Heartbreak High” and “Boy Swallows Universe,” which claimed best drama series and best miniseries respectively at the 2025 AACTA Awards. These Australian productions have resonated not only with local audiences but have also reached Netflix’s Global Top 10.
Adapted from the novel by “The Dry” author Jane Harper, “The Survivors” follows Kieran Elliott (Charlie Vickers) and his partner Mia Chang (Yerin Ha) as they return to the coastal town of Evelyn Bay, haunted by past tragedies and long-buried secrets. What begins as a homecoming to care for Kieran’s ailing father soon spirals into a murder mystery that forces the town—and its residents—to confront the stories they’ve long told themselves to survive.
“I often describe the show as a Trojan horse,” says creator and showrunner Tony Ayres (“Clickbait,” “Stateless”). “It’s a family melodrama disguised as a murder mystery. Because the things that are really at its heart are things like a son wanting his mother’s love and the mother who just cannot afford to give it because her whole world might fall apart.”
Filmed across Tasmania and Melbourne’s Docklands Studios, the series leans into Harper’s trademark themes of guilt, grief and the fragility of memory. “It navigates themes of family and loss and the stories that we tell each other to understand loss,” Ayres says. “For Kieran and Mia and all the other people in Evelyn Bay, the stories they’ve long told each other in order to move forward begin to unravel, exposing a dark side to the always sunny surfaces that surround them.”
Directed by Cherie Nowlan and Ben C. Lucas, the six-part series is produced by Tony Ayres Productions, backed by Matchbox Pictures and Universal International Studios. The show received production support from VicScreen and Screen Tasmania.
The ensemble cast includes Robyn Malcolm, Damien Garvey, Thom Green, George Mason, Jessica De Gouw, Miriama Smith, and Catherine McClements.
“The Survivors” is streaming on Netflix now.