A violent, controversial true crime drama is fast becoming a hit on file sharing networks after authorities pulled it off the airwaves.
Thousands of viewers rushed to popular file sharing networks to download Underbelly, hailed by critics as an Australian version of The Sopranos, shortly after the broadcast of the premiere episode on Wednesday.
The show, based on true events of Melbourne's underworld gang wars in the late '90s, was banned in the state of Victoria by a Supreme Court judge due to an on-going murder trial involving key players from the gang wars. Australian law forbids the media – including dramatized TV shows -- from discussing criminal trials in case jurors are influenced.
(Watch a clip of Underbelly's intro, featured right.)
The 13-part mini-series follows the murderous rivalry between crime families in Melbourne, featuring disturbing violence, graphic sex scenes and explicit drug references.
The key players in Melbourne's criminal underworld, including the
Moran family and their rival, the maverick Carl Williams, are featured using their real names.
A search of popular torrent trackers shows the show is in high demand
-- the season's premiere episode, added less than 24 hours ago has already been downloaded nearly 30,000 times, with 5,000 downloads underway. By comparison, a copy of the most recent episode of hit HBO drama The Wire uploaded four days ago has been downloaded 38,000 times.
"Of course, what the ban and the court case has achieved is to increase interest in this TV show," said Alex Malik, a former legal counsel for the Australian Recording Industry Association and a former senior legal officer at the Australian Communications and Media Authority, in an article from the Sydney Morning Herald online.
