The new season of bureaucratic comedy Utopia will air on ABC from next month.
The “announceable” was made the day after the federal Budget was handed down, with the new season to air at 8 pm on Wednesday, June 7, on ABC TV and iview.
The 30-second preview of the fifth season has glimpses of what will be in store, including government liaison Jim Gibson (Anthony Lehmann) looking for a “shovel-ready” project, a minister pledging his faith in the fictional Nation Building Authority presumably following a scandal, and lanyards aplenty.
On its website, ABC said this season will have: “[b]illion dollar projects announced without a business case or cost-benefit study. Shifting geopolitical priorities. Rural road construction held up by a problematic statue. Cyber-attacks and an embarrassing UNESCO report.”
“Utopia is a comedy for anyone who has been forced to endure bureaucracy — and lived to laugh at the ordeal,” ABC continued.
Straight man and leader of the NBA Tony Woodford (Rob Sitch), second-in-charge Nat Russell (Celia Pacquola) and PR guru Rhonda Stewart (Kitty Flanagan) are all set to reprise their roles in the latest season.
The show last aired in 2019.
The Mandarin previously asked its LinkedIn audience what they’d like to see in the 2023 season.
Answers ranged from getting consultants in to reduce the public service’s reliance on consultants and trying to add “agility” to the APS reform agenda.
Scandals as well: our audience would like to see Utopia’s take on the revelation of former prime minister Scott Morrison’s secret appointments and the robodebt royal commission.
The accuracy of the series has been commended, with bureaucrats comparing it more to a documentary than a work of fiction.
Prior seasons covered issues like rebranding exercises, suspiciously dealing with Freedom of Information requests, and finding (and failing) to justify a high-speed rail project.
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