Irreverent was filmed in Mission Beach last year, bringing familiar faces to the screen starring Colin Donnell from Arrow fame, PJ Byrne from the Wolf of Wall Street and local Aussies Kylie Bracknell, Ed Oxenbould and Wayne Blair.

When Reverend Bob comes to the sleepy reef town, little do the townspeople know that he is a mafia bad boy on the run after screwing up the heist of his life. It’s all part of his elaborate scheme to hide out and stay alive now that there’s a price on his head. But posing as a clergyman proves to be more challenging than he imagined – and after a lifetime of crime, doing good work doesn’t come naturally.

It’s the first original series for Irreverent’s writer, creator and executive producer Paddy McCrae after getting runs on the board helping create well known shows for Matchbox Pictures including The Slap, Clickbait, and Stateless.

The production is close to McCrae’s heart as it’s inspired by his own life as a PK – or Pastor’s Kid.

“It started life as a project at film school for me in 2010, so about 12 years ago. And it’s been developed for the last four or five years with the network. But yeah, it goes back to my childhood. I’m a preacher’s kid, I grew up in the manse beside a church,” McCrae said.

“So a lot of the experiences come out of real life, and out of the real life of the writing team more broadly that wrote the show. It comes from a very authentic place.

“And there’s a lot of characters in there who are based on people in all our lives. Daisy, the young woman in the show, is based on my little sister, and there’s a lot of very close to home stuff in there.”

He said over time the idea developed and evolved to the point that it scored international backing, taking himself and the crew up to Mission Beach for months of filming to bring the concept to life over ten hour long episodes.

“It’s kind of the Holy Grail of production for an Australian producer, to do something with an internationally backed idea that brings the resources and that kind of level of work,” he said. “To get to work at home in your backyard, in your own market, and tell Australian stories.

“I always had aspirations for it to be international, and then when Peacock came on board their suggestion was an American to fit with that NBC American audience. And I was just absolutely thrilled. And it was perfect because it gave us a chance to work on the stunning Queensland coast and be in Australia during COVID, which would’ve been a hard time to work overseas, but also to tell Australian stories and take them out to the world.”

So with Colin Donnell on board as the pivotal Reverend character, Irreverent had the backing to become a ten part series.

Producer Tom Hoffie said it was fantastic to be able to bring such a big production to regional Queensland.

“There’s a lot of locals working on our show, and in particular, if you’re from that area, you will recognise them on screen,” Hoffie said.

“We had an enormous number of extras who turned up every day. They were brilliant, just kept on turning up. And of particular note is our metal detector guy, he was in the background of every shot. And never a complaint, they arrived and they were in the heat like everyone else, and they kept plowing on in the best of spirits.

“Cassowary Coast Regional Council also understood it. And when Paddy and I first met with them, they said, “Look, what do you want?” And we went, “This, this and this.” And they went, `You know what, we can probably deliver that.’

“And you walk out of those meetings going, “Yeah, right.” But they did, they delivered beyond what they promised, and they delivered it in a timely manner, and provided the support and the infrastructure that you really need to be able to move an entire village into a region, a couple of hundred crew, huge trucks, we come with a very large footprint. And they understood that and they paved the way for us.

“The people of Mission Beach, that needs to be said too, were constantly supportive. I’m sure they were in shock at times with just how big we were, but we never had any grief. It was a great experience.”

Part of the production was filmed at the Gold Coast Village Roadshow studios, as well as in Chicago for the gang scenes.

“We’ve had a lot of super high end international grade shows coming out, which is a real boon for the industry and a game changer,” McCrae said.

“And I think we’re still figuring out what it all means, but it’s been, I think, a real windfall for Australia.”

They put on a special thankyou screening at Mission Beach earlier this year to thank the community for its support, and all importantly, for the show’s inspiration to give the show his blessing.

“Dad was lucky enough to come and see the first three episodes, we did a screening up in Mission Beach as a thank you for the locals and the council,” McCrae said.

“It was a joyous experience actually, it was the most fun screening I’ve ever been to in my life. It was just sublime, enjoyable. And so Dad and Mum and my three siblings saw the first three episodes out there.

“I think if I could say anything, it would be an enormous thank you to the people of Queensland.

“What we found was that when we got to Queensland, in both the far north and the southeast, we were just welcomed with open arms. Not just by the state funding agency, Screen Queensland, but by the locals everywhere we went, by the people at Village Roadshow, by the police, by emergency services, by accommodation owners, by businesses.

“So I got back on the plane and headed south with this enduring gratitude for the people of Queensland that I’ll hold forever.”