# Darby and Joan (2022)

> An English widow and an Australian detective, each running from their past, set out together on an epic outback odyssey.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/119529

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 14
- Episode runtime: 44 min
- Status: Returning Series
- Genres: drama, mystery
- Created by: Phillip Gwynne, Glenys Rowe
- Network: Acorn TV
- Cast: Bryan Brown, Greta Scacchi, Jolene Anderson, Kerry Armstrong, Peter O'Brien, Robert Coleby, Kaarin Fairfax, Ling Cooper Tang
- TMDB rating: 7.7/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15238968/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: mild
- Tone: wistful, contemplative, melancholic, warm

## Synopsis

Darby and Joan (2022-present) is an Australian mystery drama series broadcast on Acorn TV, based on a novel by Phillip Gwynne and created by Phillip Gwynne and Glenys Rowe. Veteran actors Bryan Brown and Greta Scacchi anchor the story as Jack Darby and Joan Kirkhope, a reluctant English widow and an Australian detective who is escaping his own past. When their lives collide, the two strangers set out on an epic journey across the Australian outback, and each episode moves between the wide, sun-bleached landscape and the personal histories they carry with them. Jolene Anderson joins the cast as Detective Inspector Liz Darby, adding a further thread of police investigation to the wandering. The series unfolds as a serialized, continuing story across two seasons and fourteen episodes, with the emotional pull of the road trip driving each chapter forward. Its tone is wistful and contemplative, with quiet humor and a steady undercurrent of grief and reconciliation. Fans of Mystery Road and Rake will find resonance in its rural Australian setting and its character-led mystery, while viewers who enjoy The Bridge will recognize the odd-couple pairing at its heart.

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