This prequel to the first UNDERBELLY  TV series broke ratings records for an Australian drama with nearly 4 million viewers, natioinwide, tuned into the first epeisode.

Roy Billing plays Aussie Bob Trimbole, a performance that won him Best Lead Actor in a TV Drama at the 2009 Australian Film Institute Awards and a nomination for Most Outstanding Actor at the 2010 Logie Awards.

Australia, 1976. A generation before Alphonse Gangitano and Carl Williams achieved notoriety, an even bigger crime wave rocked the country. Hard drugs hit the nation like a tsunami. Drug money flooded the underworld. With the new money came a new breed of hard men and willing women.

Two names stood above all others – blazing across the underworld and changing the face of organised crime in Australia forever – Aussie Bob Trimbole and Kiwi Terry Clark.

UNDERBELLY : A TALE OF TWO CITIES is the story of two crime titans and two corrupt cities. 

It is an “Australian television masterpiece. It sucks you in, makes you laugh, then hits you right in the gut. The acting is superb. The characters are perfectly cast, fully fleshed and entirely believable. The script is almost flawless. And yes, this prequel is as good as – if not better – than the original…..Roy Billing is magnificent as Trimbole, capturing both his charming façade and ruthless nature without resorting to caricature. It’s a role he was born to play – and one that proves his talents as a lead actor ..”

Michael Idato, Sydney Morning Herald

“Underbelly is gripping, gut wrenching, and images stay with you long after the closing credits roll. The violence is no picnic. The performances will blow you away.”

Debbie Schipp, Sunday Telegraph magazine.

“Believe the hype because Underbelly : A Tale of Two Cities hasn’t just lived up to the anticipation – it has pole vaulted past it on a gritty, money-hungry and sex-charged ride into the underworld. The gut-wrenching prequel to last year’s hit is set to be Nine’s highest-rating program of the year, if not the number-one rating drama of 2009. Roy Billing is stunning.

Erin McWhirter, The Daily Telegraph

“The show is like one big crime novel; reading it is like trying to put a lid on a box that is too large. You can jam it down by cheating a bit at the corners, but there is no way to make it fit. It just keeps coming at you.”

Graeme Blundell, The Australian.