Operation Buffalo (TV series)

The series is inspired by the true events of British nuclear bomb tests conducted in the 1950s at remote Maralinga, in outback South Australia. It specifically focuses on the four tests codenamed Operation Buffalo and follows Major Leo Carmichael as he deals with various pressures and problems during nuclear weapons testing.^[1]

The original working title of the series was Fallout, referring to nuclear fallout and the consequences of the British nuclear testing at Maralinga in the 1950s.^[12][13] The series is written as satirical comedy-drama.^{[3][14][15][16]}

The series was co-created by Peter Duncan, Vincent Sheehan, and Tanya Phegan,^[12] and written and directed by Duncan.^[17]

The six-part series was filmed in New South Wales, with additional desert location filming in South Australia.^{[citation needed]}

It was produced by Sheehan and Phegan through Porchlight Films. Antony Partos composed the music, while Martin McGrath was responsible for cinematography. Mark Perry edited the series.^[18][19]

The French distributor and production company, APC Studios, helped fund the project and provided worldwide distribution.^[13] There was also major production investment from Screen Australia, in association with the ABC and Create NSW. Support funding was also provided by the South Australian Film Corporation.

Operation Buffalo screened on ABC TV from 31 May 2020, as well as on ABC iview.^[17][15] It was deliberately screened a week after a television documentary called Maralinga Tjarutja, which showed how Aboriginal peoples in the area survived the nuclear testing, later fighting to reclaim their country.^[16][20][21]

It was sold to Acorn TV in the UK and Ireland; UPC in Switzerland; RTP in Portugal, NRK TV in Norway, Viasat World for Central and Eastern European countries, RTBF in Belgium, and Netflix for the Asia Pacific region, where it debuted on 28 February 2021.^[22][23]

The series received mixed reviews. Luke Buckmaster from The Guardian gave the series three stars out of five and described the series as, "much more fickle: sometimes funny as a comedy, sometimes effective as a drama, but rarely satisfying as a combination of both".^[3] Wenlei Ma from News.com.au thought much better of the series, writing: "As much as sombre images of death and destruction can evoke emotional reactions, nothing hits the point as hard as the glaring judgment of satire done well, which is exactly what Operation Buffalo is".^[14]

Anthony Morris, writing for ScreenHub Australia, gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars, saying that the series is "entertaining but takes a while to find its feet".^[15] Craig Mathieson wrote in The Sydney Morning Herald that the series succeeds in reflecting the official mood of the time, but "The tonal shifts begin at the awkward, but soon reach the baffling", as the bad things that really happened, including the displacement of Aboriginal people, are confused with "screwball" comedy. However he praises the pace.^[16]

Pierra Willix wrote in PerthNow that the series provided "an important insight into the devastation we unleashed on Aboriginals(sic) centuries after colonisation", and "While the new drama series is a compelling and entertaining watch, we can't forget that at the centre of the story were a group of people whose lands and lives were collateral damage in testing that was being developed to also destroy the lives of others", referring to the people of Maralinga Tjarutja.^[20]