SBS Original Series While the Men are Away - Matt Testro and Jana Zvedeniuk

There’s a fizz in the air and change is afoot with SBS Original series While The Men Are Away.

In the eight part dramedy series, Australia’s at war, so a lot of the men are away for a bit. And to be honest this is pretty exciting for anyone who isn’t a man! While The Men Are Away follows Frankie (Michela De Rossi), who’s left in charge of her suffering apple farm after her husband is sent to war (or was he?). She enlists Gwen (Max McKenna) and Esther (Jana Zvedeniuk), the freshly enlisted naïve city-recruits of the Women’s Land Army, to join herself, local Indigenous farmhand Kathleen (Phoebe Grainer) and certified coward Robert (Matt Testro).

Often (but not always) wildly historically inaccurate, While The Men Are Away is about people who don’t normally hold the reins of power suddenly having them shoved in their hands and told to giddy the hell up. It’s about five individuals who find each other, and for a glorious moment in time, sample a life tinged with promise, hope and acceptance. And once they taste it, it’s impossible to go back.

In this episode, host and head of entertainment at Mediaweek and Chattr, Anita Anabel chatted with Jana Zvedeniuk and Matt Testro about their own links to 1940s wartime, the incredible cast which makes up the series and reveals why the series is so important to modern day Australia.

All 8 episodes of While The Men Are Away will be available to stream free on SBS On Demand from Wednesday 27 September, with double episodes premiering on SBS each Wednesday at 8.30pm.

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