# Rake (Australian TV series)
**Rake** is an Australian television comedy-drama that aired on ABC TV from 2010 to 2018, starring [Richard Roxburgh](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-roxburgh) as Cleaver Greene, a brilliant, self-destructive criminal defense barrister in Sydney. The series was created by Peter Duncan, Roxburgh, Andrew Knight, and Charles Waterstreet, and ran for five seasons of eight episodes each.[1](https://thetvdb.com/series/rake) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1587000/fullcredits/) It is based loosely on the life of Waterstreet, a Sydney barrister who later became a *Sydney Morning Herald* columnist.[3](https://www.dailybulletin.com.au/the-conversation/20553-bloody-good-tv-how-rake-changed-australian-television)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Run | Five seasons on ABC TV: November–December 2010, September–October 2012, February–March 2014, May–July 2016, and August–October 2018; eight episodes per season[1](https://thetvdb.com/series/rake) |
| Lead character | Cleaver Greene, a criminal defense barrister battling gambling debts, unpaid tax, cocaine use, and complicated relationships[4](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/oct/22/rake-sex-violence-cocaine-addiction-box-set-review) |
| Creators | Peter Duncan, Richard Roxburgh, Andrew Knight, and Charles Waterstreet[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1587000/fullcredits/) • [5](https://thescreentimes.com/article/rake-roxburgh-abc) |
| Producers | Ian Collie of Essential Media, with Richard Roxburgh and Peter Duncan[6](https://www.abc.net.au/about/media-centre/press-releases/that-rake-cleaver-greene-is-back/103715612) |
| Principal cast | Matt Day (David Potter), Adrienne Pickering (Missy), Russell Dykstra (Barney), Danielle Cormack (Scarlet), Caroline Brazier (Wendy), Kate Box (Nicole), Keegan Joyce (Fuzz), Damien Garvey (Cal McGregor)[1](https://thetvdb.com/series/rake) |
| Major awards | AWGIE for Television – Series (2011); Silver Logie for Most Outstanding Actor (2011); AACTA Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama (2013); AACTA Best Direction and Best Sound in Television (2016)[7](https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/screen-guide/rake-25153/) |
| US remake | Fox version starring Greg Kinnear as Keegan Deane premiered January 23, 2014 and was canceled after one season[8](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/rake-2014/) • [3](https://www.dailybulletin.com.au/the-conversation/20553-bloody-good-tv-how-rake-changed-australian-television) |
## Premise and characters
The series follows Cleaver Greene, a defense barrister whose professional brilliance coexists with gambling debts, unpaid tax, heavy drinking, and chaotic personal relationships. The ABC's own character notes describe a man who is called "unreliable" by his ex-wife, "a mate" by his son, "a real wag" by his colleagues at the bar, "a defendant" by the Tax Office, and "a legend" by a certain brothel owner.[9](https://www.abc.net.au/tv/rake/) The Guardian's box-set review describes him as addicted to cocaine, spread-betting, and chasing impossible women, and saddled with a venomous bunch of clients, a compelling antihero driven less by a need to correct some formative wrong than by his debts and the feeling that his job might be a sham.[4](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/oct/22/rake-sex-violence-cocaine-addiction-box-set-review)
The first season opens with Cleaver defending a world-renowned economist and professor accused of cannibalism and murder; because the state has no law against cannibalism, he is instead charged with murder.[10](https://iview.abc.net.au/show/rake) Recurring characters include his best friend and fellow solicitor Barney (Russell Dykstra), Barney's wife Scarlet ([Danielle Cormack](https://www.edgepedia.org/danielle-cormack)), a barrister described as a woman determined to reinvent herself after being an unfaithful wife and an unprofessional barrister,[9](https://www.abc.net.au/tv/rake/) Cleaver's ex-wife Wendy (Caroline Brazier), his son Fuzz (Keegan Joyce), his former client Missy (Adrienne Pickering), and the right-wing politician Cal McGregor (Damien Garvey).[1](https://thetvdb.com/series/rake)
## Creative team and production
**Peter Duncan** served as co-creator, producer, writer, and director on the show's first season, earning an Australian Directors Guild Awards nomination for Best Director, [Drama](https://www.edgepedia.org/drama-film-and-television), and taking home the Australian Writers Guild Award for Best Television Series Episode for that work.[11](https://www.abc.net.au/tv/rake/about/directors.htm) His feature credits include *Children of the Revolution*, *A Little Bit of Soul*, *Passion*, and *Unfinished Sky*. Season one's directors also included Rowan Woods (episodes 3 and 4), Jeffrey Walker (episodes 5 and 6), and Kate Dennis (episodes 7 and 8).[11](https://www.abc.net.au/tv/rake/about/directors.htm) Across the full run, Duncan wrote 20 of the episodes and developed the story for others, with Andrew Knight credited as writer on 19 episodes.[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1587000/fullcredits/)
Ian Collie of Essential Media produced the series alongside Roxburgh and Duncan from the second series onward, which began shooting in Sydney in April 2012.[6](https://www.abc.net.au/about/media-centre/press-releases/that-rake-cleaver-greene-is-back/103715612) Screen Australia lists the production company as Perpetual Entertainment, with international sales handled by DCD Rights.[7](https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/screen-guide/rake-25153/)
## Tone and critical reception
**A hybrid form.** Writing in [The Conversation](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-conversation), media scholar Siobhan Lyons of Macquarie University described *Rake* as "a piquant hybrid, a series that deftly blends legal and crime drama with cheeky comedy and political satire," citing Debi Enker's formulation in the *Sydney Morning Herald*.[3](https://www.dailybulletin.com.au/the-conversation/20553-bloody-good-tv-how-rake-changed-australian-television) The show routinely parodies Australian law, politics, and media, and uses postmodern techniques such as metafiction and intertextuality; one episode featured an in-show edition of the real ABC program *Media Watch*, with real-life host Paul Barry taking a swipe at the fictional politician Cal McGregor.[3](https://www.dailybulletin.com.au/the-conversation/20553-bloody-good-tv-how-rake-changed-australian-television)
The series also straddles cultural registers: Cleaver quotes Yeats and reads Balzac while remaining distinctly Australian, saying of [Lord Byron](https://www.edgepedia.org/lord-byron) in the first episode, "Bugger me, he was good." Lyons argues that this combination of Australian vernacular and wider literary reference places the show in a rare position in Australian television history.[3](https://www.dailybulletin.com.au/the-conversation/20553-bloody-good-tv-how-rake-changed-australian-television)
On Rotten Tomatoes, the Australian first season holds a 100% Tomatometer from six critics, with reviewers calling it "a minor work of genius" and praising its tight writing; the series overall averages 100% across its seasons.[12](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/rake_2010/s01) • [13](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/rake_2010) A law lecturer's survey of legal dramas found that *Rake* "excels at showing the reality of law," in part because the site of drama is rarely the courtroom but rather Greene's personal life.[14](https://www.thetimes.com.au/world/25654-a-law-expert-ranks-legal-dramas-by-their-accuracy)
## Cultural reading
An academic chapter by Lili Pâquet, published in *Law, Lawyers and Justice: Through Australian Lenses* ([Routledge](https://www.edgepedia.org/routledge), 2020), argues that the series challenges an Australian viewership's reverence for larrikinism, the Australian tradition of the rough, anti-authoritarian character. Cleaver is a larrikin, a descendant of Australian convict settlers who were opposed to legal institutions, and he also borrows traits from the rake-hero of English aristocracy. By straddling that boundary, the chapter argues, Cleaver forces viewers to confront their cultural beliefs and shows how privileged white men can avoid censure through a performance of larrikinism.[15](https://researchers.une.edu.au/en/publications/cleaver-greene-the-legal-larrikin-on-australian-screens-6/)
## The US remake
Fox remade the series for American television in 2014, with [Greg Kinnear](https://www.edgepedia.org/greg-kinnear) as Keegan Deane, a self-destructive defense attorney with an ex-wife ([Miranda Otto](https://www.edgepedia.org/miranda-otto)), an IRS battle, and growing debt to a bookie.[8](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/rake-2014/) Peter Duncan co-piloted the American rendition and said Kinnear's guy-next-door quality was the most striking difference from the rapscallion persona Roxburgh brought to the Australian character.[16](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-winter-tv-preview-greg-kinnear-rake-20140105-story.html) The remake premiered on January 23, 2014, earned a Metascore of 62 based on 33 critic reviews, and was canceled after one season.[8](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/rake-2014/) • [3](https://www.dailybulletin.com.au/the-conversation/20553-bloody-good-tv-how-rake-changed-australian-television) Lyons attributes the failure to the show's rootedness in a distinctly Australian cultural environment, and writer Ben Neutze argued that Roxburgh's charm conveyed a genius underneath the madness that Kinnear's version did not.[3](https://www.dailybulletin.com.au/the-conversation/20553-bloody-good-tv-how-rake-changed-australian-television) Producer Ian Collie, who worked on both versions, offered his own diagnosis: narrative drama requires half an hour for the audience to engage with a series' story engine, a harder sell in the American slot structure.[17](https://www.mediaweek.com.au/rake-returns-to-where-he-belongs-australian-tv)
## Final season and legacy
The fifth and final season (2018) moved Cleaver into politics: he joined the ragtag collection of independents and minor parties in the Senate, with storylines including a suspected terrorist gas attack on New Parliament House, a visit by US Defence Secretary Linus Potemkin ([Anthony LaPaglia](https://www.edgepedia.org/anthony-lapaglia)), and a banking boycott called while dressed as a zebra.[18](https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/radionational-breakfast/rake-returns-for-final-series/10131276) • [19](https://www.easytiger.tv/productions/rake-96nh5-9hbmt-5fxpj) The season was nominated for AACTA Awards for Drama Series and for Roxburgh as Best Lead Actor, and Peter Duncan won the Australian Writers Guild Award for Best Screenplay in a Television Series.[19](https://www.easytiger.tv/productions/rake-96nh5-9hbmt-5fxpj)
In Australia the series is rated MA15+, runs about 55 minutes per episode, and streams on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and ABC iview.[20](https://www.justwatch.com/au/tv-show/rake) A 2016 Screen Australia study of the cultural value of Australian screen productions placed *Rake* series 2 seventh in its sample of deeply Australian productions, alongside *The Slap*, *Redfern Now*, and *[Offspring](https://www.edgepedia.org/offspring-tv-series)*.[21](https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Screen-Currency-Olsberg-SPI-Nov2016.pdf?v=1775615625)
## References
1. [Rake, TheTVDB.com](https://thetvdb.com/series/rake)
2. [Rake (TV Series 2010–2018) – Full cast & crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1587000/fullcredits/)
3. [Bloody good TV: how Rake changed Australian television, Siobhan Lyons, The Conversation (via Daily Bulletin)](https://www.dailybulletin.com.au/the-conversation/20553-bloody-good-tv-how-rake-changed-australian-television)
4. [Rake box set review: a scathing legal drama that's teeming with sex, violence and smart dialogue, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/oct/22/rake-sex-violence-cocaine-addiction-box-set-review)
5. [Rake was never about the cases, Screentimes](https://thescreentimes.com/article/rake-roxburgh-abc)
6. [That Rake Cleaver Greene is back, About the ABC press release](https://www.abc.net.au/about/media-centre/press-releases/that-rake-cleaver-greene-is-back/103715612)
7. [Rake, Screen Australia screen guide](https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/screen-guide/rake-25153/)
8. [Rake (2014), Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/rake-2014/)
9. [Rake, ABC TV (archived series page)](https://www.abc.net.au/tv/rake/)
10. [Rake, ABC iview](https://iview.abc.net.au/show/rake)
11. [Rake – About – Directors, ABC TV](https://www.abc.net.au/tv/rake/about/directors.htm)
12. [Rake: Season 1 (2010), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/rake_2010/s01)
13. [Rake (2010), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/rake_2010)
14. [A law expert ranks legal dramas by their accuracy, The Times Australia](https://www.thetimes.com.au/world/25654-a-law-expert-ranks-legal-dramas-by-their-accuracy)
15. [Cleaver Greene: The legal larrikin on Australian screens, Lili Pâquet, University of New England research portal](https://researchers.une.edu.au/en/publications/cleaver-greene-the-legal-larrikin-on-australian-screens-6/)
16. [Greg Kinnear, a man for all screen sizes, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-winter-tv-preview-greg-kinnear-rake-20140105-story.html)
17. [Rake returns to where he belongs: Australian TV, Mediaweek](https://www.mediaweek.com.au/rake-returns-to-where-he-belongs-australian-tv)
18. [Rake returns for final series, ABC RN Breakfast](https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/radionational-breakfast/rake-returns-for-final-series/10131276)
19. [Rake, Easy Tiger Productions](https://www.easytiger.tv/productions/rake-96nh5-9hbmt-5fxpj)
20. [Rake – watch online, JustWatch Australia](https://www.justwatch.com/au/tv-show/rake)
21. [Measuring the Cultural Value of Australia's Screen Sector, Screen Australia / Olsberg SPI (2016)](https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Screen-Currency-Olsberg-SPI-Nov2016.pdf?v=1775615625)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Genre and subject-scripted series › Legal drama series*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license