SOMERTON

An in-development project

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December, 1948. South Australia. A well-dressed stranger is found dead on a deserted Adelaide beach, carrying no identification, no clear cause of death, and a cryptic code hidden in a torn book of Persian poetry. Welcome to Somerton.

 

Assigned to what appears to be a routine unexplained death, two detectives soon uncover a labyrinth of secrets stretching far beyond sleepy Adelaide; missing witnesses, falsified identities, military research, Soviet sleeper networks, intelligence agencies operating in the shadows, and a mysterious nurse whose connection to the dead man threatens to expose a covert Cold War struggle unfolding beneath the surface of post-war Australia.

 

As the investigation expands across decades and continents, the detectives become consumed by a case that seems designed to remain unsolved, forcing them to question every lead, every ally, and ultimately whether the Somerton Man was a victim, a spy, or the keeper of a secret powerful enough to alter the course of history.

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Blending the obsessive procedural mystery and slick-visuals of Zodiac with the sun-drenched corruption and moral ambiguity of Chinatown and L.A. Confidential, the series gradually evolves into an intricate espionage thriller in the tradition of The Americans and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

 

James Cunningham's Somerton is a prestige noir thriller about obsession, deception, and the enduring mystery of the unknown.​