{"id":948874,"date":"2026-10-28T02:48:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T02:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/948874\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T02:48:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T02:48:14","slug":"erin-patterson-mushroom-murders-melanie-lynskey-to-star-in-new-paramount-drama-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/948874\/","title":{"rendered":"Erin Patterson mushroom murders: Melanie Lynskey to star in new Paramount+ drama series"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Louise<\/p>\n

October 28, 2026 \u2014 12:15pm<\/p>\n

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A six-part drama about mushroom murderer Erin Patterson<\/a> has been announced, with Yellowjackets star Melanie Lynskey<\/a> set to play the convicted killer.<\/p>\n

It will be the first scripted series covering the notorious case, in which Patterson was found guilty<\/a> of murdering three people \u2013 her in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail\u2019s sister Heather Wilkinson \u2013 and trying to kill a fourth \u2013 Heather\u2019s husband, Ian \u2013 with death cap mushrooms<\/a> in her Leongatha home in rural Victoria in 2023.<\/p>\n

\"MelanieMelanie Lynskey as Shauna in Yellowjackets, with Warren Kole, who plays her husband Jeff. Lynskey is set to play convicted triple murderer Erin Patterson in the upcoming drama Mushroom Murders.<\/p>\n

New Zealand actor Lynskey, who has been nominated for multiple Emmys, will be the executive producer for the limited series, which is created by Anya Beyersdorf (Fake, Apple Cider Vinegar<\/a>), Daina Reid (The Handmaid\u2019s Tale) and Deb Balderstone (Dustfall<\/a>). Filming will take place in Victoria, with the Paramount+ series covering the 97 days between Patterson\u2019s infamous beef wellington lunch and her arrest.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been quite a few [scripts about the mushroom case] floating around, and that\u2019s to be expected,\u201d said Tamara Simoneau, Paramount Australia\u2019s vice president of content. \u201cWhen something like this happens, a story that the whole country is obsessed with, then the world became obsessed with it, it\u2019s bound to end up in scripts and in writing rooms. We\u2019re really thrilled with what\u2019s transpired for us and the casting of Melanie, who we think will be excellent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Look<\/a><\/p>\n

Mushroom Murders was one of the headline announcements at the combined Ten\/Paramount Australia upfronts event on Wednesday, which unveiled a slate heavy on local crime for the streamer, including a six-part adaptation of the 2019 podcast Who the Hell is Hamish? and a true-crime series fronted by Teacher\u2019s Pet reporter Hedley Thomas.<\/p>\n

In Who the Hell is Hamish? Dominic Cooper will play the convicted Sydney fraudster Hamish McLaren, who was jailed for nine years after he was convicted of stealing $7.66 million from 15 victims, including fashion designer Lisa Ho. Filming on the limited series wrapped on the Gold Coast this year.<\/p>\n

Simoneau said casting international leads in two series covering high-profile local crime cases was more about name recognition than any reflection on Australian talent.<\/p>\n

\u201cGlobal recognition really helps to launch a project that\u2019s Australian-made onto the global stage,\u201d she said. \u201cSo if that\u2019s how that needs to go, then it\u2019s a really good play because it\u2019s an Australian production, and it\u2019s important for our stories and our productions to be given these global stages because they\u2019re excellent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DominicDominic Cooper as Hamish in Who The Hell Is Hamish?<\/p>\n

Also announced on Wednesday for Paramount+ was Sam Kerr Kicking Goals, a live-action series inspired by the Matildas captain that will follow her life as an 11-year-old footballer in WA and new sketch series from comedy group The Inspired Unemployed, as well as return seasons for The Last King of the Cross<\/a> and NCIS: Sydney<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Ricki-Lee<\/a><\/p>\n

Network 10, meanwhile, unveiled what Simoneau called a \u201cwall-to-wall program slate\u201d across the year, starting with the return of Australian Survivor \u2013 replacing I\u2019m a Celebrity \u2026 Get Me Out of Here\u2019s traditional January spot \u2013 and new seasons of Have You Been Paying Attention?, The Cheap Seats, MasterChef Australia, Taskmaster Australia, The Traitors Australia<\/a> and Shaun Micallef\u2019s Parents\u2019 Evening<\/a>.<\/p>\n

New shows include Australian Ninja Warrior, co-hosted by Robert Irwin, fly-on-the-wall series Dogs at Work, narrated by Melanie Zanetti, who plays Bluey\u2019s mum Chilli and property shows Aussie Auctions and Extraordinary Shows Australia. Ten will also broadcast the FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup from Brazil in July.<\/p>\n

Simoneau also addressed criticism around the recruitment of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, to the MasterChef Australia kitchen, where she will co-host the re-booted Junior MasterChef Australia<\/a> series alongside Poh Ling Yeow<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do have Australians hosting Australian cooking shows,\u201d said Simoneau. \u201cBut it\u2019s a global format, and people watch MasterChef Australia all over the world, and it\u2019s very successful all over the world. It\u2019s an international success story. So why not embrace anybody who wants to be involved?\u201d<\/p>\n

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Close\"LouiseLouise Rugendyke<\/a> is the National TV editor and a senior culture writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"October 28, 2026 \u2014 12:15pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":948875,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[49,48,75,348],"class_list":["post-948874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=948874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948874\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/948875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=948874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=948874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=948874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}