A billion-dollar industry, a fierce succession war, a family at odds: The explosive Down Under drama Territory has everything you need for a juicy new watch. The series follows the fight for power in the remote and unforgiving Australian outback when the world’s largest cattle station is left without an apparent heir. Imagine the family drama of your favorite prime-time soap, but set in a region so rough and remote that nearly everything can kill you.

That’s right: Bondi Beach this is not. The Northern Territory isn’t the sun-splashed coastal Australia you’re used to enjoying on-screen. What will you see? Check out the trailer for the neo-Western series above, and read on to find out more about Territory, which stars Anna Torv (Fringe), Sam Corlett (Vikings: Valhalla), and many more in an epic and dangerous battle for land and legacy.

What is Territory about?

When Marianne Station is left without a clear successor, generational clashes threaten to tear the Lawson family apart. Sensing this once-great dynasty is in decline, the outback’s most powerful factions — rival cattle barons, desert gangsters, Indigenous elders, and billionaire miners — move in for the kill. With billions of dollars at stake, everyone wants a piece of the pie.

Who stars in Territory?

• Anna Torv (The Newsreader, The Last of Us) as Emily Lawson
• Michael Dorman (For All Mankind, Patriot) as Graham Lawson
• Robert Taylor (Longmire, The Newsreader) as Colin Lawson
• Sam Corlett (Vikings: Valhalla, The Dry) as Marshall Lawson
• Sara Wiseman (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, High Country) as Sandra Kirby
• Dan Wyllie (Love My Way, The Veil) as Hank Hodge
• Clarence Ryan (Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Mystery Road Origin) as Nolan Brannock
• Jay Ryan (IT Chapter Two, Scrublands) as Campbell Miller
• Philippa Northeast (The Newsreader, Limbo) as Susie Lawson
• Joe Klocek (My Lady Jane, The Dry) as Lachie Kirby
• Kylah Day (Scrublands, Itch) as Sharnie Kennedy
• Sam Delich (Spiderhead, Last Days of Space Age ) as Rich Petrakis
• Hamilton Morris (Sweet Country) as Uncle Bryce
• Tuuli Narkle (Mystery Road: Origin, NCIS: Sydney) as Keeley Redford
• Tyler Spencer (The New Boy) as Dezi
• Jake Ryan (The Great Gatsby, Life After Fighting) as Daniel Lawson

Where was Territory filmed?

The series was filmed across the Northern Territory and South Australia in locations so remote they’re barely inhabited — let alone shown on-screen. Locations include the UNESCO World Heritage–listed Kakadu National Park — with special permission from the Traditional Owners — and Tipperary Station, a real-life, working cattle station that’s so large it has its own airfield and school.

For scale, the real-life Anna Creek Station, which served as one of the inspirations for the series, is bigger than the state of New Jersey. Let’s put it this way: The land is so large and so unfathomable that the preferred modes of transportation are helicopters and private jets. Australia is roughly the size of the contiguous 48 US states but with about a third of the population, and some of the landowners in the outback have land holdings bigger than many countries. (Anna Creek Station is bigger than all of Slovenia.) This is a massive industry spread over a massive amount of land — with a massive amount of money at stake.

What is the Top End? 

The characters in the series refer to the “Top End,” which refers to the northernmost part of the Northern Territory — a tropical oasis that consists of capital city Darwin, World Heritage–listed Kakadu National Park, remote Arnhem Land in the northeast corner, and the Katherine region, where the tropics meet the outback. The Top End is known for its tropical weather, crocodiles, rich Indigenous culture, great fishing, national parks and laid-back lifestyle.

What is a cattle station? 

In Australia, a large land holding used for livestock production is known as a station — this originally referred to the main residence and outbuildings of a pastoral property but now generally refers to the whole land holding. The owner of a station is known as a grazier, or pastoralist and, in most cases, Australian stations are operated on a pastoral lease — in which government land is leased out for grazing purposes.

What is a muster? 

A muster is the rounding up of cattle or sheep. In the Northern Territory, a muster is generally undertaken between March and June, and August and November. A plane or helicopter may also be used when required in large paddocks or low-lying scrubby areas where it is harder to locate the cattle with just a ground crew.

What are some other Aussie vocabulary words I should know when watching Territory?

ringer: a stock worker on an Australian cattle station who rounds up “mobs” of cattle.
mob: a group of cattle, horses, or sheep running or mustered together.
bull catcher: a mechanical or “bionic” arm fitted to a vehicle. The bull catcher is driven up beside a bull and the arm is brought down around the neck, holding the bull against the vehicle. Can also refer to the persons who make a living catching feral bulls and buffalo.
Jackeroo/Jillaroo: young station workers who are learning the ropes of working on a sheep or cattle station; most prefer to be called “ringers” these days.
blocking: refers to when the cattle are first approached while mustering on horseback. The cattle are usually held in one spot for a time until they have quietened down enough to move forward.
drafting: separating cattle into different categories for branding, trucking, or treating.
drafting gates: gates usually arranged in a circle that lead to a number of different pens in a stockyard. They’re used when a mob of livestock are being segregated into groups such as dry cows, bulls, culls, weaners, and calves.
tailing: refers to various ways of containing a mob of cattle or horses while they graze.
clean skin: an unbranded and unearmarked wild heifer, cow, or bull.
heifer: a female cow who has not yet given birth to a calf.
weaner: young steers or heifers, usually 6 to 8 months old, who are recently weaned from their mothers.

Who created Territory?

The creators are Timothy Lee (Mystery Road, Bump) and Ben Davies (Bondi Rescue, The First Inventors, Outback Ringer). Executive producers are Davies, Rob Gibson (The Twelve, Colin from Accounts), and Ian Collie (Jack Irish, Scrublands); producer is Paul Ranford (Stateless, True History of the Kelly Gang); written by Lee, Kodie Bedford, Steven McGregor, and Michaeley O’Brien; and directed by Greg McLean (La Brea, Wolf Creek).

Davies told Netflix that during a pandemic-era beach walk with Gibson, the two “got excited about the prospect of doing a big-scale, high-stakes action drama set on a cattle station; in a part of the country you don’t often see on-screen. It was a complete contrast as we were surrounded by the Bondi crowd, people moving past us in their active wear, wet suits, carrying their surfboards while Rob and I were dreaming up stories about people in jeans, boots, and flannel shirts in the Top End.”

Territory is an Easy Tiger and Ronde production for Netflix with support from Screen Territory and South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC). 

Can I see a trailer for Territory? 

Watch a teaser for the drama above.

When does Territory premiere?

Territory is streaming now on Netflix.