Lowdown shines a torch on the life of a man whose job it is to feed the public's insatiable appetite for celebrity gossip. Alex Burchill, the author of the Lowdown column which appears in the once great but now ailing tabloid newspaper – the Sunday Sun. Each week Alex interviews celebrities for his column, and each week at least one of those celebrities ruins his week. Sometimes the celebrity gets drunk and punches Alex out. Sometimes the celebrity gets him arrested. Usually the celebrity sleeps with his girlfriend, Rita. It may not sound like much of a life, but it invariably leads to great copy and the readers love it. In fact, it's the only thing standing between the Sunday Sun and oblivion.
When Bob inadvertently snaps a compromising photo of singer/actor Ben Hollander, Alex and Bob decide to capitalise on it as revenge for Hollander running up a massive tab on Alex's credit card.
When a celebrity chef insults Alex's new girlfriend on national television, Alex and Bob set up an elaborate News of the World-type sting to expose the chef cheating on his wife with a wannabe actress.
When one of the journalists invited to spend the night in the share-house of reality show 'Life in a Bubble' is found stabbed to death, Alex becomes the prime suspect.
Alex is charged with locating the spurned lover of Australian test cricket captain Mark Hardy, and convincing her to grant an exclusive interview to the Sunday Sun.
When Alex is assigned to interview highly volatile actor Lachlan Reid, he goes out of his way to antagonise Reid in the hope of getting a rise worth reporting.
Alex is commandeered into ghost-writing a controversial column for a high profile footballer who has decided to come out.
After missing out on the biggest story of the year, Alex has a chance to redeem himself by entrapping a fornicating film director. But a road rage incident throws a spanner in the works.
Alex has a chance to impress the new editor of the Sunday Sun when some erotic photos of the morally conservative Minister for Families fall into his lap.
Lowdown shines a torch on the life of a man whose job it is to feed the public's insatiable appetite for celebrity gossip. Alex Burchill, the author of the Lowdown column which appears in the once great but now ailing tabloid newspaper – the Sunday Sun. Each week Alex interviews celebrities for his column, and each week at least one of those celebrities ruins his week. Sometimes the celebrity gets drunk and punches Alex out. Sometimes the celebrity gets him arrested. Usually the celebrity sleeps with his girlfriend, Rita. It may not sound like much of a life, but it invariably leads to great copy and the readers love it. In fact, it's the only thing standing between the Sunday Sun and oblivion.
Adam Zwar , Kim Gyngell , Paul Denny
Debbie Lee
Australian Broadcasting Corporation , High Wire Films
