AustLit logo
John Ridley John Ridley i(A144810 works by) (a.k.a. Ian John Ridley)
Gender: Male
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Works By

Preview all
1 2 form y separately published work icon High Country Beck Cole , Marcia Gardner , John Ridley , ( dir. Kevin Carlin et. al. )agent Australia : Curio Pictures Binge , 2024 27503774 2024 series - publisher film/TV

'A detective transferred to Victorian High Country investigates 5 missing persons. She uncovers a complex web of murder, deceit and revenge.'

Source: Production blurb.

1 1 form y separately published work icon Black Water : Abyss Sarah Smith , John Ridley , ( dir. Andrew Traucki ) Australia : Prodigy Movies , 2020 16671972 2020 single work film/TV horror

An adventure-loving couple and their friends abseil into a cave as a tropical storm approaches, only to find the cave flooding and crocodiles approaching.

Source: IF Magazine.

1 3 form y separately published work icon Hungry Ghosts Timothy Hobart , Michele Lee , Alan Nguyen , Jeremy Nguyen , John Ridley , ( dir. Shawn Seet ) Australia : SBS Matchbox Pictures , 2020 15284558 2020 series - publisher film/TV horror

'When a tomb in Vietnam is accidentally opened on the eve of the Hungry Ghost Festival, a vengeful spirit is unleashed, bringing the dead with him. As these spirits wreak havoc across the Vietnamese-Australian community in Melbourne, reclaiming lost loves and exacting revenge, young woman May Le (Văn-Davies) must rediscover her true heritage and accept her destiny to help bring balance to a community still traumatised by war.

'Hungry Ghosts reflects the extraordinary lived and spiritual stories of the Vietnamese community and explores the inherent trauma passed down from one generation to the next, and how notions of displacement impact human identity – long after the events themselves.'

Source: SBS (https://www.sbs.com.au/guide/article/2020/07/24/new-tv-drama-hungry-ghosts-four-night-special-event-coming-sbs). (Sighted: 20/08/2020).

1 form y separately published work icon Chosen Niki Aken , John Ridley , Adam Todd , ( dir. Tony Tilse ) Australia China : Playmaker Media , 2018 16862207 2018 series - publisher film/TV thriller

'Shortly after arriving in Sydney, Australia, a brilliant heart surgeon visiting from China is drawn into a deadly game whereby he must kill a stranger or lose somebody close to him. Our hero unexpectedly finds himself at the centre of a deadly, complex game when he is delivered a box with a murderous message. As a doctor dedicated to preserving life, he refuses to play - he refuses to kill. Then those he loves most, his family, come under threat. Kidnap and murder are just the start. This is the thrilling story of a man fighting against impossible odds to bring his family to safety, using everything at his disposal to outwit his unknown opponents amidst terrible danger.'

Source: Playmaker Media.

1 1 form y separately published work icon Bite Club John Ridley , Sarah Smith , ( dir. Peter Andrikidis et. al. )agent Sydney : Playmaker Media Nine Network , 2018 12542817 2018 series - publisher film/TV crime

Two police detectives, both survivors of a shark attack, team up to hunt a serial killer.

1 8 form y separately published work icon Wanted Kirsty Fisher , Timothy Hobart , John Ridley , ( dir. Shirley Barrett ) Australia : Seven Network , 2016-2017 9138406 2016 series - publisher film/TV crime

Series one:

Two strangers go on the run together after being caught up in a deadly carjacking.

Series two:

In the first season, checkout chick Lola Buckley and accountant Chelsea Babbage were thrown together by fate and circumstance in a thrilling chase across Australia in a car full of drugs and money. After a hair-raising pursuit across the starkly varied landscapes of Australia, the second season sees them journey the length of Thailand and New Zealand as they turn from the hunted into the hunters in an effort to bring the fight to their pursuers and unearth the truth about how and why this whole thing started. (Source: Screen Australia)

1 form y separately published work icon Metamorphosis John Ridley , ( dir. Pino Amenta ) Australia : FremantleMedia Australia Foxtel , 2014 7625556 2014 single work film/TV

'When Ferguson takes her revenge on the prisoners by bulldozing the garden project, Doreen turns her anger on Franky. Ferguson psychologically manipulates Vera and she crosses a point of no return whilst Maxine orchestrates a desperate bid to see her spurned lover.

'Franky accuses Ferguson of deliberately giving Simmo a hotshot, but Ferguson wrests back the power by letting Franky know she's got a snitch in the ranks.'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive. (Sighted: 23/7/2014)

1 6 form y separately published work icon Nowhere Boys The Lost Boys Craig Irvin , Rhys Graham , Elise McCredie , Roger Monk , Polly Staniford , Shanti Gudgeon , Giula Sandler , David Hannam , Pete McTighe , John Ridley , Blake Ayshford , ( dir. Peter Carstairs et. al. )agent Australia : Matchbox Productions Pty Ltd Australian Broadcasting Corporation , 2013-2019 Z1917831 2013 series - publisher film/TV children's fantasy 'Four boys get lost in the forest, and discover, when they return home, that they have returned to an alternate world identical to theirs except for one startling difference - they were never born.' (Source: Screen Australia)
1 25 form y separately published work icon A Place to Call Home Bevan Lee , Tony Morphett , Hamilton Budd , Rick Held , Trent Atkinson , Sarah Walker , Kim Wilson , Giula Sandler , Katherine Thomson , Brooke Wilson , Sarah Lambert , Deborah Parsons , John Ridley , John Lonie , David Hannam , Kristen Dunphy , Cathy Strickland , ( dir. Roger Hodgman et. al. )agent 2013 Australia : Channel 7 , 2012- Z1904429 2013 series - publisher film/TV 'Set in rural Australia in the 1950s, A Place to Call Home is a sweeping drama of one woman's journey to heal her soul and of a privileged family's confrontation with a changing era. A romantic saga based in the fictional town of Inverness - home to the Bligh family estate Ash Park - with a landscape as vast and dramatic as the people who live there.' (Source: http://www.throng.com.au/2012/07/new-seven-show-a-place-to-call-home/ )
1 4 form y separately published work icon Reef Doctors Meaghan Rodriguez , Annie Beach , Deborah Parsons , Mia Tolhurst , Elizabeth Coleman , Anthony Morris , John Ridley , Fiona Wood , Jutta Goetze , Sue Hore , ( dir. Colin Budds et. al. )agent Australia : Jonathan M. Shiff Productions , 2013 Z1884387 2013 series - publisher film/TV

'Lisa McCune stars as Dr Sam Stewart, the Sherlock Holmes of tropical medicine and the head doctor in the only medical clinic for the Great Barrier Reef Islands. Sam leads a handful of dedicated practitioners hoping to extract the hidden secrets from venom that have the power to cure some of the world's most fatal diseases. On a daily basis, her small team of medics deals with everything from deadly snakebites and jellyfish stings, to divers with the bends and tropical diseases that can spread like wildfire. But it's not all medical emergencies and dramas for the vendomdocs on Hope Island. Life's also an adventure — wind surfing, scuba diving, abseiling, and at night, kicking back at the Backpackers Hostel, and in the steamy, romantic tropical nights at the end of a long day, maybe even finding love.'

Source: Australian television Information Archive. (Sighted: 1/5/2014)

1 44 form y separately published work icon Wentworth Emma J. Steele , Lally Katz , Pete McTighe , Giula Sandler , Timothy Hobart , John Ridley , Marcia Gardner , Max Conroy , Kim Wilson , ( dir. Jet Wilkinson et. al. )agent Fremantle : FremantleMedia Australia Foxtel , 2013-2021 Z1846530 2013 series - publisher film/TV crime

A re-boot of Prisoner, Wentworth takes place in an earlier time for Bea Smith: top dog in Prisoner, she is here a new inmate, trying to consolidate her position in prison.

For a full list of episodes and authors, see Film Details.

1 10 form y separately published work icon Wonderland Jo Porter , Sarah Walker , Christopher Burke , Sarah Smith , Alicia Walsh , John Ridley , Marieke Hardy , James Walker , Margaret Wilson , Sarah Walker , Jeffrey Truman , Samantha Strauss , Kirsty Fisher , Nick King , Lally Katz , Josephine Dee Barrett , Clare Atkins , ( dir. Darren Ashton et. al. )agent 2013 Australia : FremantleMedia Australia , 2013 6135670 2013 series - publisher film/TV romance humour

'Set in a beachside apartment building in Sydney's eastern suburbs, Wonderland concentrates on four very different couples navigating the humorous and sometimes painful minefield of love, friendship and life in the 21st century.' (Source: Network Ten website)

1 4 form y separately published work icon Dripping in Chocolate John Ridley , Sarah Smith , ( dir. Mark Joffe ) Australia : Southern Star Entertainment , 2012 Z1836478 2012 single work film/TV crime

When Detective Bennett O'Mara finds a chocolate wrapper on a strangled girl, it leads him to enigmatic chocolatier Juliana Lovece. Just as this perceptive woman gets under his hardened skin, he suspects she may be at the centre of an increasing murder count.

1 14 form y separately published work icon Wild Boys Sarah Smith , Julie McGauran , John Ridley , James Walker , Dave Warner , Michelle Offen , Sarah Smith , Sam Meikle , ( dir. Jeffrey Walker et. al. )agent Australia : Southern Star Entertainment Seven Network , 2011 Z1802435 2011 series - publisher film/TV adventure

'In Hopetoun there are few rules... And even fewer willing to follow them.

'In this town moral codes are muddied by circumstance and opportunity. There's gold for the taking, cash being splashed and power wielded ruthlessly with little regard for right and wrong. It's hard to know the good guys from the bad when guns, blades and fists speak louder than any law.

'This is the world of the Wild Boys, a high-energy adventure series about a gang of bushrangers whose charisma is as captivating and entertaining as their extreme exploits in the Australian bush.

'Set in 1860s NSW at the frontier - where gold has lured the opportunistic away from the still fledgling main colonies - Wild Boys follows four men on the outside of the law as they come up against authority, the rich and greedy and the foibles of their own hearts.

'Jack, Dan, Conrad and Captain Gunpowder are the Wild Boys.

'Jack wants enough gold to head west, buy land and settle down with Mary, Hopetoun's publican, butcher and brothel owner.

'Dan wants enough gold to head west and buy women (any women, really).

'Captain Gunpowder just wants to have fun with Jack, Dan and his cache of explosives (and maybe win the heart of a certain school teacher).

'And Conrad doesn't really care about money; he just wants to elope with the mayor's daughter Emilia.

The Wild Boys are making plans for the future, but for now they will have to make do with each other - staging hold-ups and keeping one step ahead of traps, trackers, and other outlaws.

'The question is: Are they smart enough to stay ahead of Fuller, Fife and Scanlon (each of whom has a very good reason to want the Wild Boys dead)?'

Source: Wild Boys official website )http://au.tv.yahoo.com/wild-boys/) (Sighted: 30/08/2011)

1 form y separately published work icon Rescue Special Ops Michaeley O'Brien , Sarah Smith , Dave Warner , Jeff Truman , Chris Hawkshaw , Liz Doran , David Ogilvy , Tim Dylan Lee , Sam Meikle , Giula Sandler , Fin Edquist , Cath Collins , John Ridley , Fiona Kelly , Andrew Kelly , ( dir. Peter Andrikidis et. al. )agent Sydney : Southern Star Entertainment Nine Network , 2009-2011 7293469 2009 series - publisher film/TV adventure

'Dean Gallagher, 34, and Chase, 26, are brothers. Competitive alpha males, they argue over everything, agree on nothing, but defend each other from outsiders no matter what. They’re members of Rescue Special Ops. Experienced paramedics in peak physical condition, they're skilled in abseiling, rock climbing, surf and sea rescue, 4WD driving and fire brigade procedures. They're the first to be called in for any natural or man-made disaster, salvage or rescue operation.'

Source: Screen Australia.

1 form y separately published work icon Canal Road Sarah Smith , John Ridley , Dave Warner , ( dir. Kevin Carlin et. al. )agent Melbourne : Canal Road 1 Pty Ltd Nine Network , 2008 Z1937229 2008 series - publisher film/TV crime mystery

'CANAL ROAD is a medical and legal advisory centre where the lives of inner-city professionals and their patients entwine in a story of mystery and medical intrigue. At the heart of the series are the tragic deaths of the wife and son of psychiatrist Spencer McKay, who is confronted by the killer of his loved ones and sets out on a journey of revenge which will implicate friends, workmates and his darkest demons.'

Source: Screen Australia. (Sighted: 3/5/2013)

1 2 form y separately published work icon Rush Southern Star John Edwards (publisher), Christopher Lee , Todd Boland , Adam Todd , Alice Bell , Samantha Winston , Justin Monjo , Leon Ford , Jessica Redenbach , Andrew Prowse , Sam Carroll , John Ridley , Jeff Truman , Keith Thompson , Louise Fox , Tony McNamara , Kris Mrksa , Michelle Offen , John O'Brien , Tim Alexander , Shelley Birse , Kylie Needham , Steve Rodgers , Rene Zandweld , Meaghan Rodriguez , Todd Winston , David Caesar , Jonathan Gavin , Tim Dylan Lee , Vanessa Bates , Michael Boland , Ben Chessell , Raquel Stevens , ( dir. Andrew Prowse et. al. )agent 2008 Australia : Southern Star John Edwards Network Ten , 2008-2011 Z1622238 2008 series - publisher film/TV crime

'... a contemporary action drama series set in a critical incident police unit, providing an insider's view of police under pressure. Our heroes are a mobile squad trained to be smarter, tactically superior and technologically advantaged.'

Source: Australian Television website, www.australiantelevision.net (sighted 08/09/2009)

1 y separately published work icon The Strip Justin Monjo , Margaret Wilson , David Ogilvy , Tim Pye , Michael Miller , Felicity Packard , Jeff Truman , John Ridley , ( dir. Garth Maxwell et. al. )agent 2008 Australia : Nine Network Knapman Wyld Television , 2008 6049083 2008 series - publisher detective crime

'The Strip is the hub of the Gold Coast. Its allure attracts those who have it, those who want it, and the criminals who will take it if they can. Keeping an eye over the Strip is the elite Paradise CIB, headed by Inspector Nelson Steele. Detective Tully, a local, is partnered with Detective Cross, a tough cop from the south, trying to patch up a broken marriage with DPP Prosecutor Marcia Cross. They are supported by plain clothes Constable Mackay, a forensics investigator who moved across to the CIB unit, and fast talking rookie, Moretti. Everyone wants a piece of Paradise. Especially the crooks.'

Source: Screen Australia. (Sighted: 13/6/2013)

1 2 form y separately published work icon Sea Patrol Matt Ford , Kristen Dunphy , Adam Todd , Chris Hawkshaw , Sarah Smith , Marcia Gardner , John Ridley , Samantha Winston , Philip Dalkin , Cath Collins , Felicity Packard , Tony Morphett , Jeff Truman , Michaeley O'Brien , Dave Warner , ( dir. Steve Mann et. al. )agent 2007 Australia : McElroy All Media Nine Network , 2007-2011 6030913 2007 series - publisher film/TV crime adventure

'Young Australians battling the elements to defend Australia’s borders and enforce its economic zone, providing security, surveillance, protection, support and relief for the world’s longest coastline. Our heroes are the officers and crew of Australian Naval patrol boat, Hammersley. Together, they share in the adversity, self-sacrifice and rewards that come with Naval service. Explosive action and monumental stillness. Blue skies and throbbing motors. Mysterious events and deadly consequences. These are the things that characterise SEA PATROL. Everyday heroes doing an extraordinary job.'

Source: Screen Australia. (Sighted: 7/6/2013)

1 form y separately published work icon The Alice Christopher Lee , Sarah Smith , Jeff Truman , Adam Todd , John Ridley , Liz Doran , John O'Brien , Blake Ayshford , Justin Monjo , Sarah Lambert , Greg Waters , Justin Monjo , Robyn Sinclair , ( dir. Daina Reid et. al. )agent Australia : Southern Star John Edwards Nine Network , 2005-2006 Z1878870 2005-2006 series - publisher film/TV fantasy

Based on the original tele-movie, The Alice follows the adventures of a group of people who, drawn to Alice Springs through a series of fateful encounters, find they still have more to do in the town.

The program was cancelled after a single series due to poor viewing figures.

X