IN THE MEDIA — PINE GAP BOOK

ABC PODCAST EXPANSE

April 2024 - Pine Gap is featured in the ABC Podcast Expanse, Season 3. Just 18 km south of Alice Springs, Pine Gap has become the most secretive intelligence facility in the country.

In season three of ABC’s Expanse podcast, host and Alice Springs journalist Alex Barwick goes back to the beginning to find out what on earth is happening in her backyard.

PINE GAP tv series banned in vietnam

1 July 2021 - HANOI (Reuters) -- Netflix Inc has removed Australian spy drama "Pine Gap" from its services in Vietnam after a complaint from broadcast authorities in the Southeast Asian country about the appearance of a map which depicts Chinese claims in the South China Sea. The map, which briefly features on the screens of a control room at a spy base in two episodes of the six-part show, depicts China's unilaterally declared "nine-dash line" and is displayed within the context of maritime claims in the region. "Netflix's violations angered and hurt the feelings of the entire people of Vietnam," the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information said in a statement on its website. "This is the third time in a row in the last 12 months that Netflix has been found to distribute movies and TV shows containing content which violate Vietnam's sovereignty," said the statement, which was dated July 1. The "nine-dash line" is a U-shaped feature used on Chinese maps to illustrate its disputed claims over vast expanses of the resource-rich South China Sea, including large swathes of what Vietnam regards as its continental shelf, where it has awarded oil concessions. Chinese and Vietnamese ships have in recent years been embroiled in months-long standoffs in the disputed waterways. Netflix confirmed it had removed the show in Vietnam but said it remained available on the service in the rest of the world. "Following a written legal demand from the Vietnamese regulator, we have removed the licensed series, Pine Gap, from Netflix in Vietnam, to comply with local law," a Netflix spokesperson said. In October 2019, Vietnam pulled DreamWorks' animated film "Abominable" from cinemas over a scene featuring a similar map showing the "nine-dash line". Vietnam's broadcasting authority said the other two shows which it had raised as issues with Netflix were "Put Your Head on My Shoulder", a 2019 Chinese rom-com, and the U.S. political drama "Madam Secretary". "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" was still visible on Netflix on Friday, although "Madam Secretary" was not.

TRUE SPIES Podcast

May 2021 - David was interviewed for the TRUE SPIES Podcast about a story found in his book, Pine Gap. The episode is narrated by Vanessa Kirby who played the young Princess Margaret in the Netflix series, The Crown. The topic for this episode, Searching For The Soldier (#54) focuses on the shoot-down of Captain Scott O’Grady in 1995 over Bosnia Herzegovina. This story is found in Chapter 6, the Bill Clinton years. You can the Podcast at your Podcast service.

Articles / Reports

These articles provide various perspectives about Pine Gap and related stories.

Pine Gap Television Series

Pine Gap is an Australian television series released on Netflix and broadcast on Australia’s ABC network in 2018. The six-part series was written and created by Greg Haddrick and Felicity Packard and produced by Screentime Australia. It stars American actor Parker Sawyers, Australian actors Jacqueline McKenzie, Tess Haubrich, Stephen Curry, Lewis Fitz-Gerald, Mark Leonard Winter, Sachin Joab, Alice Keohavong, Edwina Wren and Milly Alcock and British actor Steve Toussaint.

David is the Technical & Creative Consultant on the Pine Gap television series, providing set design guidance, believability, plausibility and authenticity in Operations scenarios and dialog, story / character development, signals intelligence terminology, and computer monitor display design.

Links to the series: Promo ‘Behind The Scenes’ Videos:

Netflix Press Release Writing & Researching

ABC News Loose Lips Sink Ships

TV Tonight Secrets, Lies, Love & Betrayal

if.com.au - Cast Revealed Fact Or Fiction?

The Guardian - Behind The Scenes Connection To Country

Media Week (2nd article) Creating The World

Inside The World (Filming)