BROTHERS IN ARMS CAST LUKE HEMSWORTH, CALLAN MULVEY AND DAMIAN WALSHE HOWLING. PICTURE: CHANNEL 10NATIONAL FEATURES
THE solid concrete walls of an industrial unit block in suburban Sydney provide the perfect cover for the cast and crew of Bikie Wars: Brothers in Arms.
Aussie rock band AC/DC is blaring, beer is flowing and it's mullets all round, as acclaimed director Peter Andrikides watches the action on a monitor, giggling like a schoolboy. It's a light moment in this dark tale that is certain to shock audiences with its Underbelly-style brutality.
As that TV crime franchise was criticised for glamourising gang activity, Brothers in Arms should brace for the same charge as it explores the bond that drove these men to kill and die for each other.
It's this brotherhood that won lead actor Callan Mulvey's respect and interest in taking on the role of Anthony "Snoddy" Spencer.
Spencer was the loyal lieutenant brought into the Comanchero fold by club boss Jock Ross (played superbly by Matt Nable) who would lead the mutiny against his president's tactics and leave to start an Australian chapter of the US motorcycle club Bandidos.
With pride at stake, an "alpha male against alpha male" war began, which would end in bloodshed on that fateful day at the Viking Tavern, Milperra, when seven people (including a 14-year-old bystander) were shot dead and 40 club members hospitalised.
Keeping on the right side of those allegiances and "doing justice to this story" was a challenge for Mulvey.
"They're very protective of the brotherhood and they bloody should be," he says.
"They would die for each other and I have the upmost respect for the clubs."
Researching the story, as well as watching US outlaw bikie drama Sons of Anarchy, Mulvey admits he "envied" the club camaraderie.
"You've got your brother's back and nothing will come between that," he says.
"You take your brother's side first and I think that would be a beautiful thing to experience."
That's not to say the criminality is to be admired or excused, Mulvey says, but honouring the story and the relationships at the heart of the drama was a key to getting the story right.
"It's hard to get it right for both sides ... both sides seem to have conflicting stories and there will be a lot of people who feel Snoddy shouldn't be made a hero or that Jock's been demonised," he says.
"I want the people who are still alive to feel they've been respected and we've done justice to this story."
Bulking up for the role, the 37-year-old's Snoddy is a balance of tough guy and vulnerable loner who finds a family and order within club ranks.
Mulvey's on-screen chemistry with Maeve Dermody, who plays Spencer's girlfriend Lee, produces some of the drama's most touching moments.
While Dermody's most notable roles have been in film and theatre, she jumped at the chance to take on her first major TV gig.
Dermody, pictured with Mulvey on Switched On's cover, says: "The opportunity to play a character like this is rare. I just chase that stuff."
Born after the real events, Dermody shares viewer fascination "about why these groups exist, how they exist and their almost tribal code of conduct". Written by Greg Haddrick, of Underbelly fame, this is the kind of flesh-fest that made Underbelly infamous.
Dermody says the bikie world "was a very misogynistic culture on the whole - there's also this really strong loyalty to their 'old ladies'. "You trust that Jock and Snoddy aren't messing around on them and, despite the flashes of breasts, not being loyal (to your girlfriend) would not have been OK."
