Kitty Flanagan insists that she and Helen Tudor-Fisk are “very close” to being the same person – and the way her day is going when she calls TV WEEK for a chat just proves it.
Kitty, the co-creator and star of hit comedy Fisk, has had to spend the morning dealing with paperwork at a government office.
“What annoyed me was I was supposed to be spending the morning with my dogs on the beach,” she explains. “So it really interrupted my plan, having to go and do that. I wanted to spend some quality time with my boys. My favourite thing is a day out with my dogs.”
Just as Kitty loves spending time with her dogs Henry and Pickle, Helen loves spending time with her dog Artie. In fact, Henry has played Artie on Fisk. The similarities between the two women don’t end there. Kitty says they’re both “very socially awkward” and easily frustrated by things going on around them.
“And the laziness of not wanting to change clothes every day,” she adds. “It’s not that she’s dirty – she does have three different suits and she always has a different shirt on. She just can’t make choices.”
The socially awkward, easily frustrated, brown-suited probate lawyer has struck a chord with audiences around the world. With the first two seasons of Fisk streaming on Netflix, Kitty has been winning fans everywhere, from the US to India to Malta. The show’s international success has left her “gobsmacked” – and she’s especially surprised that Americans have taken to it.
“I thought it would be too low-key, and maybe not resonate, but the Americans have really enjoyed it,” she says. “Jeez, we were all mumbling a bit in season one. Because a lot of us are comedians – and comedians never want to be accused of overacting – I think we were all trying to keep it so real and low-key that when we watch it back now, we go, ‘Oh my God – how did anyone understand us?’”
As season three of Fisk premieres, Kitty admits she wasn’t expecting a second season, let alone a third.
“I tied up season two, thinking we wouldn’t get another series, and then had to untie it,” she explains.
The three-time TV WEEK Logie Award winner says there’s both more and less pressure with the show’s third season.
“Less pressure because we know how the characters talk now, but so much pressure now because we don’t want to disappoint people!”
Kitty reveals that she was planning to kick off the new season with the funeral of Helen’s father Anthony, played by John Gaden. But fortunately, her sister Penny, who co-writes the episodes with her, talked her out of it.
“It wasn’t because I didn’t like John, who is one of the most delightful people you could ever work with,” Kitty explains. “I just was a bit like, ‘Oh, I don’t know where we take this show. What do we do? We’ve got to do something big. Let’s kill him! Let’s Game Of Thrones it and kill Ned Stark!’
“I was reminded that we’re writing a comedy and don’t need to kill people. It was a ridiculous idea, I admit it, and I apologise to John.”
Another thing that viewers won’t see in season three: steamy bedroom scenes involving Helen.
“There’s no nudity, ever, for me,” Kitty declares. “It doesn’t matter what role I do, you will never, ever see me in the nude. You heard it here first!”
Even though the popularity of Fisk means that Kitty could potentially ask a big name such as Chris Hemsworth or Hugh Jackman to play Helen’s love interest – and quite possibly get a yes – she wouldn’t do it.
“I’d just be like I would be in real life: giggling like a schoolgirl: ‘Oh God, I can’t look at them!’ No, I can’t do that.”
The guest stars appearing this season are impressive enough. They include Justine Clarke and Claudia Karvan – but both were cast only after they revealed they were fans of the show.
“The producer had said to me, ‘I got an email from Claudia Karvan saying could we find a role for her in Fisk,’” Kitty remembers. “I went back to him and said, ‘Do you think she was joking?’ And he said, ‘I don’t know. Let’s find out.’”
Of course, all the regulars are back, including Kitty’s long-time friend Julia Zemiro as Roz. Julia has shared a house with Kitty a couple of times – in London and in Sydney – and Kitty says they’ve been talking about wanting to do a show together “for about 30 years”.
But when Kitty told Julia about the series she was writing with her sister, and said she wanted her for one of the lead roles, Julia tried to get out of it.
“She kept saying, ‘Look, I don’t think I can, I don’t think I’m funny enough.’ She kept suggesting other people. I said, ‘Julia, it’s too late, mate. It’s written for you. You’ll be perfect. It’s you and me.’”
For Kitty, the success of Fisk comes after three decades of stand-up comedy and TV appearances in everything from Full Frontal to Have You Been Paying Attention? More than anything else, she loves hearing that kids love her show.
“When I get stopped by primary school kids because they watch Fisk, I couldn’t be happier,” she says. “Because that’s the next generation. That’s continuing my career right there!”
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