The Games (Australian TV series)

The Games
Company type	Television series
Industry	Television entertainment
Founded	1998
Founder	John Clarke, Ross Stevenson
Headquarters	Australia
Area served	Australia, New Zealand
Key people	John Clarke, Bryan Dawe, Gina Riley, Nicholas Bell, Ross Stevenson
Products	Television series

Adapted from the English Wikipedia article The Games (Australian TV series), available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 11 August 2025

The Games was a satirical Australian mockumentary television series centered on the 2000 Summer Olympics held in Sydney. It originally aired on ABC and consisted of two seasons, each comprising 13 episodes, broadcast in 1998 and 2000 respectively.

Featuring satirists John Clarke and Bryan Dawe, alongside comedian Gina Riley and actor Nicholas Bell, the show was penned by Clarke and Ross Stevenson. Its narrative revolved around the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG), lampooning issues such as corruption, favoritism within the Olympic framework, inefficiencies in the New South Wales public sector, and unethical conduct in both politics and media. To reinforce the mockumentary format, characters bore the same names as their performers.

Cast

John Clarke took on the role of SOCOG's "Head of Administration & Logistics," a vaguely defined yet pivotal position, with subtle references suggesting he might be a former Olympic champion. Gina Riley portrayed the "Manager Marketing & Liaison," while Bryan Dawe played "Manager Accounts, Budgeting & Finance." Actor Nicholas Bell appeared as the Secretary to the Minister for the Olympics; initially a guest character in Series 1, he was elevated to a main cast member in Series 2.

The series also featured guest spots from prominent Australian personalities including John Farnham, Dave Gray, Frank Woodley, Barrie Cassidy, Maxine McKew, Sam Neill, Gerry Connolly, Kim Gyngell, Tony Martin, John Howard, The Seekers, and Dave Graney.

Episodes

The concluding episode aired just days before the official opening ceremony of the real Games. In this installment, the three principal actors along with Bell impersonated The Seekers during a rehearsal for the closing ceremony by performing "The Carnival Is Over". Subsequently, The Seekers delivered this song at the actual Paralympics closing event several weeks afterward.

John Howard appeared in a video segment designed for international audiences, delivering an apology to Aboriginal people concerning governmental wrongdoings related to the Stolen Generations. Within the episode’s plotline, multiple nations threatened to boycott the Games unless the prime minister—also named John Howard—issued a formal apology. John Clarke’s character humorously remarked, "that's not the Prime Minister," to which Gina Riley responded, "He never said he was. He said he was John Howard." This mix-up between two men sharing the same name became a recurring joke across Australia.

Following the conclusion of the Games, John Clarke mentioned that most scenarios depicted in the show were fictional creations by writers, noting that portraying actual SOCOG events would have appeared implausible to viewers.

Reception

The Games earned the award for Most Outstanding Comedy Program at the Logie Awards of 2001. John Clarke and Ross Stevenson were honored with Best Screenplay in a Television Drama at the 43rd Australian Film Institute Awards for their work on the episode titled Solar.

The first season was made available on DVD through Umbrella Entertainment in December 2004, while Season 2 was released by ABC DVD in December 2009. Additionally, all episodes were distributed on PAL VHS format.

In New Zealand, The Games was among the initial programs broadcast on TVNZ 6 when it launched on 30 September 2007.

Within Australia, the series currently airs on The Comedy Channel as part of their Aussie Gold programming block hosted by Frank Woodley. The show has also seen reruns on ABC.

Spin-off

Clarke and Riley were intended to return as their original characters in a spin-off titled The Games: London Calling, which would depict them acting as consultants for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Despite these plans, the series was never developed or produced by the Nine Network.

Twenty Twelve plagiarism allegation

In 2011, the BBC's mockumentary Twenty Twelve was accused by the creators of The Games of bearing a significant similarity to their earlier Australian production. Clarke highlighted the considerable dedication invested in their series and mentioned previous communications with the British team responsible for Twenty Twelve. The BBC rejected the plagiarism allegations, emphasizing that both programs merely shared an Olympic backdrop.

Subsequently, Clarke's website referred to The Games' writers John Clarke and Ross Stevenson as operators of a charitable organization that provides television formats to UK broadcasters.

External links