Powerful four-part drama relives Bali 2002 tragedy

On the night of October 12, 2002, people from all walks of life are enjoying themselves at Paddy’s Bar and the Sari Club in Kuta, Bali.

They include UK citizen newlywed Polly Miller, and Australians Nicole McClean, Jason McCartney and Jono Liddel.

Then, without warning, two suicide bombs tear through both venues. Many are killed and even more badly injured, including local Balinese and tourists from around the world.

So begins this harrowing but powerful four-part drama, which follows the work of first responders and volunteers as they race to the crime scene, desperate to help and to extinguish the huge fires that have been ignited by the bombs.

Hundreds of injured people are transported in cars, trucks and ambulances to the medical clinics and hospitals in and around the Balinese capital, Denpasar. The majority of the most severely injured end up in Sanglah hospital, which is soon overwhelmed by the number of patients who are desperately in need of care. Among the volunteer medics who come to offer whatever help they can are Australian doctors Vijith Vijayasekaran (“Vij”) and his wife, Priya, who have been holidaying in Bali.

The Australian Defence Force is sent to evacuate the injured and repatriate them to Australian hospitals. A makeshift triage system is implemented to make sure the most badly injured are transported first. Nicole, Polly and Jono are among them. Jason gives up his place in favour of patients in greater need.

Meanwhile, Ni Luh Erniarti begins searching for her beloved husband, of whom no trace can be found and, on the outskirts of Kuta, a young Balinese mother, Ni Luh Erniarti, worries that her husband, Gede, has not returned from work at the Sari Club.

Rachel Griffiths and Richard Roxburgh head the cast, while Bridgerton star Claudia Jessie plays Polly, and was drawn to the drama by the possibility of telling a true story.

“It feels like a rare opportunity, for me at least,” she says. “I’ve never done it before, and with it being the 20th anniversary when the show aired in Australia, I knew how much it would mean to people.

“I would have deeply regretted not seizing on such a fantastic opportunity to play such an incredible woman.”

Claudia describes Polly as an “incredibly funny, quick-witted and very successful businesswoman” but recreating what happened to her and so many other people was a challenge. Speaking about the bombing, she explains: “It’s hard to express how awful it was. The strategy of how they intended to hurt and kill people was awful to learn: the first bomb and the second bomb and how they planned to get people out into the streets to have the van detonate another bomb.

“With any of these horrific things that happen, it’s so unthinkable that anyone would want to cause such harm to others. Coming to terms with that is always hard.”

She adds: “It’s so different to anything I’ve had to speak about before because, given the nature of the story, we all wanted it to be good.

“It was handled with so much respect across the whole project from start to finish.”