# Bite Club (TV series)

Bite Club is an Australian crime thriller television series which aired on the Nine Network from 15 August to 3 October 2018. The show centres around a group of shark attack survivors, named the "Bite Club", who are being targeted by a serial killer. It stars Todd Lasance and Ash Ricardo as Detectives Dan Cooper and Zoe Rawlings, along with Dominic Monaghan as Senior Constable Stephen Langley.

## Production

On 4 October 2017, the series was announced, with Dominic Monaghan set to star in a lead role. On 11 October, the series was officially confirmed at Nine's upfronts set to air in 2018. The eight-part series began airing on 15 August 2018.
The show centres around a group of shark attack survivors, named the "Bite Club", who are being targeted by a serial killer. Todd Lasance and Ash Ricardo play Detectives Dan Cooper and Zoe Rawlings, who are trying to catch the killer. Monaghan plays Senior Constable Stephen Langley. The rest of the cast includes, Damian Walshe-Howling as psychologist Kristof Olsen, Deborah Mailman as Superintendent Anna Morton, Robert Mammone as Detective Sergeant Jim Russo, Marny Kennedy as semi-pro surfer Amber Wells, Darcie Irwin-Simpson as Detective Claire Hobson, Arka Das as Forensic Specialist Depak Chaudhary, and Pia Miller as Zoe's best friend Kate Summers. Actress Jessica Falkholt will make a posthumous appearance, following her death on 17 January 2018.
Bite Club is written by Sarah Smith and John Ridley, and directed by Peter Andrikidis, Geoff Bennett, Wayne Blair and Jennifer Leacey.
Bite Club began filming on-location in the suburb of Manly in September 2017. Filming took place at Dee Why, Curl Curl Beach and The Steyne pub. The Manly Pavilion became the outside of a police station, while the interior rooms were built at North Head. Other locations considered for the show's setting included Bondi and Maroubra. Filming for the series ended on 7 December 2017.

## Cast

* Todd Lasance as Detective Constable Dan Cooper
* Ash Ricardo as Detective Senior Constable Zoe Rawlings
* Dominic Monaghan as Senior Constable Stephen Langley
* Deborah Mailman as Superintendent Anna Morton
* Damian Walshe-Howling as Kristof Olsen
* Robert Mammone as Detective Sergeant Jim Russo
* Pia Miller as Kate Summers
* Marny Kennedy as Amber Wells
* Darcie Irwin-Simpson as Detective Claire Hobson
* Arka Das as Depak Chaudhary
* Jessica Falkholt as Emma Bailey
* Susan Prior as Tricia
* Jessica Napier as Pia

## Episodes

| No. | Title | Directed by | Original air date | Prod. code | Aus. viewers |
| 1 | Episode 1 | Geoff Bennett | 15 August 2018 (2018-08-15) | 306489-1 | 509,000 |
| 2 | Episode 2 | Jennifer Leacey | 22 August 2018 (2018-08-22) | 306489-2 | 443,000 |
| 3 | Episode 3 | Jennifer Leacey | 29 August 2018 (2018-08-29) | 306489-3 | 490,000 |
| 4 | Episode 4 | Geoff Bennett | 5 September 2018 (2018-09-05) | 306489-4 | 456,000 |
| 5 | Episode 5 | Wayne Blair | 12 September 2018 (2018-09-12) | 306489-5 | 469,000 |
| 6 | Episode 6 | Wayne Blair | 19 September 2018 (2018-09-19) | 306489-6 | 449,000 |
| 7 | Episode 7 | Peter Andrikidis | 26 September 2018 (2018-09-26) | 306489-7 | 435,000 |
| 8 | Episode 8 | Peter Andrikidis | 3 October 2018 (2018-10-03) | 306489-8 | 505,000 |

## Reception
### Critical reception

David Knox of TV Tonight gave the opening episode two and a half stars out of five. He wrote, "Melodrama is part of the problem of this drama which needs to commit to one of the two genres it straddles. For a crime about a serial killer the travelogue shots and warm hues is pretty confusing." Knox disliked Leacey's "sluggish" direction, and felt that the episode was lacking in energy. He added that the first episode needed to be stronger, with "a bit more teeth to take hold."
In 2020, Fiona Byrne of the Herald Sun included Bite Club in her feature about "long forgotten Australian TV dramas that made viewers switch off." Byrne called the premise "ridiculous", but said the drama "looked good" with its location shots and the cast were "impressive." She continued: "But the audience simply did not buy the storyline and did not care about the show. It came and went very quickly as a blink-and-you-miss-it one season wonder."

### Ratings

| No. | Title | Air date | Overnight ratings | Overnight ratings | Consolidated ratings | Consolidated ratings | Total viewers | Ref(s) |
| No. | Title | Air date | Viewers | Rank | Viewers | Rank | Total viewers | Ref(s) |
| 1 | Episode 1 | 15 August 2018 | 509,000 | 17 | 90,000 | 15 | 599,000 | |
| 2 | Episode 2 | 22 August 2018 | 443,000 | 19 | 105,000 | 17 | 548,000 | |
| 3 | Episode 3 | 29 August 2018 | 490,000 | 17 | 104,000 | 13 | 594,000 | |
| 4 | Episode 4 | 5 September 2018 | 456,000 | 17 | 108,000 | 13 | 564,000 | |
| 5 | Episode 5 | 12 September 2018 | 469,000 | 17 | 104,000 | 16 | 573,000 | |
| 6 | Episode 6 | 19 September 2018 | 449,000 | 20 | 103,000 | 17 | 552,000 | |
| 7 | Episode 7 | 26 September 2018 | 435,000 | 18 | 124,000 | 14 | 559,000 | |
| 8 | Episode 8 | 3 October 2018 | 505,000 | 16 | 3,000 | 16 | 508,000 | |

## Home media

The complete series of Bite Club is available on 9Now and Stan in Australia.
| Title | Format | Ep # | Release Date | Expiry Date | Special Features | Distributor |
| Bite Club | Streaming | 08 | 2019 | | Interviews With Cast Best Moments | 9Now |