‘Work of genius’ drama series finally available to watch in the UK for free

Rake Season 1 (2010) — A ‘hilarious’ Australian crime drama-comedy series has finally been released in the UK (Picture: ABC)

A drama series that left viewers ‘hooked’ is now available to binge in full in the UK.

Airing for five seasons between 2010 and 2018, Rake starred Richard Roxburgh as the rakish Cleaver Greene, a brilliant but self-destructive Sydney barrister as he takes on usually guilty clients.

The show marked the now 63-year-old actor’s major TV career success after he appeared in films including Moulin Rouge!, Mission: Impossible 2 and Van Helsing.

‘Roxburgh’s Cleaver is endearing, infuriating and evilly funny, solidifying the actor’s place in the public eye after decades of smaller, great performances on screen and stage,’ The Guardian wrote in 2016.

It also praised the show’s ‘rich, no-bull**** Australian vernacular’.

This week all seasons were released on Channel 4, with UK viewers now able to watch the entire series for free.

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Over the years fans of the show have raved about it online, sharing their reviews with others.

‘I find the show is hilarious and mesmerising at the same time, in no small part due to Roxburgh’s performance,’ user purrlgurl posted on IMDB.

‘This show is honestly the best I have seen in decades. It is magnificently written, cast, structured and performed,’ Peter shared.

‘Rake has immediately leaped onto my list of top ten TV shows *ever*. It’s funny, vulgar and painfully real,’ fung0 added.

Many others also advised viewers to avoid the US remake and stick to the original.

Running for one season in 2014, the American adaption starred Greg Kinnear but was cancelled soon after.

After the third season of the Australian version ended on a massive cliffhanger, fans were on edge worried it could spell the end of the series.

‘We almost didn’t see another series of Rake,’ Richard told The Guardian in 2016 too.

‘As time went by we started to think there’s so much that you put into these things, there’s so much that goes into it from so many people, and Rake attracted a lot of love – so we just thought having built all that kind of pretty fabulous infrastructure, it seemed a shame to just let it go. And we thought if we could find some very good thing to propel it forwards, then that would be great … then we came up with something that I definitely can’t talk about,’ he teased.

Rake is streaming on Channel 4.

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