The Family Next Door: Adapting Sally Hepworth’s Best-selling Book for TV

L-R: Melinda Wearne, Sally Hepworth and Sarah Scheller. Photography by Daniel Mahon.

New York Times best-selling Victorian author Sally Hepworth has penned nine novels, selling millions of books worldwide. One of them, The Family Next Door, has been adapted into a new television series currently airing on the ABC and available on ABC iview.

Starring Teresa Palmer (The Last Anniversary) and directed by Emma Freeman (The Newsreader), the series follows a mysterious stranger who moves into a cul-de-sac in a coastal town under false pretences. It was filmed in Melbourne's surrounding bayside suburbs, including Half Moon Bay and Angelsea. A co-production by award-winning producers Beyond Entertainment and Muse Entertainment, the show received major production investment from Screen Australia and the ABC, as well as being developed and produced in association with VicScreen.

In a VicScreen Masterclass with producer Melinda Wearne and writer Sarah Scheller, Hepworth talks about what inspired the story.

SALLY'S STORY

"This book started with writing what I knew, mostly. I was a mother of young children when I came up with this idea. I was living in a cul-de-sac, which is quite important to this book," says Hepworth.

The book commented on how society’s shift to busyness means we only maintain surface-level connections with our neighbours. Hepworth is known on her street as the Mrs. Mangle — the nosy resident on hit Australian show Neighbours who keeps a watchful eye on local happenings.

"I have got a vivid imagination. If I see the old man next door taking the bins out, I’m imagining the body that might be in there,” says Hepworth.

L-R: Sally Hepworth and Sarah Scheller. Photography by Daniel Mahon.

Beneath the surface of the core mystery, was an exploration of the harsher experiences of motherhood and the adjustment women must endure due to the shifting societal role.

"Not just the warm and fuzzy part, but the more isolating parts and the identity crisis that can happen to women. That was something that I went through," says Hepworth.

FROM BOOK TO SCREEN

Hepworth was flexible on how the book was adapted to television. She felt excited at the prospect of screenwriter Sarah Scheller’s interpretation of the world and her expanded vision for the small screen. Scheller inhaled the novel while in the bath in her home in LA during lockdown. She was unaware of Hepworth’s work, but was enraptured with the humour, exploration of motherhood and depictions of Australian suburban life.

Lead actress Teresa Palmer. Photography by Sarah Enticknap.

"Producers say, can you make this book meaningful to you? Can you take this idea and spin it yourself? You really have to connect to it," says Scheller.

"For adapting a book, you’re looking for really good story; you’re looking for plot. And if it’s a mystery, you want a good twist," she continues.

The project also gave Scheller the chance to extend her expertise in creating half-hour comedies to drama and mystery ­­­— and she relished the challenge. She was advised by a friend to read the book twice and rely on her recollections to inform the series overview.

“It’s really a character-driven show and book. So much of it is in the character’s heads. So, getting that onto the page without doing voiceover, which is the easy option, is really hard, because a lot of it is interior thoughts,” says Scheller.

Scheller was very aware of how savvy audiences had become when it came to synthesising mysteries. So, deciding how to embed red herrings and reveal clues was key to plotting the episodic structure. The series also merged storylines and introduced new characters, which weren’t in the original source material. Hepworth gave the writers and producers license to deviate from the IP, which in her view, made it better. From there, Wearne and Scheller breathed life into the book through the set, camera angles, actions and dialogue, alongside the music developed by Victorian composer Bryony Marks, while preserving the essence of Hepworth’s novel.

“It was how I should have written the book. There is a couple Holly and Lulu, and they’re my favourite couple, which is a real shame because I didn’t create them!” says Hepworth.

“There’s a clue the protagonist has that we spent weeks on, trying to figure out what it will be. You can get away with a lot more in a book with beautiful language,” says Scheller.

A CHANGE OF SCENE

There was also a desire to shift the demographic of the characters from middle class suburbia, which is why Victoria’s coast was an appealing location.

“It was distinctly Australian, setting it in Victoria. We moved it slightly from where it was in the book and that was just to open it up to different demographics,” says Scheller.

“The book is actually set in Sandringham…the whole move to the coast was new,” said producer Melinda Wearne.

L-R: Teresa Palmer, Philippa Northeast. Photography by Sarah Enticknap.

Finding actors that would play the characters was the next step, and though this may deviate from what the author may have envisioned when writing the book, that’s part of the adapting process.

“In general, when I write a book, I know what they [the characters] look like, but they’re not anyone that exists. Having someone presented as this character is usually a little bit jarring. By the end of the show, you’ve replaced the version that was in your head,” says Hepworth.

“Teresa, Pip and Bella, they all just bring something amazing.”

In the end, it was the cohesive, driven, women-led creative team that made the production joyous, as well as their ambition to bring this story to viewers at home.

“This team has been extraordinary, not only are they incredibly talented, but they are collaborative and gorgeous to work with. Sally has done an amazing job, which Sarah picked up on, at developing complicated female characters,” Wearne.

“It was very appealing to me that this book option came with a plan and a very strong desire to actually see it made. For me, the most important thing was their enthusiasm for my story and their vision for it,” says Hepworth.

The opening episode of the series, which aired on 10 August, has now consolidated to over 1.5 million viewers as of Sept 5, across broadcast and streaming. Watch it now on Sunday nights at 8pm on ABC TV or stream all six episodes on ABC iview now.

The Family Next Door was adapted for television by award-winning screenwriter Sarah Scheller (Strife, The Letdown) and directed by Emma Freeman (The Newsreader). It also stars Catherine McClements (Return to Paradise, The Survivors), Ming Zhu Hii (Prosper, La Brea), Jane Harber (Offspring, In Limbo), Bob Morley (The 100, In Limbo), Daniel Henshall (Snowtown, How to Make Gravy), Tane Williams Accra (Shortland Street, Fantasy Island), Dominic Ona Ariki (One Lane Bridge, Erotic Stories) and Maria Angelico (Strife, The Newsreader). Commissioned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.  A Beyond Entertainment and Muse Entertainment co-production.  Major production investment from Screen Australia and the ABC. Developed and produced in association with VicScreen.