New series 'Grace Beside Me' is jam-packed with adventures and spirit encounters

NITV Staff Writers, SBS.com.au.

NITV has launched a new drama series and it's funny, a bit spooky and full of adventure.

Mairehau Grace, Kyliric Masella and Tjiirdm McGuire, NITV Promotion Still.Photo supplied by Magpie Pictures/NITV/SBS,Production Stills by Julian Panetta.

Families around Australia! Get ready for the rollercoaster adventure of Fuzzy Mac as she experiences the tears and triumphs of being a 21st Century teenager from a strong Indigenous family. Grace Beside Me is a new 13-part children’s series, adapted from the award-winning novel by Sue McPherson. The series tells the charming story of an Indigenous girl Fuzzy Mac (played by Kyliric 'Kiki' Masella). Fuzzy just wants to be an ordinary teenager and have fun with her mates. This isn't easy given Fuzzy's ancestors have other plans for her. Oh, and not to mention she keeps seeing ghosts!

With one foot in the Indigenous realm of culture, Country, and spirits, and the other firmly planted in the world of a 21st century teenager, Fuzzy’s journey is to realise she belongs to both in her own unique way. The series was filmed entirely on location in the Scenic Rim area of South-East Queensland, and stars up and coming talent, including Kyliric 'Kiki' Masella as Fuzzy Mac, Mairehau Grace and Tjiirdm McGuire as Fuzzy’s best buddies Tui and Yar, and Tessa Rose and Charles Passi as Nan and Pop.

Fuzzy with her best friends, Tui and Yar', played by Tjiirdm McGuire, Mairehau Grace, Kyliric Masella, NITV Promotion Still. Photo supplied by Magpie Pictures/NITV/SBS, Production Stills by Julian Panetta.

Producers Lois Randall (The Gods of Wheat Street) and Dena Curtis (8MMM Aboriginal Radio, Shadow Trackers) said, “Grace Beside Me is thoroughly modern Australian drama that shows – in all its humour and pathos – the joys and challenges of teenage life for our utterly compelling young heroine, Fuzzy Mac.”

NITV co-commissioned the series with ABC children’s channel ABC ME with Screen Australia being a major investor in the series, along with Screen Queensland and Cutting Edge.