Tim Minchin Will Write and Star in New Australian Series UPRIGHT

Tim Minchin, composer of hit musicals Matilda and Groundhog Day, will star in a new series, titled UPRIGHT, according to Minchin's website, TimMinchin.com. He will not only be acting in the eight-part Australian series, but he will also be co-producing, writing the music and co-writing the script.

"From the moment I heard about the idea for UPRIGHT, I knew it was the show I'd been waiting to make," Minchin said in a statement on his website. "I like stories that make me laugh and think and cry, I adore the landscapes of outback Australia, and I love music, and homecomings, and characters full of flaws. It's awesome to be writing with this extraordinary team, and I'm looking forward to acting alongside Milly Alcock, who I think is a really special talent."

The series was created by Chris Taylor, who will co-write alongside Minchin. The team also includes writer-actors Kate Mulvany and Leon Ford, and will be directed by Matthew Saville. Minchin is Executive Producer with Penny Win and Helen Bowden. Producers are Lingo Pictures' Jason Stephens, Chris Taylor and Melissa Kelly.

UPRIGHT tells the story of two misfits, thrown together by chance in the middle of the Australian desert, who forge the unlikeliest of bonds in their quest to get a precious piano from one side of the country to the other.

Lucky Flynn (Tim) hasn't spoken to his family in years. He's broke, distant and damaged. He's also a gifted pianist, whose talent for music is matched only by his talent for self-destruction. When he learns that his mother has only days left to live, Lucky sets off in a hire car to drive the 4000 kilometres from Sydney to Perth to say goodbye to her, taking with him his only cherished possession in the world - a battered and scarred upright piano. But what should have been a straightforward drive across the Nullarbor soon becomes a test of Lucky's emotional fitness, when he (quite literally) runs into Meg (Milly Alcock), a hilarious, tough-as-nails teenager, who we soon discover has plenty of scars and secrets of her own.

Production on UPRIGHT will begin in October in Australia.

Read more on TimMinchin.com.