[Submitted via press release]
Cast revealed for SABC 3 new local drama series
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SABC3's riveting new local drama series, set against the backdrop of the glamorous and backstabbing world of gambling, will feature A-list stars of stage and screen led by Brümilda van Rensburg, Justin Strydom, Antony Coleman, Rolanda Marais, Fezile Mpela, Xolile Tshabalala, Carmel Fisher, Carine Rous and Vilje Maritz.
This new 26-part drama series, the first to be commissioned by the channel for a number of years, starts airing on Tuesday, 2 April 2013 at 8.30pm.
The series is an inter-generational family drama centring round three "brothers": the Machiavellian casino kingpin David (Coleman), his flawed and volatile older brother Paul (Strydom) and David's trusted right-hand man Thato Mogale (Mpela) - the three are divided by their love for money, family and God. From the boardroom to the bedroom, each man plays the hand dealt to him as they navigate a precarious tightrope between loyalty and betrayal.
Each one-hour episode will delve into the world anchored by King's casino and five-star hotel complex, an upmarket establishment in Johannesburg's north-eastern suburbs. It was built from scratch by David King (Coleman), the youngest King brother, a slick and ruthless businessman who always gets what he wants.
His brother, Paul (Strydom), is an ex-con who resolves to clean up his life, with the aid of his newfound religious faith. His release from prison on probation sends the King family into a tailspin, exposing raw nerves and unresolved questions around the fateful night when patriarch Charles King was mysteriously murdered.
TT (Mpela) is David's childhood friend and the public face of King's casino, with his charismatic, extroverted nature complementing David's single-minded business savvy. As a farmworker's child taken into the King household and raised as one of their own - yet always kept at a distance - he sees it as his personal responsibility to pull the family back together.
TT's gorgeous wife, Gugu (Xolile Tshabalala), an ambitious player development executive, gives the casino's high rollers whatever they want, but is unable to give TT the one thing he wants - a child. Her brother, the flamboyantly gay Kenny Ngubeni (Kani), runs the local burlesque revue showbar at the casino.
Helena King (Van Rensburg) is the regal and dignified yet shrewd matriarch who manipulates her sons like an expert puppeteer, playing one against the other to suit her purposes. She owns the land on which the casino is located, and is not afraid to play this important chip when the circumstances merit it.
We'll also meet Analine King (Rolanda Marais), David's estranged wife and mother of his three children, teenagers Ben (Vilje Maritz) and Linkie (Danielle Retief) and the bright but sickly Marcus (Kieran Prigge).
Analine, a "functioning alcoholic", was once deeply in love with Paul but wed David in a shotgun marriage after Paul's imprisonment. However, the flame between her and her former lover threatens to reignite when he is released from jail.
"SABC3 is extremely excited to be advancing the public broadcaster's proud tradition of quality English television drama with this exceptional new series," says Risuna Mayimele, SABC3's Marketing Manager.