This made-for-television film from Australia’s Nine Network traces the real-life exploits of Brenden James Abbott, one of Australia’s most infamous and elusive bank robbers, following his daring 1989 escape from Fremantle Prison in Western Australia alongside fellow inmate Aaron Reynolds.
Abbott (played here by Tom Long) executes a series of highly sophisticated, meticulously planned armed bank robberies across Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, and New South Wales.
Known as a master of disguise, he manages to lead an extravagant, transient lifestyle for five and a half years – robbing over 40 banks of more than $5 million – while evading a nationwide police manhunt.
The film explores his brief personal relationships, his collaborations with various accomplices – including his brother Glenn (Brett Stiller) – and the heavy toll his life on the run takes on those around him
While the movie’s title plays on a prominent Australian folktale in which Abbott mockingly sent postcards to the police tracking him while he was on the run, real-life investigators have stated that he never actually sent postcards to the police.
The nickname originated when the police captured an accomplice’s roll of film and the developed holiday photographs featured Abbott posing in front of various tourist landmarks.
The police released these images to the media to generate leads, leading the public and press to mistakenly believe they were taunting postcards sent directly by the fugitive.
Brenden James Abbott
Tom Long Glenn Abbott
Brett Stiller Aaron Reynolds
Matthew Le Nevez Nola
Geneviève Lemon Thomas
Simon Burke Gina
Helen Dallimore Frankie
Tasma Walton Beaman
Anthony Phelan Pippos
Michael Denkha Drown
David James Campbell
Richard Piper Pritchard
Simon Maiden Diane Abbott
Mel Rogan Thelma Abbott
Annie Byron Masao Ayuda
Yutaka Izumihara Gina’s Grandad
Rob Steele Hippie Dave
Martin Broome Potter
Ian Bliss Shelley
Cara McIlveen Jane
Lindsey Wallington Randall
Morgan O’Neill Nelson
Ben Tomkins Quadvlieg
Lindsay Moss Alincic
Anthony Jensen Nixon
Christian Karantzias Bradley Banas
Brendan Donoghue Justine Banas
Jo-Ann Cahill Lily
Hsiao Ling Tang Nixon’s Girlfriend
Ingrid Faucher Dennien
Garin Clarke William
Madison Orr Prison Officer Greg
Nick Simpson-Deeks
Director
Tony Tilse
Video
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Abbott (played here by Tom Long) executes a series of highly sophisticated, meticulously planned armed bank robberies across Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, and New South Wales.
