REVIEW: Deadloch's parody of crime drama provides laughs with murder mystery

But Deadloch delivers in spades. A foggy and dark morning greets two teenage Indigenous girls before they make the grisly discovery of a naked dead man on a deserted beach.

It's a scene we've seen hundreds of times in crime dramas, before one of the girls accidentally drops a cigarette on the dead man sparking a small fire in his pubic region.

That gives you an idea of what to expect from crime-comedy Deadloch. The eight-part series was created by Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan (The Katering Show, Get Krack!n) and fiercely parodies the Australian gothic crime noir that's become massive in the literacy scene due to the likes of author Jane Harper (The Dry) and Holly Throsby (Goodwood).

McCartney and McLennan's humour is as wicked as it is dark. The setting is the fictional Tasmanian village of Deadloch - who's small-town mentality is undergoing a rebirth as an artistic hub for mainland lesbians.

Kate Box (Wentworth) is straight-laced cop Dulcie Collins, who's trying unsuccessfully to organise her incompetent colleagues to investigate the murder of a local football coach professionally.

With the entire Tasmanian homicide squad busy protecting Princess Mary on her tour of her home state, Darwin detective Eddie Redcliffe (Madeleine Sami) flies in to take over.

Redcliffe's gung-ho approach puts her in direct opposition with the more procedural Collins.

Utopia's Nina Oyama is hilarious as the over-eager junior constable Abby and comedian Tom Ballard pops up as a clueless cop.

Deadloch is cutting parody, which cleverly deconstructs the hallmarks of crime drama and repackages them into an entertaining ride.

CAN men and women sustain platonic friendships when all the disruptions of marriage, career and children arrive in the middle stages of life? Or is just too complicated?

That is essentially the question comedy series Platonic attempts to answer.

Fresh off her starring role as Sheila Rubin in dark-comedy Physical, Australian actress Rose Byrne teams up with her old buddy Seth Rogen from 2014 film Neighbours in this breezy 10-episode series.

Byrne plays Sylvia, a 40-year-old mother of three who constantly feels judged for her decision to forgo her career in law to raise her children.

After learning that her former best friend Will (Rogen) has recently gotten divorced, she reaches out. The pair fell out years earlier due to Sylvia hating Will's ex-wife.

Rogen adopts his stock-standard immature man child character he's played consistently throughout his career in Knocked Up and Neighbours.

Will is a 40-year-old hipster, who is the part-owner in a craft brewpub, and his lack of responsibility and constant partying uproots Sylvia's suburban lifestyle once they recommence their friendship.

Platonic is a fun and lighthearted watch and Byrne and Rogen's chemistry and friendship provides a solid base.

However, you can't help thinking Platonic would have been better served as a film, rather than dragging out the fairly shallow storyline across an entire series.