Netflix show Territory brings Australia’s outback to Life: Inside the epic filming of the cattle station drama

The highly anticipated Netflix series Territory is set to put outback Australia on the world stage.

Set against the backdrop of Marianne Station—a fictional cattle property touted as “the biggest in the world”—Territory delves into the generational clashes within the Lawson family as they grapple with the looming decline of their once-great dynasty.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Sam Corlett and Philippa Northeast talk new Netflix show Territory.

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It is already being hailed as an Australian Yellowstone, the critically acclaimed epic Kevin Costner-led drama series about a family of ranchers in Montana.

Stars Sam Corlett and Philippa Northeast, who portray Marshall and Susie Lawson, recently shared insights into their experience filming on a real cattle station in the heart of Australia’s Northern Territory.

Anna Torv and Sam Corlett in Territory. Credit: Netflix

Filming in the Outback

The series was filmed on Tipperary Station, one of the largest cattle properties in the world, located 194km from Darwin and spanning an impressive 386,000 hectares (although the world’s largest cattle station is actually Anna Creek in South Australia).

“It’s awesome. We shot the show on a working cattle station, so we’re kind of dancing around all these people doing their jobs,” Corlett tells 7NEWS.com.au.

“Some of the staff ended up being in our show as extras, which is incredible because we get to act alongside the real-life deal.”

Northeast added that “the way it puts Australia on a whole other level cinematically is astounding”.

“I’ve never been to the Top End before filming, and it’s like seeing a postcard come to life. Sometimes I think, ‘This could be the African savannah’, because it looks so epic and extreme.”

Filming in such a remote location presented its share of challenges.

Corlett recalls a particularly tough shoot during the wet season.

“It was about 45C, and we’re running around on rocks. I slipped and end up with a nice scar, but that heat added to the authenticity of our characters’ experiences.

“We embraced the harshness to imbue the story with real grit.”

Northeast shares a memorable experience involving a romatic scene filmed at Wanggu Waterfalls, where the romance had to work around real-life wildlife.

Philippa Northeast and Anna Torv in Territory. Credit: Netflix

“It was beautiful and intimate, but they had to put meat in a crocodile trap to keep the crocs away from us,” she recalls.

“Trying to relax and be romantic while knowing that is a challenge, but it added to the excitement of filming.”

One of the standout experiences for Corlett was taking a helicopter ride over the breathtaking landscapes.

“I got to see the epicness of the Northern Territory from above—flying over water, buffalo, and even seeing crocodiles in their natural habitat. It was wild,” he says.

“The ecosystem is so vibrant and alive, and it really ties into our story about the apex predators, both human and animal, that control the land,” he says.

The show follows the Lawson family when Marianne Station is left without a clear successor and generational clashes threaten to tear the family apart.

Sensing this once-great dynasty is in decline, the outback’s most powerful factions — rival cattle barons, desert gangsters, Indigenous elders and billionaire miners — move in for the kill.

The show, available to watch now on Netflix, stars Anna Torv, Michael Dorman, Robert Taylor, Sam Corlett, Sara Wiseman, Dan Wyllie, Clarence Ryan, Jay Ryan, Philippa Northeast, Joe Klocek, Kylah Day, Sam Delich, Hamilton Morris, Tuuli Narkle, Tyler Spencer and Jake Ryan.