TELEVISION PLAY ‘ 78ERS GET STAR TREATMENT

violent and hard- fought origins of Sydney’s now famous Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras are coming to your TV screen.

Damon Herriman, Xavier Samuel, Kate Box and Jess De Gouw star in the ABC’s new telemovie, Riot, which follows the passionate individuals who were central to a key moment in LGBTQ history.

Airing in the lead- up to the 40th anniversary event, which is also the first Mardi Gras since the legalisation of marriage equality, Riot sheds light on a little- known chapter of Australian civil rights. “Most people would have had no idea what the first Mardi Gras was like. I certainly didn’t,” Herriman says.

“The irony of that first Mardi Gras was it was intended to be different from all the more aggressive type of protests and rallies that ( my character) Lance had been involved in ... It was supposed to be a party, a celebration and it ended up being far more violent and angry than anything that had come before it.”

Herriman, who won a Logie last year for his portrayal of transgender woman Kim Gordon in Foxtel’s political thriller Secret City, portrays Lance Gowland, a devoted and seasoned activist. Some of the surviving ’ 78ers also came to the set and appear as extras in the film. “To have these real people standing in the room we felt like we had these celebrities there,” Herriman says.

“Ron Austin, who’s quite elderly now, was the one who suggested a street party in the first place. In the scene where Ron ( played by Josh Quong Tart) first pitches the idea, the real Ron is sitting at the bar in that scene. Keep an eye out for him.”